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Update on Legal Action by NANT re Adastral Park

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No Adastral New Town Ltd (NANT) have been holding up Suffolk Coastal’s core strategy of establishing 2,000 new homes at Adastral Park by their legal actions against the local plan. An update on the latest position can be viewed here which states that whilst NANT’s leave to appeal against the High Court judgement has been refused by the Court of Appeal on 16 June, NANT have now asked for an oral hearing to challenge that decision. The longer that Suffolk Coastal’s core strategy is held up the more likely that housing developments outside of the local plan are given the go-ahead due to pressure to build new homes for the ever increasing local population.

Persimmon’s EIA Scoping Opinion Request – 3 weeks to give comments

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Kesgrave Town Council have passed on a notice from Suffolk Coastal District Council (SCDC) Planning that they have received a request by Savills dated 5 June 2014 (on behalf of Persimmon Homes) for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Opinion for the erection of up to 300 dwellings and associated public open space, landscape and infrastructure on land east and west of Bell Lane, Kesgrave. The ‘Scoping Opinion’ is aimed at ensuring the developer is aware of all aspects that need to be included within their EIA which would accompany any formal planning application.

SCDC Planning need comments back from the Town Council by 2 July i.e. only 3 weeks time for the Council to compile comments from local residents and submit them to SCDC Planning. Please contact the Town Council as soon as possible with any relevant comments on what should be covered in Persimmon’s EIA that isn’t properly mentioned in Savills’ Scoping Report below.

The documents related to the EIA Scoping Opinion are as follows:

Savills Scoping Report – Covering Letter – 04.06.14

Savills Scoping Report – 05.06.14 – FINAL

Appendix 2 – Screening Opinion

Appendix 3 – Screening Direction

Appendix 1 (Map):

Appendix 1 - Site Plan

Note: As per this earlier blog post, an SCDC Planning Services decreed that an EIA Statement must accompany any planning application. Regulation 13 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 makes provision for a prospective developer or their agent to request a formal opinion from the relevant planning authority on the information to be supplied in the Environmental Statement (ES) (known as a ‘scoping opinion’). Scoping is used to help identify where there is the potential for interaction between a project and the environment and it allows the applicant to be clear about those effects that the planning authority and other relevant parties consider to be potentially the most significant, and upon which the ES should focus.

Community Consultation on 12 Dec 2013 re Persimmon Development at Long Strops from Bell Lane

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KAGE have today also received notification from Will Lusty at Savills about the forthcoming Community Consultation on behalf of their client Persimmon. Mr Lusty was the point of contact at Savills for the Public Consultation in February so he will be well aware of the issues already raised about housing development on Long Strops. He also says that ‘Following the public exhibition that was held in February 2013, and having reviewed the community feedback received at that exhibition, the decision has been taken to progress proposals for development of the land to the east of Bell Lane, instead’. Our assumption is that Savills/Persimmon feel it will be easier to get permission for the ‘Bell Lane’ half of Long Strops first (and then presumably the ‘Dobbs Lane/Millennium Field’ half later).

Please do note that the proposed development is contrary to Suffolk Coastal District’s Local Plan as per point 4.14 on page 66 which sets out how they plan to satisfy the expected need for the creation of 2,320 new homes from 2010 to 2027 – this mainly being done via 2,000 new homes at Adastral Park. This part of the Local Plan is however subject to judicial review in the High Court on 16 and 17 January 2014 after NANT lodged a legal claim earlier this year and it is perhaps hope of further delay in the Council’s ability to deliver the new homes at Adastral Park that has led to Persimmon’s fresh ‘assault’ on the fields at Long Strops. If the proposed Adastral Park development survives the High Court review and is fully cleared to proceed, one would question why Savills/Persimmon would want to pursue their Long Strops proposal when the District Council have set out where expected demand for new homes will be satisfied over the next 14 years because as such the Planning Department would presumably recommend any proposal at Long Strops be rejected by the Council.

A couple of further things to bear in mind are that i) as per point 4.16 of the Local Plan it appears there will be a detailed Area Action Plan prepared to assess more exactly the number of new homes to be built at Adastral Park so it is possible the 2,000 homes may have to be scaled back and ii) the Local Plan does warn, at point 4.17, that longer term there may well be a need for further new homes and they intend reviewing their Local Plan with the aim of setting out by 2015 options for further future development.

The Local Plan and other Core Strategy documents can be accessed from here.

Millennium Sports Ground Pavilion

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Followers of KAGE may be interested in the following article which is to be placed on the Kesgrave Town Council website:

Millennium Sports Ground Pavilion

The Millennium Sports Ground Pavilion is situated on the Sports Ground accessed via Millennium Way, off Century Drive. Council had for some time considered its future as the internal arrangements do not lend the building to general community use. The grounds it sits on is Public Open Space and this cannot support football other than for teams of young children. The building has therefore for some years been running at a considerable loss. The Town Council held a consultation in October 2012 for nearby residents to explain the alternatives for the Pavilion long term, and then in the November issue of Kesgrave News invited all residents to comment.

Understandably residents views differ but the majority were in favour of the Council’s proposals. So in the interest of the community as a whole Council took the decision to go ahead with raising the Precept to in part fund some alterations to extend the building and to alter it internally. The intention had been to submit a planning application in early March but the presentation by Persimmon led Council to believe an application for housing South of Long Strops was to be made at the end of March. The Town Council therefore delayed their own application to assess the implications of this.

The Persimmon application was not forthcoming within the the expected timescale and it is understood Suffolk Coastal have written to the developer robustly stating that the proposal would not be looked on favourably.

If permission is to be granted for works to be undertaken at the Pavilion the intention is for the altered building to be available for the beginning of 2014. A decision had to be taken therefore to submit the application without further delay. Some changes to the internal arrangements within the original proposals have been made, and the application was lodged earlier in May. As with any planning application all the statutory consultees have been advised by Suffolk Coastal, and the plans are available to be viewed at both Melton and the Town Council Offices.