Mr John Sivyer Miss Caroline Leddy STOCKLAND BRISTOL Chairman Secretary PARISH MEETING Wayland Farm Washers Farm Stockland Bristol Stockland Bristol Near Bridgwater Near Bridgwater TA5 2PY TA5 2PY Telephone: 01278 653805 Email: [email protected] Web Page: http://www.sedgemoor.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=478 Service Manager – Policy Strategy and Development Sedgemoor District Council Bridgwater House King Sqyaure Bridgwater TA6 3AR 18 December 2015 Dear Sir, STAGE 1 LOCAL PLAN CONSULTATION – STOCKLAND BRISTOL PARISH MEETING COMMENTS Introduction On behalf of the Stockland Bristol Parish Meeting, I wish to submit the following comments, based upon my close inspection of the Local Plan Consultation Document as supplied to this Meeting by SDC, and many informal discussions held between myself and those parishioners who have, upon public invite expressed their views and opinions to me. Where I have gained a general consensus of opinion, I report that, and as where this was not forthcoming, I have expressed any divergence of or minority opinion. Whilst these are challenging times, this Parish also regards them as exciting times that offer opportunities for all and this Parish Meeting would like to be involved in whatever small ways possible, in contributing to the shaping of local plans for the future. Question 3 The consensus of opinion regarding the Local Plan Objectives for this question, was that this Parish is in broad agreement with all the Objectives and in particular with regard to: a. Flood Risk (“Approximately half of the Parish is located within Flood Zone 3 and is therefore at high risk of flooding”. Source: Stockland Bristol Planning Advice September 2014, Author: R. Miller, SDC); b. Assistance to create more Sustainable Communities (this somewhat dispersed settlement, suffering from a lack of essential services or facilities and in this regard fully reliant upon adjacent settlements); and Stockland Bristol Parish Meeting Comments Page 1 c. The Promotion of Safe and Sustainable Transport Options and Management of Congestion with particular regard to the reliance upon the car and concerns over access into and out of the village onto the C182, especially during the construction of HPC power station, described in the consultation document as, “... at peak ... will be Europe’s largest construction scheme.” (“The sole point of access into Stockland Bristol is via the C182. With the increased number of vehicles passing the sole access to Stockland Bristol the occupants of these dwellings are likely to feel isolated as it will be more difficult to turn right off of the C182 or exit the Parish onto the C182 as the opportunities to cross the carriageway or join it will be less than existing due to an increase of up to 750 HGV movements a day using the C182”. “As the construction of HPC moves forward and with the Development Consent Order allowing for 24 hour construction, this could exasperate the community’s feeling of ‘isolation’ and have a negative effect on quality of life within the village.” Source: Stockland Bristol Planning Advice 2014, Author: R. Miller, SDC.). Questions 4 and 6 Whilst some, but not all opinion agreed with the analysis that led to Question 4 and the need for a considerable growth in house building in the District, there was a consensus opinion of strong views against the suggestion of Dispersed Development, Option D, which would as the consultation document states, “... see a step change in the scale of development in the more rural settlements in the district” and an “increase reliance on the car given the challenges of improving rural public transport.” Parish opinion also agreed with the consultation document, that the result of Dispersed Development would be “... adverse landscape impacts” and “... still the risk of flooding”, e.g. in this small Parish. It is a strongly held opinion that to propose housing development in this very small rural settlement, would be quite inappropriate as it lacks essential facilities and services and since the Local Plan Consultation Document specifically makes the case for affordable housing, for starter homes and for specialist housing for the aged (Stockland already has a Care Home in the Old Vicarage) and the disabled; Stockland Bristol would be a quite unsuitable location for all these categories of housing, quite apart from the lack of availability of land upon which to build. Recognising the problem of flood risk in Bridgwater and the expected growing congestion when parishioners attempt to drive into Bridgwater, this Parish favours Option C, particularly as it might help to sustain the services currently available in the larger village settlements such as nearby Cannington. Stockland’s ranking of Options would thus be: Option C 1 Option B 2 Option A 3 Option D 4 whilst at the same time looking at other ways to grow a sense of community in the village. Hence the proposed initiative to found a Community Group to undertake projects to improve, enhance and sustain village life; and support for current activities such as the monthly Village Walks, the annual Carol Singing and the regular care and maintenance of roadside verges, drains, ditches and walls and the planting of spring bulbs and other plants in the various public places within the village by individual volunteers. Questions 7 and 8 Whilst Parish opinion does see the sense of creating a revised settlement hierarchy for the reasons given in the consultation document it is however worried over the lack of development boundaries for Tier 5 settlements. Given that the boundary between any village, hamlet and countryside in Tier 5 settlements is even more indistinct than in other Tier settlements, it seems Stockland Bristol Parish Meeting Comments Page 2 to us that the case for development boundaries is as important if not even more so in the case of Tier 5 settlements. With regard to Question 8, the strongly held opinion of the Parishioners of Stockland, without any expressed dissent, is that Stockland Bristol should remain in the category of Countryside, and not be in the Tier 5 category for the following reasons: a. It lacks any essential services or facilities; b. It is dispersed along a road that from end to end is approximately 1 mile in length; c. It is wholly reliant upon adjacent settlements, i.e. Combwich and Cannington for all essential services and facilities: e.g. the Parish Meeting has to meet in Hill House Conference Centre, Otterhampton; the nearest shop, public house, primary school, children’s play area and bus service to Bridgwater is in Combwich; and the nearest GP surgery and other shops are in Cannington. d. To be classified as a Tier 5 settlement with therefore, no development boundary in place, would possibly make it vulnerable (given the geography of the village), to a form of ‘ribbon development’ and it might prove difficult to oppose plans for inappropriate housing, i.e. affordable homes, for the reasons given in answer to Questions 4 and 6. e. Stockland Bristol has much more in common to those nearby settlements, though somewhat smaller, described in the consultation document as Countryside, e.g. Steart and Over Stowey. f. “Stockland Bristol is a small rural Parish that is located in the countryside.” Source: Stockland Bristol Planning Advice 2014, Author: R. Miller, SDC. Question 9 A long-held opinion by many in the village of Stockland Bristol, is that the C182 road is ‘not fit for purpose’ when HPC is constructed; a development referred to in the consultation document as: “... at peak... will be Europe’s largest construction scheme.” Given that such opinion has not in the past informed planning consent being granted for HPC to be constructed, the Parish Meeting of Stockland Bristol wish to raise concerns (referred to in SDC’s Planning Advice to Stockland document) about the safety and ability for villagers to enter and exit the village from and onto the C182. We draw especial concern regarding the easterly junction into the village (known locally as Biffen’s Corner) and signposted to Steart with regard to the very poor visibility at this junction in respect of the recently generated increased traffic flow turning into and out of the Steart road following the development of the WWT Steart Marshes, which will be made much more hazardous when HPC is under construction with a substantial increase in traffic that this will occasion. Question 10 The Parish Meting of Stockland Bristol agrees with and supports the Council’s suggested approach, particularly that which states that development should be located where it “minimises the need to travel”, “... promotes greater self containment of settlements “ and “... protects and enhances the quality of the natural, built and historic environment”. Question 11 Stockland Bristol Parish Meeting Comments Page 3 Many parishioners in the village of Stockland Bristol support what are generally known as ‘green policies’ and thus support the Objectives and hopefully commitments as set out in the existing Core Strategy Approach. These Parishioners would like to see SDC supporting a greater effort to re-cycle waste, especially plastic; to consider the construction of more on-shore wind turbines; a greater encouragement to householders and builders to install solar panels and a stipulation that all new house builds ensure maximum insulation and where possible, ground heat extraction pumps and re-cycling of hot waste water. Question 12 The unanimous view of those parishioners of Stockland Bristol that have responded to the Meeting’s consultation invitation to comment, is that the village should remain in the category of Countryside for the reasons already detailed in our response to the consultation document (Questions 7 and 8). One of the reasons for this is the lack of a development boundary for Tier 5 settlements into which it is proposed to categorise this village.