Warwickshire County Council push for higher Borough Plan target

The public inquiry into the Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Plan starts with 3 days of hearings on 30th August 2017. I have obtained a copy of the county council response to the Borough Plan produced for it by Amec Foster Wheeler in order to promote housing on WCC owned Top Farm.  It also includes may general comments on the plan.

see WCC response

What is most shocking in the response is the county council trying to push the housing target up to 15,064 homes. We already have no way to get the infrastructure needed for the existing target.

wcc_con1

There is lots to worry about in the response from County council, including their desire to oppose reasonable requirements over sustainable design and consultation. Other parts of Warwickshire will have more sustainable homes than in Nuneaton & Bedworth. How can that be fair.
wcc_be3

And Warwickshire County council want Nuneaton to be built right up to A5. They do not think we should even keep a strip of countryside or views of Mount Judd

wcc_views

map showing areas.

map

Borough Plan submission meetings

The Labour controlled Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council decided to hold back to back cabinet and Full council meetings to approve sending the crazy borough plan to the planning inspector.
video of cabinet meeting

video of full council

There are also council videos but these have gaps in the audio.

My response and plan

Below are links to the five part response I made to the Borough Plan consultation.

I have taken onboard as much as possible from my meetings and independent consultation. In my alternative option I want to reduce the current housing target to around 5,000. From existing plans the council has potential sites for around 3,300 homes. Land East of the new railway station at Bermuda seems the most sustainable location for allocation that cannot fit in the existing urban areas. I have also proposed the planners look at some housing east of Judkins and opposite the Acorn Pub.

Key to making it sustainable is good cheap bus services, cycle routes and 3 new railway staions.

I think it should be for people in Bedworth and Bulkington to finds some land for around 1/3rd of the allocation (that is around 700 homes).

map
map of alternatives sites

Independent Borough plan consultation events

I am running my own Borough plan consultation events after being banned from informing residents about alternative options at official events.

The first event is at Weddington Church hall, on Church lane Weddington on Wednesday 14th August between 6 PM and 8 PM. This event will be more of a drop in session. The second is at Ambleside sports club on Monday 19th August between 7 PM and 9 PM. This event will start with a short talk followed by “drop in event”.

I have also put the powerpoint on Youtube   Click here to see Video of Powerpoint

Keith’s independent public consultation

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council are currently running a consultation into their “preferred options” for our Borough Plan. I do not believe the process has been fair, honest or democratic. The official consultation is very difficult and fails to give the public an easy way to comment on the scale and location of development.

Please take part in this independent consultation, which will be submitted, to the council as part of the process.

http://www.smart-survey.co.uk/s/keith1

BP+hallam
This is Labour’s Borough plan for 3000 homes (orange) plus Hallams plan for 726 (pink)

22nd May protest

Before 6PM cabinet meeting (i.e from 5:30PM outside Town Hall).

At 6PM on Wednesday 22nd May the Labour Cabinet will meet to approve a sham consultation on the Borough Plan. It will only have one option.The protest is for anyone who wants to prevent the consultation being a sham.

The Labour proposal is to add 3,000 homes to the North of Weddington/St Nicolas Park. This is in addition to 726 homes proposed by Hallams off Weddington Rd. 1000 homes are allocated to Arbury, 676 to goodyers end and 518 at Gipsy Lane. Also in the maps are some strange roads that may get built out to warehousing. One goes from the end of Golf drive to Eastboro way.

Contact keith@openplan.org.uk
Cllr Keith Kondakor c/o 19 Gloucester Close, CV11 6FU

 

 

 

 

Bedworth Woodlands Rural Fringe

The borough plan preferred option consultation has been delayed until after the county council elections. I suspect the vast housing & employment targets will require the loss of land at the edge of Bedworth Woodlands. The latest assessment of countryside in the borough shows parcel NB21 to be the least “constrained”. In English that means the one at greatest risk. Adjacent parcel NB20 also scores lower than many other potential sites. This may be why it is impossible to publish the consultation paper at this time.

nb20_21NB20 This parcel of land is defined by Bedworth Lane to the north; Woodlands Lane to the east, development at Bedworth Heath to the south and the borough boundary to the west.
NB21This parcel is defined by field boundaries along the boundary of the Green Belt designation to the north, the A444 to the east; Woodlands Road to the south &
west.