NEWS
Curo to Meet PCC - 8th July 2013
This is an important meeting for us. Curo are coming to the Parish Council Meeting and we must attend this meeting to ensure that Curo understand our viewpoint. We need a sizable turnout to demonstrate to Curo that PAG is not just a handful of mal-contents that will go away, but is a significant percentage of the village population who are not going to allow their greenbelt to be destroyed without resistance. We want to be seen as an organised group so it is proposed that Ralph Ferrand will speak on behalf of the group. Should anyone have any points that they wish to be made, please e-mail them to ralph.ferrand@pensfordactiongroup.org.uk
.Paul Baxter Meeting - Village planning - 30th June 2013
Paul Baxter is heading up a meeting in the village hall where he will be proposing an alternative method for our village to combat having unwelcome developments foisted on us. Currently the greatest threat to our village is the traveller site being proposed at the Old Colliery by Tom Smart and Paul has some ideas on how to defeat this insane proposal.
SWAG
Wednesday 27th February 2013 I, Ralph Ferrand, shall be meeting members of Stanton Wick Action Group, who are also opposed to the destruction of green belt, at their meeting in Stanton Drew Village hall between 5.30pm and 9.30pm where they will be discussing the horrific news that a certain Tom Smart is applying for planning for gypsy and traveller sites at the Old Colliery site which is as welcome as influenza to most right thinking people. I am to discuss our problem with The Common development and they are going to give me advice as to the best way to tackle this problem.
Update:
Following this meeting I am to attend a non-public SWAG meeting Friday 14th March to further discuss the problems we have.
Parish Council Meeting 11th March 2013
On Monday 11th March 2013 I, Ralph Ferrand, represented PAG at the Parish Council meeting where I made a speech outlining the feelings of the group. I was well supported by a sizable number of Pensford's residents. The impression we were given was that the Parish Council were behind our efforts, though no specifics were given.
I am formally writing to the chair of the Parish Council tonight requesting clarification on a number of points; here is the e-mail as I am sending it:
Dear Tony
Following on from Monday’s meeting, I would like to ask some questions, on behalf of PAG, about the position of the Parish Council. I feel that for clarity and to remove any ambiguity I must ask the following:
Firstly, I understand that this affordable housing project should be led by the parish council rather than a developer. I am getting the impression that the developer is leading this project and doing so on a site led approach. Is this correct?
I believe that before any plans are made for a development using the rural exception clause, that the robustness of the housing needs surveys should be investigated, to remove any aspirational rather than genuine housing needs. Has the parish council completed this ? If so can we see this?
I further understand that a sequential site survey should be carried out to consider all possible development sites and that this is then shown to the planning department at BANES for their formal consideration and direction. Has this happened? If so can we see this?
At Monday’s meeting I very much got the impression that you were suggesting that Curo seemed to be in control; if this is the case should the Parish Council not formally contact Bath and North East Somerset council to ask for help in this direction?
I would appreciate it if this questions could be answered as soon as possible.
Regards
Ralph Ferrand
This letter was replied to by Tony Heaford 10/04/2013
Dear Ralph,
I am sorry that it has taken so long to reply to your e-mail of the 14th March, but as I explained to you on the telephone I was just about to go away, and when I returned I thought it advisable to hold back my reply until after your message had been discussed at the April P C meeting.
Firstly I would like to give you an assurance that the Affordable Housing project has been led by the Parish Council. We have been trying to put together a scheme to meet the perceived needs of the Parish for additional Affordable Housing for some considerable time. We have partnered with Curo (formerly Somer) so far, mainly because they already have a significant presence in the village, not only at Hillcrest, but following their merger with Redland, the Publow Lane properties. Curo have provided the expertise and the funding for “Needs Assessments” as the Council do not have the expertise or funding to carry out those tasks. The land at the Common was not considered by the Council as it was outside the Village Development Boundary and on Green Belt, but was indicated to Curo by the Landowner or his agent as being available, from the first meeting on this project the Council have expressed there reservations. I do not believe that this could in anyway be construed as a Curo led project.
Two independent surveys have been carried out into the housing needs, one in 2004 by the Rural Housing Partnership and one in 2011 by English Rural, both organisations quite independent from the Council and Curo. Both surveys received a good response from residents and both clearly showed a need. The Council accepted these surveys and did not carry out a further audit as that seemed unnecessary, particularly as they both produced a similar answer. Should your group so wish I am perfectly happy to arrange for you to receive a copy of both of these surveys.
As you will appreciate there are very few sites available in the village to accommodate a small development of Affordable Housing and the only site that springs to mind is the allotment site, but we also have a legal responsibility to provide allotments and we have been unable to find a site for both. I am sure you understand that the land values for either of those 2 developments do not make it an attractive proposition. We have had numerous discussions with BANES on these matters and have been unable to find the appropriate solution.
I am sorry that you left the meeting with the impression that Curo were in control and I can assure that is not so. For instance the letter that Curo sent out advising everyone of the consultation had to be re-drafted 3 times by me before I agreed on its distribution. We have also sought the advice and assistance of BANES as we have worked our way through this matter and they are as keen to see the Affordable Housing needs of our village met as we are, but with so little land available this is not easy.
Regards
Tony Heaford
and again shortly afterwards
Dear Ralph,
I should have mentioned in my earlier e-mail that I had spoken to Curo on Monday. I did not get the impression that they were at all enthusiastic about pursuing the Pensford site in the face of the opposition and they seemed to have enough on their plate at the moment with other developments. We will obviously keep this under review and indeed we are still keen to find a solution to the problem, but at least for the time being I believe any Common developments are firmly on the back burner, or I hope so.
Regards
Tony