Are you a local stakeholder? Have you been informed of this event? Have you been invited to attend? Apparently entry is by invitation only.
Jane McDermott of SGC, contactable at jane.mcdermott@southglos.gov.uk or by phone on 01454 868712, is officially organising the event. We know of serveral delegates who are declining to attend, so you may wish to turn up on the night and chance your arm for a spare invite, or contact Jane in advance and advise her of your wish to attend.
Hopefully high up on the agenda will be:
- Why is SGC presenting our town with one developer on one site when the Residents of Thornbury are still waiting to be consulted on all the Issues and Options to do with developing our town, that never appeared when the rest of South Gloucestershire was considering its own Issues and Options.?
- Selection of this site is not based upon the Sustainability Appraisal but on an alternative undisclosed agenda - is it hoping too much that this will be revealed on the night? If not, delegates will hardly buy in to a development proposal based on deception and mis-information.
Next stop after that - local elections in May when our so-called representatives can be held accountable for their undemocratic actions.
I recently studied a BPhil course on Sustainable Development Planning and Management in South Africa - where I now live. I grew up in Thornbury and spent my formative years running and biking around the areas that have been proposed to be built on. I know a few core elements of this project seem suspicious to me from the outside. The Castle School has functioned for many years on two sites - why the sudden need for change? What will become of the old grammar school site - perhaps a luxury development of apartments. I understand that the new 6th form site will be built for free - I have not heard of a developer ever doing anything for free without strings being attached. The green and pleasant Thornbury could be at threat - the medieval ponds are a haven for wildlife and the biodiversity of the surrounding areas and the ponds themselves will be affected if the building goes ahead. There will be more cars on the quieter roads of Thornbury if this goes ahead. The demise of the Town centre is the fault of the council in the very first place, if the Tesco hadn't been allowed to go ahead there would be a much more diverse and thriving town centre. People are becoming more aware of the 'harm' that these large supermarkets are having on the local economy - shopping local, for local produce is one of the key drivers for a sustainable future. The very existence of a Tesco puts this at an immediate disadvantage. Humans cannot continue trashing the environment for unsustainable perceived economic advantages. The core arguments by S Glos council are all flawed. I wonder who has been paid what to even consider this development on the outskirts of Green and Pleasant Thornbury....
ReplyDeleteThats what i asked at the august meeting, (who is being paid What!) to get this housing project underway, and i called them liars to their faces.
ReplyDeleteDavid has hit the nail on the head.
the above rings so true, the Grammer school is a prime site. a developers dream.