At the Town Development Committee meeting of 27th September 2011 a statement (reproduced in full below) on behalf of STGH was prepared and delivered by Christine Rickard detailing recent developments at the site selected by the Town Council as their preferred option.

To coincide with the disquiet felt locally about Park Farm, a number of nationally recognised bodies have now voiced concern at the potential damage this proposed development would cause to this most historic and important part of Thornbury. Let us hope that the individuals responsible for this outragous decision will now finally be prepared to listen to common sense. But what concerns me most is that 'there's none so deaf as those who do not want to hear'.

Statement on behalf of STGH :-

I would like to follow my last statement to you with a few more pieces of evidence about the Park Farm area, just in case you are in any doubt about its historic value.

The Council for British Archaeology has registered a firm objection against Barratts proposals stating:

“given the impact the development will have upon a scheduled ancient monument and the issues of setting of a number of historic buildings, a listed park and the Thornbury Conservation Area the Council for British Archaeology’s view is that the proposals will cause substantial harm to the significance of these historic assets. The CBA wishes to register a firm objection to the proposed development and advises consideration is given for the new housing development to be located in a less sensitive area”.

They also point out that the heritage assessment prepared by Barratts claiming “key settings would not be affected” is not a view held by other heritage groups or the CBA.

These other groups include: English Heritage, The Garden History Society, Avon Gardens Society as well as Thornbury and District Heritage Trust.

The Planning Inspector has decided that the Core Strategy as it stands is not Sound. The areas he has identified in his letter to South Gloucestershire Council are, he says, the minimum requirements. His implication being that other areas he has not yet looked at should be sound and if further work is required then the opportunity for revision and justification is NOW.

Looking at how the choice of Park Farm came to be made it is quite clear that the decision making process was not robust. The influence of the Thornbury Steering Group on the decision is remarkable when it is apparent this is a group for which no notes or minutes of any discussions or meetings were ever kept. The members of that committee will need to look to their own conscience’s to decide whether they should have declared interests or even have been on the Steering Group in the first place.

Add to this the strong advice from South Gloucestershire’s own heritage and landscape officers that the process was flawed and the choice of Park Farm due to its important heritage assets was the wrong one. As well as misinformation being presented to the Policy Advisory Group on the 30th November 2009 about which options were in the green belt (they were told options 1,2 and 3 were in the Green Belt), this is not true.

We do not believe the Inspector will regard this process as sound.

All of this, together with the scheduling of the Medieval Fishponds gives Thornbury Town Council the opportunity to reappraise their original decision.

It is the duty of local authorities of which, as Town Councillor’s you are a part, together with English Heritage and other specialist bodies such as those listed above, to protect our scheduled monuments and our historic assets. You may not have been aware of the significance of the heritage of the Park Farm area until this recent scheduling, you cannot continue to argue ignorance and it is time for Thornbury Town Council to start the process to protect this area from development.

The Town Council needs to confirm to its residents that it will no longer support any development or area of housing opportunity at Park Farm.

Christine Rickard.

WHAT THE PLANNING INSPECTOR SAID ...

We had all been eagerly awaiting an announcement from the Planning Inspector, following the Exploratory Meeting with SGC on 29th June.
He had written to SGC to inform them of his conclusions from that meeting. That letter has now been put into the public domain by SGC, and can be browsed at your leisure by clicking on THIS LINK.
You will need to read the whole letter to get a full measure of the impact of his critique of SGC and their Core Strategy. In summary terms however, he has offered SGC two options:

1. If they can be absolutely confident of getting the work done in time he will suspend the EIP (Examination Process) for 6 months whilst the Core Strategy (CS) is re-worked in certain key areas, re-published and re-consulted on.
2. SGC could start the whole CS process over, beginning from scratch but taking into consideration significant changes in legislation that have ensued with a change of National Government

Thornbury does not get any specific mentions (It's a very general, broad sweep document.) Issues he raises that must impact directly on Thornbury would probably include:

• his criticism of SGC's failure to undertake a full assessment of its Green Belt. This necessarily affects Thornbury, which has no Green Belt or buffer of its own, but finds itself historically on the fringe of Bristol's own Green Belt. When development sites were first considered for Thornbury, instead of taking a strategic look at the Town and its setting and needs, planners operated a " limited and piecemeal approach ...... bring(ing) into question the validity of its approach to assessing development potential."
• his criticism of procedural/legal process. "I share some of the concerns expressed in relation to the procedural process and to avoid a risk of challenge the Council should, ideally, re-publish and re-consult on the CS in its current form."
• revisions to the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) "Undertake any necessary revisions to the SA as a result of further work which is carried out to support the CS". STGH has always been deeply critical of the SA in relation to Thornbury. In the light of the recent scheduling of the Medieval Fishponds by English Heritage as an ancient monument - it is exceedingly doubtful that Park Farm would ever have received an endorsement, had this scheduling been in place 2-3 yrs ago. This new situation must have serious implications for the SA, together with new findings relating to flooding and Castle School that were never available at the start of the process.

It is no surprise that SGC have opted for the first of the two alternatives presented by Paul Chrysell. To read their full response to the Inspector, CLICK HERE.
They have announced their intention to undertake all necessary work, and "re-publish the Core Strategy in December 2011 for 6 weeks consultation incorporating post submission changes. This would also be supported by the necessary technical evidence and SA."
A busy time ahead for SGC planners!

Meanwhile, all the implications from these announcements have not fully sunk in. We will deliberate forthwith, and seek advice from people more knowedgeable than us in the planning world as to what it might mean for us in terms of an action plan and further campaigning.
In the short term, the following actions may be worthwhile:

• Deadline of 16th September to write to the Independent Inspector, commenting on the new Draft National Planning Policy Framework and how it will impact upon development proposals. STGH has been working on its own response, and although this is still in draft form, you can read it by CLICKING HERE, and use some of its content to inform your own personal responses. All comments should be directed via Kath Thorne who can be e-mailed at Programme.Officer@southglos.gov.uk
  
• You may wish to write to Thornbury Town Council or SGC, congratulating them on the recent scheduling of the Medieval Fishponds as an Ancient Monument by English Heritage, and asking what impact this is likely to have on the revised Core Strategy.
• Council Meetings begin again in September, check out the NorthWestThornburyTC blogsite for precise details. First Full Council meeting will be Tuesday 6th September 7.30pm.
  

ENGLISH HERITAGE & THE MEDIEVAL FISHPONDS

During the summer holidays, when I for one had turned my attention to more leisurely activites, English Heritage announced that the Park Farm Medieval Fishponds are to be scheduled a "historic monument". This is fantastic news for the fishponds and for Thornbury, and may well have been influenced by the dedicated hard work put in by the "Friends of Park Farm Medieval Fishponds" in recent months. At a time when the future of the fishponds looks to be under serious threat from developers Barratts, who would like to surround the historic site with 500+ modern houses at a density of up to 40 per hectare, this must surely call into question the wisdom of the original decision to identify Park Farm as Thornbury's "preferred option" for development?
Bristol Evening Post reported the breaking news as follows: (click on picture to enlarge in own screen)


Clicking on THIS LINK will take you to the Thornbury and Dursley Gazette's version of the same breaking news.
To read a full copy of the English Heritage Report, CLICK HERE.
To read a version of the STGH press release relating to this news, CLICK HERE.