School and 250 Houses Planned - Update

UPDATE 21 Nov 17 - It seems the developer has being trying for sometime to get this site (2+? fields) included in the NSC SAP list of suitable sites for approved development and shows the importance of consistency needed in dealing with ALL planning applications by BPC/NSC. See the developer's letter in relation to the Sites Allocation Plan (SAP) Modification consultation during 18 Sep - 30 Oct 2017. All responses can be found on the NSC consultation page including BPC's response.

UPDATE 17 Nov 17 - Revised proposal received from Sutherlands Plc

NB: Residents have asked us to reiterate their previous comment below including it would be worth everyone who wants to, commenting back to Amanda Sutherland, and the developers, with the same objections as before.  Just to reinforce the point and make it clear to the developers how unhappy everyone is.  Also inform North Somerset elfan.ap.rees@n-somerset.gov.uk, terry.porter@n-somerset.gov.uk

Email from Amanda Sutherland 17 Nov 17. NB Sutherland's. NB The resident petition of over 500 signatures has been ignored in favour of other feedback/comments made directly to them that they have not yet shared. (Sutherlands did previously say they would share them with our Parish Council. However, BPC appear to have withdrawn from the informal public consultation process at present as the email appears not to have been copied to them). NB: Just because a health centre is proposed and potentially granted, it does not mean the government (NHS) will support and fund it. It is possible to end up with the houses but no facilities as has happened with other housing developments.

 

"Dear All

 

Following the well attended community consultation event at the Parish Hall, we have received over a hundred sets of comment and feedback about our proposed redevelopment scheme.

 

Although the key matter raised was a refusal in principle to see growth in the village, there were some other more proposal specific comments and we have had a substantive rethink of the scheme.

 

We had considered that the provision of a school in the village to meet an already identified need would be a positive contribution to the community through close provision and the opportunities for shared community sport facilities. However, there was only one supporter of this approach. The majority of residents do not want a local school as it would mean they lose the choice to place their children out of county in what are perceived as better schools than those available within the North Somerset catchment.This was a surprise to us.

 

However, what residents did want to see if development goes ahead are;

- highways improvements to the main A road accesses

- highways safety and improved bus services to the village

- a health centre / doctor surgery

- a local shop that stays open longer hours than the current farm shop in the village

 

As a result, we have significantly redrawn the proposed scheme, reducing it in size, removing the proposed school and adding health centre, shops and offices for start up businesses. The scheme will have a reduced housing number and the highway arrangement will link through the village providing a safe alternative to existing access ways. Although further detail of the revised scheme will need to be considered, we felt it would be useful to gain feedback from the community as to the principle revision = removing the school, reducing the scheme size and introducing health centre / shops and office space.

 

I attach a draft of the revised proposal for your review. As before, please send any comments you have to admin@sutherlandpls.com. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

kind regards 

 

Amanda Sutherland LLb(Hons) PG Dip LPC"

--------------------------------------------------- 

 Original School & 250 houses Proposal below

NEW DEVELOPMENT PLANNED COME AND HAVE YOUR SAY We are proposing providing a primary school for the Village and a large scale residential scheme of up to 250 houses to facilitate it. OPEN DAY WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2017 at Jubilee Hall, Bleadon 11am to 6pm We invite all members of the community to come along and find out more. There will be a feedback form available on the day, but if you are unable to attend and would like to know more, please contact us at admin@sutherlandpls.com

or use feedback form here (Word) (PDF)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who are Sutherland Property and Legal Services and Urban Design Practice ?

Although not currently on their agenda, you may also wish to attend Bleadon Parish Council meeting on 11 September to make your views known. BPC is aware of BOB's initial comments. Other site information includes the Sanders Consultation (May 2011) in BVN89, and the Sites & Policies (SAP) Hearing (Apr 2017) and Supplementary Hearing (May 2017) documentation referring to this site as a school.

When making any feedback to the developer, please remember that these 'consultation' events are primarily an intelligence gathering exercise for the developer to see how well their proposal will be received and as a pre-cursor before making a final application to the planning authority. Information and views given by residents are often used to modify their application to make it more 'acceptable' to North Somerset, Bleadon Parish Council and/or residents. It is not unknown for comments to be selectively chosen and/or modified by developers to make residents feedback seem more positive, representative and supportive of the overall proposal which are then subsequently used in their final application submission (and even appeals after initial refusal). BOB has also been asked to circulate advice on commenting on consultations from someone who works in planning.

10 SEP 17  BOB asked BPC:

"... please can you publish/send a response to us as to what BPC understands will happen to the comments made by residents directly/indirectly to the developers? Will they subsequently be anonymously published to residents to discuss, like the last consultation; or are

comments for the developers 'eyes only' to support and improve their application to NSC?" No response received as yet.

Despite BPC's previous statements regarding the lack of a school being a concern for Bleadon residents (Dec 16 mins) and the current SAP designation we hope that BPC will listen to residents' views as indicated in the Parish Plan and other consultations.

BOB has asked the current developer's agent if they will be releasing a summary of all comments received during this public consultation (published anonymously), both positive and negative. The response from their representative to date:

07 SEP 17 The  agent responded:

"Following the open day we would usually allow a couple of weeks for feedback by forms or email to reach us and then draft a summary of the responses and any action we have taken to address them to accompany the application when submitted.If the feedback reveals the need for a significant rethink or amendments it may be that we then carry out a further consultation exercise on any revisions proposed. 

 

We hold all responses and acknowledge receipt and where possible will try to personally respond to each. However, as you will appreciate, where there are large numbers of similar comments it is not practical to respond to individuals.

 

I think there may be some confusion re publication. We would never publish private correspondence. Once an application is submitted, comments made to the council are all published as they are a statutory body but we are bound not to disclose without the consent of the consultee under data protection ( hence creating a summary)".

UPDATE 15 SEPT 17 The agent replied after the Open Day at the Village Hall:

"It was certainly an interesting day in terms of residents thoughts and comments.

 

Please find attached the site layout plan exhibited at the event and the feedback form for residents to use to contact us with comments.

 

I would stress that this is the initial consultation with the community and I recognise that there is objection to development in the village but we are seeking feedback that enables us to consider residents concerns and wherever possible address them in subsequent iterations of the proposed layout. Some members of the public mentioned that in previous developer consultation processes there had been a lack of clarity over the community consultation process and concerns were raised about transparency. For clarification, we intend to keep individual copies of all feedback received but will not be publishing those comments due to data protection. We will provide copies to the Parish Council of all of the feedback received and will present a summary of that feedback as well as an explanation of how we have considered feedback received and whether changes have been made to the scheme as a result.

 

This will be presented to the Parish Council at the relevant PC meeting where residents will be able to attend and comment.

 

Following submission of the scheme to the Local Planning Authority (LPA) for a determination of the outline application, the LPA will then carry out their statutory consultation providing a further opportunity for comment within the statutory process."

 

"It is disappointing that the Parish Council do not wish to hear from us about the amendments made to our scheme following the first round of consultation but of course, that is their decision. As a statutory consultee, you need only hear from us once the scheme is referred to you for discussion and comment but we were surprised at your response given we had agreed how to proceed with community consultation being led by the PC as the community representative.

 

We had agreed an approach to community consultation that the PC have now determined they will not follow and it is always a concern when the representatives of the local community do not wish to engage. However, we have to respect your position. Once the application is submitted, we will attend the relevant meeting as interested parties.

 

In the meantime, we will have to refer the PC decision to the wider community through press and website engagement and trust that the community will still have the opportunity to make their comments. Copied to Bleadon Bob to ensure that his online community can spread the word."

More details on other applications here