Objecting to Planning Application

Thornbury Town Council will consider the Park Farm Planning Application at it's meeting on Tuesday evening 21st June. If you plan to object, please do so very soon. You may even wish to a attend the meeting, starting at 7.30pm, and state your objections in person.

But the priority task must be an objection lodged with South Glos Council by Wednesay 6th July. Please follow the simple advice set out below. This list may be revised following the Exploratory Meeting of theIndependent Inspector on 29th June, but don't worry about this - better to object now than to risk missing the boat!

OBJECT TO THE PLANNING APPLICATION NOW BEFORE 6^th JULY

It is really important that we don’t give up at this late stage and that South Gloucestershire Council receive as many objections to the Planning Application for housing development at Park Farm.

The system only counts objections that they consider to have validity. For example, ‘modern houses are ugly’ wouldn’t count whereas citing breaches of existing policy does.

The Council counts objections that read the same as just one objection. This, of course, makes it difficult for the ordinary person to know what to write. To help everyone, we have come up with a list of valid objections that you can choose from. Just copy and paste three or four into your objection, top and tail it with a variation on words and you will have an objection that counts.

You can still be heard so please take the time to e-mail PlanningApplications@southglos.gov.uk or write to South Glos Council

Choose from –

OPENINGS (select one)

I object to the Planning Application PT11/1442/0 for up to 500 dwellings by Barratt Developments on the following grounds -

OR

I wish to register my objection the Planning Application PT11/1442/0 for erection of up to 500 dwellings by Barratt Developments on 26.21 hectares of land at Thornbury.

OR

Objections. Planning Application PT11/1442/0. Barratt Developments. Thornbury.

OBJECTIONS (Select three or four)

• The Planning Application has come forward before there is a policy in place to support it and so the application is premature.
• The Core Strategy has yet to be examined by the Planning Inspector and there are known concerns about the soundness and legality of the identification of Park Farm as a site for development
• The existing Local Plan states that Park Farm is not the most suitable site for development.
• National Planning Policy document PPS1states, “It may be justifiable to refuse planning permission on the grounds of prematurity where development plan is being prepared or under review.” The Core Strategy is under review and so should not be the guiding document whilst an existing local plan is in force.
• The site for development was identified and adopted before a sustainability appraisal was conducted and has significant sustainability drawbacks e.g. distance from town centre, lack of public transport, absence of access roads.
• The consultation process employed to identify Park Farm as a suitable site for development was flawed and undemocratic and has been cited as such by Steve Webb MP, other developers, pressure groups and residents.
• Approving the application would interrupt due process as the Core Strategy that identifies Park Farm for development has yet to go through an independent examination.
• Insufficient verifiable evidence has been provided to show that the proposed development would result in the benefits claimed in the as yet to be adopted Core Strategy i.e. countering an aging population, filling open school places and increasing town centre vibrancy.
• Park Farm is unsuitable as a sustainable site for development due to its distance from the town’s facilities, flood risks and the resulting destruction of a valuable heritage.
• There are material errors in the application e.g. development would not be visible from Thornbury Castle or St Mary’s church and the site is not within a 25 minute walking distance of the town centre.

CLOSING

(select one and add you name and address to the end. You need to sign and print your name underneath your signature if you write by post)

The application is premature, and in any case flawed, and should be rejected.

OR

The council should refuse this application, at least pending the completion of the due process of the examination and adoption of the Core Strategy

OR

The selection of this site for development was the result of poor consultation and it’s sustainability remains subject to challenge by residents, developers and others. The application should be refused for these reasons.

TIME FOR ACTION!

Many of you will have recently received letters through your doors - Notification of Planning Application in relation to Park Farm. It seems as if the moment has come once again to urge you all to rejoin the fight for fair play and honourable decisions for the future of Thornbury with some direct action of your own.
There are little glimmers of what might be construed as hope from the direction of the Independent Planner, relating to the soundness and legality of the Core Strategy that South Glos have produced. (See last Posting.) We have two deadlines fast approaching that need your input if our Town and District Council are going to be convinced that people in Thornbury are serious about objecting to the development at Park Farm. What we need once again is a significant mass of documented public opinion from you supporters out there.

1. Thornbury Town Council will on Tuesday 21st June consider the Planning Application by Barratt Homes to build 500 houses at Park Farm. It is not within their power to grant or withhold that planning permission, only to make a recommendation on behalf of Thornbury Town as to how they would like South Glos Council to proceed. Judging by their past record it is unlikely that TTC will withdraw their support per se for the planning application. However, we believe there may be very good grounds for TTC recommending NOT to accept the planning application at this particular time of asking. Please write to TTC before this deadline to urge the Council to recommend to SGC a refusal of planning permission at this juncture. The following reasons should support your letter:

• This may be standard practice for developers such as Barratt Homes to put forward Planning Applications regardless of whether the Core Strategy has been finalised and signed off by South Glos and the Independent Inspector. However it would be incredibly premature of both Town and District Councils to approve this application. There are legitimate doubts as to the soundness and legality of the Core Strategy. The Independent Inspector has already indicated the need for a preliminary Exploratory Meeting, which is unusual in itself, and the agenda he has drawn up would suggest that Thornbury issues may be uppermost in his thoughts. Why are Barratts attempting to ride roughshod over this due legal process, and force the council's hand? Probably because they are a business concern, and care first and foremost about their own pockets/profitability. Council should not be influenced by such matters or be seen to be in the developer's pocket. It is the developers who should be showing our legal process more respect. Patrick Conroy (Head of Spatial Planning at SGC) wrote to Barratt's as early as last year urging more restraint when Barratts threatened to submit planning applications even before the ink on the DRAFT Core Strategy was dry! Thornbury should not be hurried. As so many residents and other stakeholders have raised concerns over the soundness of the Core Strategy in relation to Thornbury, we urge both councils to withhold approval and allow decisions to date to be tested before recommending any planning application.
  



• The recent local TTC elections were unprecedented in terms of the message NorthWest Thornbury has been sending the Town Council. At his last full Council Meeting as Mayor, the previous incumbent, Mr Chris Clifford, when challenged over TTC's Core Strategy statement, said "Let the ballot box decide". And it did just that by removing from office two ex-mayors, who between them had a vast quantity of years of service to the town - not as a slight on past services, but simply because they had stopped listening to and representing the deeply unhappy voices of local residents. Residents in NWThornbury have been saying for a long time that this is not about "My Back Yard" but about undue process, lack of supporting evidence, meaningless consultation. Thornbury is the only area of South Gloucestershire to have had a site selected for development and a sustainability appraisal conducted AFTER selection - which alone raises issues of soundness. Councillors would do well not to ignore legitimate concerns. We are urging all of Thornbury's Councillors to show that they have listened to concerns and are prepared to defer recommending an application, at least until after the Independent Inspector has taken a view.
  



• Send your letters to: Thornbury Town Council, c/o The Town Clerk, The Town Hall, Thornbury, BS35 2AR, or e-mail directly to: j.payne@thornburytowncouncil.gov.uk before Tuesday 21st June - that gives you 8 days from this posting! If you DON'T live in NWThornbury, you may wish to copy in your own Town Councillor to encourage him/her to get the message, too.
  

2. South Glos Council have given until Wednesday 6th July for individuals to register their own personal response to the Planning Application for Park Farm. (SGC assure us that comments received after this date will still be considered up until Committee sits to consider the application, so it may be wise to wait at least until after the Planning Inspector's Exploratory Meeting on 29th June has shed more light on the situation). All the details of the planning application are available on this website: CLICK HERE. However it will probably overwhelm you with the mass of information contained herein; we hope to consolidate our grounds for objection over the next week or so, including any legal/professional advice we can glean, at which point we will be publishing for your benefit our very best suggestions as to possible lines of opposition. Keep checking this website - if you are on our mailing list, we will e-mail you the details directly. This is the big one. We urge you to find the time to express your views once again.

Planning Inspector requests Exploratory Meeting!

It would appear that all is not well with the South Glos Core Strategy, as many of us have known for a very long time. The Independent Inspector has called for an Exploratory Meeting to undertake a preliminary assessment of the Core Strategy. This is not routine - it is an exceptional procedure when serious concerns become apparent in the Core Strategy. This letter was sent to all Representors who responded to the Core Strategy back in August of 2010. The agenda for the meeting, which will take place on 29th June at 2pm at Nibley Court looks very similar to a list of all the issues we have already found fault with for so long. Is the plot very slowly unravelling for the Core Strategy? Our simple solution for the Inspector has always been

• Exclude Thornbury from the Core Strategy - this is not a strategic housing site for South Glos, and never has been.
• More housing for Thornbury is a local issue for local people to decide.
• Thornbury needs to start again from a blank sheet, and come up with a housing strategy that is based upon evidenced needs, that is sustainable, and that is determined through genuine and open discussion and consultation, by the people and for the people.
  

PARK FARM - application for Planning Permission

Things are certainly hotting up on the Park Farm front. Pegasus, on behalf of Barratt Homes, have put in a request for planning permission for a drainage/balancing pond to be situated OUTSIDE of the "preferred option" site. For full details of the planning application, view the South Glos website that has recently gone up.
We're not entirely sure at this stage on which basis to most effectively oppose the application. It was discussed in some detail last night at the TTC Development Committee. Despite strenuous opposition from Hudson and Davies, the mood of the committee seemed to be that because TTC support in principle the Park Farm development, it would be churlish to object to a drainage proposal that would ultimately support the housing opportunity, and they were prepared to leave it all in the hands of technically-informed developers who know about drainage matters better than them. We vigorously oppose this conclusion. You may wish to visit the www.northwestthornburytc.com website to follow last nights discussions more closely.
We will keep you posted very soon on how you personally can act to object to this planning application. Why the developpers couldn't wait until after the outcome of the Core Strategy Independent Inspection, is anybody's guess?