Top 10 reasons to object to the Draft Neighbourhood Plan.
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We feel that:
1. It advocates building more additional houses than have been requested by Tewkesbury Borough Council. 2. It actively encourages building on our Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and undermines existing protections for them. 3. There has been very poor consultation, that is both few in responses and unrepresentative of the Town as a whole. 4. It's leading towards a future where Winchcombe's special qualities are eroded like Bishop's Cleeve. 5. Policies and facts have been manipulated to push through one particular developer's scheme. |
6. Legitimate concerns have simply been ignored and those raising them rudely called 'malcontents'. 7. The plan will result in: more traffic, strained services, less parking, and divert visitors from existing shops. 8. It's based on flawed analysis/conclusions and a misleading presentation of local and national policies. 9. The process undertaken has contravened the best-practice guidelines provided by numerous agencies. 10. Ultimately it rides rough shod over Winchcombe Residents, defeating the very purpose of having the plan. |
What a neighbourhood plan should be.
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Neighbourhood Plans should provide a great opportunity for you to have more influence on how the places in which you live and work will change over time.
Your local knowledge, and your sense of what needs to be protected and what needs to change, can really make a difference. Neighbourhood planning provides a statutory right for local people and businesses to plan for the future of their places in a sustainable and fair way. Crucially, it is designed to enable local people and communities to strongly influence how development will occur locally. |
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Almsbury Farm Field & Buildings- the specific developer's scheme.
One of the most concerning themes throughout the "consultation process" has been an unswerving agenda to promote a specific developer's scheme on the Almsbury Farm Buildings and Field.
Few, if any, people have objected to the sensitive redevelopment of the unused agricultural buildings at this location; however, the documents published by the Town Council have been misleading as to the scale of the proposed scale of the development. Their scheme includes building on the adjacent field, approximately 100 units are suggested, and there is a requirement for an additional car park for 30-40 vehicles on the field opposite.
Few, if any, people have objected to the sensitive redevelopment of the unused agricultural buildings at this location; however, the documents published by the Town Council have been misleading as to the scale of the proposed scale of the development. Their scheme includes building on the adjacent field, approximately 100 units are suggested, and there is a requirement for an additional car park for 30-40 vehicles on the field opposite.
When seen in the context of Winchcombe as a whole, the proposed scheme at Almsbury Farm is entirely inappropriate with respect to the natural settlement boundaries of the Town, let alone its classifications as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, A Conservation Area, Grade II Listing and Registered Historic Parkland.
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We can't know exactly what the plans are for the scheme because they haven't made them available. However,using the same sketch supplied by the developer (and promoted by the Town Council at the Library) we've used some different colours and tried to highlight a few of the significant impacts.
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The image below is from the Town Council's Library Exhibition. The subtle use of green shading has led many people to believe that the proposed development is only on the footprint of the existing buildings. This is not the case.
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The provision of sheltered accommodation is in principle not a bad idea; however, in the Borough Council's 2012 housing needs survey of Winchcombe, only 5 households out of 811 respondents indicated a need to move to physically adapted or more secure accommodation - this is despite more than half of the respondents being over the age of 65.
This is clearly not a scheme that is designed to meet any local need.
This is clearly not a scheme that is designed to meet any local need.
West of Winchcombe an Area of Outstanding BeautyThis site ‘forms an importantpart of the ANOB and the setting of Winchcombe’. |
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West of Winchcombe
What the map does not represent is the contours and height of the land. 'The visual intrusion of the proposed development would likely be very significant”. |
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Planning Inspector considering objections to Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan to 2011
This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty West of Winchcombe is part of the heritage that we believe should be passed on to future generations. The land has been proposed for development in the Neighbourhood Development Plan and the proposal has been supported unanimously by Winchcombe Town Council, against the wishes of local residents.
The Inspector considering the previous Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan to 2011 made the following observations on this beautiful landscape:
In relation to use of the lowers slopes for development this “would still be prominent and obtrusive. The site is visible in longer distance views from the south within the AONB, and its development would appear as an extension of the urban area into the open hillside setting of the town”. Further he went on to state “from closer by ......... the visual intrusion of the proposed development would likely be very significant”.
In conclusions on a smaller scale of development, the Inspector still found that “given the high landscape sensitivity of the site… I have concluded that there remains a sound landscape reason for rejecting it”.
Development on this land would be clearly visible from Sudeley Hill Farm & beyond and from Rushley Lane, further damaging this wonderful setting of Winchcombe.
What Has Changed?
It was relevant then, and is even more relevant today, as countryside in Winchcombe is disappearing fast!
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