Once again there are a series of consultation events, the first of which will be held in the Church Gresley Ward. The event is planned for Tuesday 1st October between 3.30 and 6.30pm at St George & Mary Church Hall Rooms on Church Street (as normal).
We advise residents from all over the ward to attend and particularly those who we have spoken to over recent days.
This event will not be aimed at any particular development but will be an overview of the whole local plan for South Derbyshire. This event is run by South Derbyshire District Council and staff will be on hand to answer planning related questions relating to a number of items but may include the following:
- Any developments planned within the ward.
- Why the local plan is necessary
- The housing targets required in South Derbyshire
- An overview of where developments are planned and where they are not planned.
For those unable to attend, there will be further events planned around the district including Newhall, Woodville and Swadlincote. Once the information is publicly available, we will link this on the blog
Further to recent comments from residents through meetings and other interactions, it seems appropriate to give an update on the whole local plan situation.
When the draft local plan first came to Environment & Developemnt Services committee we were unhappy with the balance of development, feeling that there was too much in the Urban Core area (Swadlincote, Church Gresley and Woodville in particular) and fringes of Derby and not enough, therefore as a Labour group we voted against the proposal. We were defeated in this by the controlling party by 1 vote, hence the draft plan went ahead as proposed.
Due to the proposed inclusion of significant developments in the ward, we had to ensure that residents were aware of the first consultation event as it is the residents feedback that is vital. Originally there was no event planned in Church Gresley but one was set up at the request of Gresley Councillors and the event was publicised in newsletters distributed in the area. The turnout for the Church Gresley event was by far the biggest. Some very important feedback was given by residents and subsequently on the local plan.
In between the Draft Local Plan event and the subsequent Developer hosted event (which was again advertised both by us councillors and also by local residents very effectively) a planning application was received for a development off Swadlincote Lane for 250 houses plus industrial units. This was marked as not preferred in the local plan as it was earmarked for industrial use only. At the planning committee all of the Gresley Councillors spoke against this unnecessary development with our key concerns being based on inadequate school provision and several other very pertinent points. The application went ahead after a vote 7-6 in favour.
The Developer event attracted a large number of local residents and many opinions were exchanged, though the plans were generally only outline in format.
In the meantime, the council has been working on the feedback from the first consultation and we wait to see what this will bring.
No comments:
Post a Comment