NEWS FROM TWIGWORTH PARISH COUNCIL
23 May 2017: Tewkesbury Borough Council is suspected of underhand tactics to shoehorn flood-prone village of Twigworth into plans for mass housing – despite warnings from an international expert on flooding – by George Sharpley, former chair of Twigworth Parish Council, click to open document
Twigworth has been shoehorned back into JCS
YOUR VOICE COUNTS...... please submit your comments no later than 10th April 2017 - deadline ceased
You can respond to this consultation using any one of the options presented below:
Respond by making comments on the consultation document
Respond by uploading a response document
27 March 2017: Combined newsletter from the Parish Councils for Down Hatherley, Norton and Twigworth
information_about_massive_housing_development_proposed_for_north_of_glocuester.pdf
31 January 2017: TEWKESBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL – Joint Core Strategy Meeting
I had the misfortune to be sitting in the public gallery, and observing our Borough Council at work questioning and debating the amendment to the Joint Core Strategy, JCS.
Basically, although a previous meeting (25 October 2016) had democratically rejected the inclusion of Twigworth in the JCS plan, this amendment proposed to bring Twigworth back into the JCS plan. The amendment was passed with a vote of 19 for and 14 against.
If Twigworth was unsuitable last time, why had it become suitable this time, admittedly with a lower number of homes proposed?
No satisfactory explanation was given as to why the resolution from 25 October had not been complied with. Pro-development councillors argued that the JCS Plan would only be sound with Twigworth in, yet the 25 October resolution had asked for Twigworth to be removed and replaced with allocations from elsewhere to make the Plan sound.
THE Q&A SESSION
The question and answer session went into detail with experts giving their opinion about flood risk and traffic flow with technical documents beyond the comprehension of the average person. The hydrology consultant had been commissioned from a consultancy which advises developers, and was given freedom to critique the advice of the hydrologist advising the Neighbourhood Development Plan who has advised against developing at Twigworth because of the degree of risk. Twigworth Parish Council had asked for this adviser to be present to brief the councillors but this request had been refused.
Three main issues emerged …
1. Flood Risk (see also above and below)
2. Traffic Flow ( all questions on the lack of up to date traffic modelling, costs of the mitigation measures, and the nature and affordability of a new road, bringing a grotesque intrusion in the Severn Vale, were comprehensively fudged by a County Council official).
3. Loss of Green Belt (see also below)
THE DEBATE
The debate after the Q&A session, largely forgot the three main issues, and descended into a debate about the consequences of not passing the amendment.
The issues were …
1. The site at Ashchurch was no longer going to be released by the MOD for development, so the JCS were desperate for new sites.
2. The allocation at Twigworth was for Gloucester City’s needs not for Tewkesbury Borough’s needs.
3. If the JCS did not meet their quota of sites for housing need, the Council would lose their ‘New Homes Bonus grant’ (a sizeable amount). This dominated many pro-development Councillors’ arguments even though it is not a planning matter and should not influence the actual decision.
4. If the JCS did not finish their plan, the Government could take direct control, and the Council would lose their power.
5. The new houses at Twigworth could not have water run off connected to the sewage network. No practical solution about drainage and long term maintenance was forthcoming. The can was kicked down the road to be decided later in the Planning Application stage.
6. This loss of Green Belt could be appealed, and the JCS would be delayed by a call in, which is precisely what the Councils seek to avoid.
SUMMARY
I must applaud the 14 councillors, who stood their ground, and voted against this amendment. Sadly, the rest of Tewkesbury Borough Council were more concerned about revenue, power, and lethargically ending the JCS planning exercise than serving the residents of Twigworth and the commuters on the A38. One issue never raised – the destruction of a village by being engulfed in suburbia, and impacts on downstream communities. It will flood. There will be traffic chaos.
But maybe you will be reassured by the words of Tewkesbury’s monotone planner who kept insisting it’s “deliverable and sustainable”…
31 January 2017 - Tewkesbury Borough Council offices, Gloucester Road, Tewkesbury: meeting at 6pm.
Despite the democratic vote on 25 October 2016 to take Twigworth out of the Joint Core Strategy, the councillors have another proposal before them on 995 houses located from Twigworth and engulfing the A38 end of Down Hatherley. To cope with the traffic generation, a new elevated road to the Northern Bypass parallel to the A38 is proposed. The road may have to be slightly elevated, and would be a scar on the Severn Vale. There is even mention that narrow rural roads such as DH Lane will take the strain, accommodating hundreds more vehicle movements when even two vans cannot even pass each other in the lane. Our local councillors have been splendid throughout this saga and will be there again to make the case. A very tight vote is expected, as other councillors are now keen to wrap up the JCS quickly as not to miss the new homes bonus, and Twigworth could be the sacrifice in this.
We hope some of you will be able to attend in the Public Gallery on 31 Jan 2017
Janauary 2017:
The overwhelming topic of concern for local people is the JCS (Joint Core Strategy to be agreed by Cheltenham & Tewkesbury Boroughs & Gloucester City) and which has now been 8 years in the making.
Cllr. Awford referred back to last October 25th when the packed public gallery at Tewkesbury Council witnessed there being enough councillor support for 400 acres of Twigworth to be withdrawn from an allocation of up to 1000 new houses over the next 15 years. Officers were charged to bring back a new housing strategy without the Twigworth allocation. This was the democratic result of local decision-makers yet it appears that no alternative has been prepared. With much of the depot at Ashchurch now likely to be retained by the military, Twigworth could just be allowed back in.
He believed that he spoke for all local people and stressed the following points
** It is crucial Twigworth stays out. It is constant high water-table ground and a vital “green sponge” for north Gloucester area. Otherwise downstream areas will suffer; drainage schemes are only as good as the outflow facilities and the river flow through Gloucester is problematic.
** The Government inspector had not, so far at least, ordered that Twigworth be built over to deliver the housing numbers only that it “should be considered”.
** Gloucester city still has urban, largely ‘brownfield’ capacity and to stress Twigworth’s Green Belt status may be the best chance to keep it untouched.
** It is council members who run councils; borough officers are not the drivers; they were given a mandate to find more sites, not appear to be boxing in those with contrary opinions.
** Over the next two weeks there will be a high-level JCS meeting and also for the TBC. He will address the latter and all the deliberations will receive his very close scrutiny.
** The next full Borough Council meeting -on January 31st- will be one of the utmost importance.
31 August 2016:
REGARDING... TAYLOR-WIMPEY'S APPLICATION...............
100 property housing development behind A38 off Wallsworth & Sandhurst Lanes
This is to spread news of this application as widely as possible --
DETAILS...
Application number: 16/00904/OUT
Expiry date for comments is SEPTEMBER 15th
Planning officer. <ciaran.power@tewkesbury.gov.uk
Send or post in your comments--
"Tewkesbury Borough Council" , Tewkesbury, GL205TT" (01684 295010) email: developmentapplications@tewkesbury.gov.uk
Next Twigworth PC meeting is next Thursday, Sept 1st. (7pm, Orchard Park office)
(David Bayley, Clerk)
July 2016
Combined newsletter from the Parish Councils for Down Hatherley, Norton and Twigworth
Neighbourhood Development Plan: The three Parish Councils have been preparing a community-based plan, called a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), for the past 3 years. We will soon have this ready for consultation and will announce dates when the proposals can be explained and discussed in village halls, so we can get feedback and can consider refinements. The NDP aims to protect the area’s rural character, safeguard Green Belt, and ensure traffic is managed. Very modest amounts of new housing are proposed in non-Green Belt areas of Twigworth and Norton. The NDP adds detail to the Tewkesbury Borough Plan, currently being updated. As we finalise the draft NDP a major complication has arisen, as below…
Over 2,000 dwellings proposed for Twigworth and Down Hatherley: The Joint Corse Strategy ( http://www.gct-jcs.org/ ) is an over-arching planning policy, allocating houses across the boroughs of Tewkesbury, Cheltenham and Gloucester. In recent months the proposals in the JCS have been examined by a government appointed Inspector, to scrutinise the proposals and authorise or adjust the numbers and locations for the proposed housing. Previously no houses were proposed in the Green Belt of Twigworth, but in May 2016 the Inspector made an interim recommendation which added between 750 and 2,300 dwellings to the JCS Plan, in Twigworth and possibly stretching into Down Hatherley along the A 38 axis and as far down as Frog furlong Lane. These would be additional to 1,300 dwellings already confirmed for Innsworth and the ……being built at Longford.
Response of the 3 Parish Councils to the housing proposals: The 3 Parish Councils are greatly concerned that these proposals would transform the area into a swathe of suburbia. There would be great risk of exacerbated flooding, and traffic seizure on major junctions and through our narrow rural roads. If J10 of the M5 is made into an all-ways access in future, the resulting increased A38 traffic levels would add to congestion caused from large numbers of new houses.
Tewkesbury Borough Council (TBC) has resolved to oppose the proposals. The 3 Parish Councils are supporting our District and County Councillors and TBC staff to challenge the housing plans, showing how the impacts are too severe and cannot be mitigated. The Examination process is complex and we are currently in dispute with the Inspector over the terms by which we can have an input. We are not getting the same access as community representatives elsewhere in the JCS area, and although the proposals are interim ones, and due for consultation, we are challenging what we see as jumping the gun by the JCS Inspector and others, in giving the impression this is a given matter, for example in considering major road linkages, which Highways England is already actively addressing.
Main updates on the Neighbourhood Development Plan and the proposed housing will be paced on local web sites including down-hatherley-village.moonfruit.com
If anyone can offer skills or experience to help our efforts in challenging the proposals, please get in touch: ………..
23 May 2017: Tewkesbury Borough Council is suspected of underhand tactics to shoehorn flood-prone village of Twigworth into plans for mass housing – despite warnings from an international expert on flooding – by George Sharpley, former chair of Twigworth Parish Council, click to open document
Twigworth has been shoehorned back into JCS
YOUR VOICE COUNTS...... please submit your comments no later than 10th April 2017 - deadline ceased
You can respond to this consultation using any one of the options presented below:
Respond by making comments on the consultation document
Respond by uploading a response document
27 March 2017: Combined newsletter from the Parish Councils for Down Hatherley, Norton and Twigworth
information_about_massive_housing_development_proposed_for_north_of_glocuester.pdf
31 January 2017: TEWKESBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL – Joint Core Strategy Meeting
I had the misfortune to be sitting in the public gallery, and observing our Borough Council at work questioning and debating the amendment to the Joint Core Strategy, JCS.
Basically, although a previous meeting (25 October 2016) had democratically rejected the inclusion of Twigworth in the JCS plan, this amendment proposed to bring Twigworth back into the JCS plan. The amendment was passed with a vote of 19 for and 14 against.
If Twigworth was unsuitable last time, why had it become suitable this time, admittedly with a lower number of homes proposed?
No satisfactory explanation was given as to why the resolution from 25 October had not been complied with. Pro-development councillors argued that the JCS Plan would only be sound with Twigworth in, yet the 25 October resolution had asked for Twigworth to be removed and replaced with allocations from elsewhere to make the Plan sound.
THE Q&A SESSION
The question and answer session went into detail with experts giving their opinion about flood risk and traffic flow with technical documents beyond the comprehension of the average person. The hydrology consultant had been commissioned from a consultancy which advises developers, and was given freedom to critique the advice of the hydrologist advising the Neighbourhood Development Plan who has advised against developing at Twigworth because of the degree of risk. Twigworth Parish Council had asked for this adviser to be present to brief the councillors but this request had been refused.
Three main issues emerged …
1. Flood Risk (see also above and below)
2. Traffic Flow ( all questions on the lack of up to date traffic modelling, costs of the mitigation measures, and the nature and affordability of a new road, bringing a grotesque intrusion in the Severn Vale, were comprehensively fudged by a County Council official).
3. Loss of Green Belt (see also below)
THE DEBATE
The debate after the Q&A session, largely forgot the three main issues, and descended into a debate about the consequences of not passing the amendment.
The issues were …
1. The site at Ashchurch was no longer going to be released by the MOD for development, so the JCS were desperate for new sites.
2. The allocation at Twigworth was for Gloucester City’s needs not for Tewkesbury Borough’s needs.
3. If the JCS did not meet their quota of sites for housing need, the Council would lose their ‘New Homes Bonus grant’ (a sizeable amount). This dominated many pro-development Councillors’ arguments even though it is not a planning matter and should not influence the actual decision.
4. If the JCS did not finish their plan, the Government could take direct control, and the Council would lose their power.
5. The new houses at Twigworth could not have water run off connected to the sewage network. No practical solution about drainage and long term maintenance was forthcoming. The can was kicked down the road to be decided later in the Planning Application stage.
6. This loss of Green Belt could be appealed, and the JCS would be delayed by a call in, which is precisely what the Councils seek to avoid.
SUMMARY
I must applaud the 14 councillors, who stood their ground, and voted against this amendment. Sadly, the rest of Tewkesbury Borough Council were more concerned about revenue, power, and lethargically ending the JCS planning exercise than serving the residents of Twigworth and the commuters on the A38. One issue never raised – the destruction of a village by being engulfed in suburbia, and impacts on downstream communities. It will flood. There will be traffic chaos.
But maybe you will be reassured by the words of Tewkesbury’s monotone planner who kept insisting it’s “deliverable and sustainable”…
31 January 2017 - Tewkesbury Borough Council offices, Gloucester Road, Tewkesbury: meeting at 6pm.
Despite the democratic vote on 25 October 2016 to take Twigworth out of the Joint Core Strategy, the councillors have another proposal before them on 995 houses located from Twigworth and engulfing the A38 end of Down Hatherley. To cope with the traffic generation, a new elevated road to the Northern Bypass parallel to the A38 is proposed. The road may have to be slightly elevated, and would be a scar on the Severn Vale. There is even mention that narrow rural roads such as DH Lane will take the strain, accommodating hundreds more vehicle movements when even two vans cannot even pass each other in the lane. Our local councillors have been splendid throughout this saga and will be there again to make the case. A very tight vote is expected, as other councillors are now keen to wrap up the JCS quickly as not to miss the new homes bonus, and Twigworth could be the sacrifice in this.
We hope some of you will be able to attend in the Public Gallery on 31 Jan 2017
Janauary 2017:
The overwhelming topic of concern for local people is the JCS (Joint Core Strategy to be agreed by Cheltenham & Tewkesbury Boroughs & Gloucester City) and which has now been 8 years in the making.
Cllr. Awford referred back to last October 25th when the packed public gallery at Tewkesbury Council witnessed there being enough councillor support for 400 acres of Twigworth to be withdrawn from an allocation of up to 1000 new houses over the next 15 years. Officers were charged to bring back a new housing strategy without the Twigworth allocation. This was the democratic result of local decision-makers yet it appears that no alternative has been prepared. With much of the depot at Ashchurch now likely to be retained by the military, Twigworth could just be allowed back in.
He believed that he spoke for all local people and stressed the following points
** It is crucial Twigworth stays out. It is constant high water-table ground and a vital “green sponge” for north Gloucester area. Otherwise downstream areas will suffer; drainage schemes are only as good as the outflow facilities and the river flow through Gloucester is problematic.
** The Government inspector had not, so far at least, ordered that Twigworth be built over to deliver the housing numbers only that it “should be considered”.
** Gloucester city still has urban, largely ‘brownfield’ capacity and to stress Twigworth’s Green Belt status may be the best chance to keep it untouched.
** It is council members who run councils; borough officers are not the drivers; they were given a mandate to find more sites, not appear to be boxing in those with contrary opinions.
** Over the next two weeks there will be a high-level JCS meeting and also for the TBC. He will address the latter and all the deliberations will receive his very close scrutiny.
** The next full Borough Council meeting -on January 31st- will be one of the utmost importance.
31 August 2016:
REGARDING... TAYLOR-WIMPEY'S APPLICATION...............
100 property housing development behind A38 off Wallsworth & Sandhurst Lanes
This is to spread news of this application as widely as possible --
DETAILS...
Application number: 16/00904/OUT
Expiry date for comments is SEPTEMBER 15th
Planning officer. <ciaran.power@tewkesbury.gov.uk
Send or post in your comments--
"Tewkesbury Borough Council" , Tewkesbury, GL205TT" (01684 295010) email: developmentapplications@tewkesbury.gov.uk
Next Twigworth PC meeting is next Thursday, Sept 1st. (7pm, Orchard Park office)
(David Bayley, Clerk)
July 2016
Combined newsletter from the Parish Councils for Down Hatherley, Norton and Twigworth
Neighbourhood Development Plan: The three Parish Councils have been preparing a community-based plan, called a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), for the past 3 years. We will soon have this ready for consultation and will announce dates when the proposals can be explained and discussed in village halls, so we can get feedback and can consider refinements. The NDP aims to protect the area’s rural character, safeguard Green Belt, and ensure traffic is managed. Very modest amounts of new housing are proposed in non-Green Belt areas of Twigworth and Norton. The NDP adds detail to the Tewkesbury Borough Plan, currently being updated. As we finalise the draft NDP a major complication has arisen, as below…
Over 2,000 dwellings proposed for Twigworth and Down Hatherley: The Joint Corse Strategy ( http://www.gct-jcs.org/ ) is an over-arching planning policy, allocating houses across the boroughs of Tewkesbury, Cheltenham and Gloucester. In recent months the proposals in the JCS have been examined by a government appointed Inspector, to scrutinise the proposals and authorise or adjust the numbers and locations for the proposed housing. Previously no houses were proposed in the Green Belt of Twigworth, but in May 2016 the Inspector made an interim recommendation which added between 750 and 2,300 dwellings to the JCS Plan, in Twigworth and possibly stretching into Down Hatherley along the A 38 axis and as far down as Frog furlong Lane. These would be additional to 1,300 dwellings already confirmed for Innsworth and the ……being built at Longford.
Response of the 3 Parish Councils to the housing proposals: The 3 Parish Councils are greatly concerned that these proposals would transform the area into a swathe of suburbia. There would be great risk of exacerbated flooding, and traffic seizure on major junctions and through our narrow rural roads. If J10 of the M5 is made into an all-ways access in future, the resulting increased A38 traffic levels would add to congestion caused from large numbers of new houses.
Tewkesbury Borough Council (TBC) has resolved to oppose the proposals. The 3 Parish Councils are supporting our District and County Councillors and TBC staff to challenge the housing plans, showing how the impacts are too severe and cannot be mitigated. The Examination process is complex and we are currently in dispute with the Inspector over the terms by which we can have an input. We are not getting the same access as community representatives elsewhere in the JCS area, and although the proposals are interim ones, and due for consultation, we are challenging what we see as jumping the gun by the JCS Inspector and others, in giving the impression this is a given matter, for example in considering major road linkages, which Highways England is already actively addressing.
Main updates on the Neighbourhood Development Plan and the proposed housing will be paced on local web sites including down-hatherley-village.moonfruit.com
If anyone can offer skills or experience to help our efforts in challenging the proposals, please get in touch: ………..
