The Annual Parish Meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Monday 16th April 2018 in the School Hall. The Chairman’s Annual Report is attached for your information and will be circulated to all homes in the village this weekend.

Following the meeting the Leader and Chief Executive of the County Council will be present to answer your questions about the proposed development at St George’s Barracks of up to 3,000 new homes and a 100 Hectare quarry. If you wish to express your concerns do please attend the meeting –  if you have not read it I have also attached the Joint Working Group’s Concerns papers below . This will be the last time to express your views before the County Council publish the Master Plan for the development. The development will have a huge impact on the village and at present the proposals are rolling forward with little resistance.

PBG CUMMINGS

Tel: 01780 720124   :  pbgcummings@gmail.com

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT FY2017 – 18 V1.2

CONCERNS PAPER V1.1

On Friday 23rd March the Chairs of North Luffenham and Edith Weston Parish Councils met our MP, Sir Alan Duncan to discuss the Barrack Development programme and our recently published  ‘Concerns’ paper. We had a wide-ranging discussion and in particular raised the following issues:

Scale – Proposal to build up to 3,00 homes – compared to the housing requirement noted in the local plan.
Representation – Refusal to allow Parish Councils to be part of the decision making process
Governance – Perception that the project is being ‘driven’ by RCC Executive and MoD rather than elected representatives
Consultation – Perception that the public’s concerns are not being addressed properly by the County Council. RCC.
Buffer Zones – The Need for effective buffer zones between existing villages and the development and the new development and the proposed quarry
Officers’ Mess site – a lost opportunity to build a Hotel and leisure centre to attract inward investment and tourism to the County
Style of affordable homes – Proposal to build 3 storey ‘blocks’ to provide ‘affordable’ homes.
Is RCC, as a public body, the appropriate organisation to manage a huge commercial development such as this. Is it resourced for this type of complex ‘business’?.

Sir Alan was very receptive to our concerns and assured us that he would discuss these with the County Council.

If you have not yet read the Concerns Paper,  it is attached:

CONCERNS PAPER V1.1

PBG CUMMINGS

Tel: 01780 720124 / pbgcummings@gmail.com

The development of St George’s Barracks is continuing apace and we now await the publication of a draft Master Plan which will identify  what the outline proposals are. Local consultation seems a low priority for RCC and therefore the Parish Council are keen to keep Villagers up to speed with developments. I will be holding the Annual Parish Meeting on 16th April and will ensure that you get a chance to raise your concerns at that meeting. I am meeting Sir Alan Duncan MP tomorrow to discuss the ‘Concerns Paper’ that we published earlier in the week. Meanwhile the following notes help to show the pace of progress.

Yesterday I attended RCC to listen to the Cabinet discussion on the development of the Officers’ Mess site. The relevant discussion paper is attached. It was agreed by Cabinet at that meeting to allocate a sum of £850,000 to enter into negotiations to acquire the site (4 Hectares) by the County Council with an intent to build 70+ homes on that site. The proposal is that the Council will acquire the site and take forward the development outside of the main St George’s project. It was confirmed that at least 30% of these homes would be ‘affordable homes’ which included starter homes.  The funding will be required to “develop proposals at The Officers’ Mess up to the point prior to the issue of tenders for the contractor that will deliver the works element of the project.”

Barracks Paper – 5 Mar 18

Today I received the following note from CE RCC:

I am pleased to say that a bid for national funding for investment in infrastructure to support the redevelopment of the St George’s barracks has progressed to the next stage. The bid is primarily designed to ensure that development on the site happens in a sustainable way with the appropriate investment in infrastructure such as roads, transport. schools and healthcare.  Speaking after the announcement was made, Rutland County Council Leader Oliver Hemsley said: “The HIF is a new source of funding set up specifically to support local authorities who are planning for sustainable housing growth in their areas.

“We’re clear that any future development on the St George’s site must have the necessary infrastructure needed to support both new and existing communities.”Stage two of the HIF bidding process involves the development of a business case to support the proposal for funding before a final decision on the allocation of funding is made in summer 2018.

Rutland County Council and the Ministry of Defence have been working and will continue to work with local communities as part of the planning for St George’s. Focus group meetings held in January were attended by more than 150 people and local communities will soon be asked share their views about the first draft of a high level master plan for the site.

PBG CUMMINGS  Chair NLPC

Tel: 01780 720124

This evening I forwarded the following note to Oliver Hemsley, Leader RCC and Helen Briggs – CEO RCC:

“We write as the Chairs of North Luffenham and Edith Weston Parish Councils.

Please find attached a paper written by the Joint Edith Weston / North Luffenham St George’s Barracks Working Group. The paper is an initial draft of a document that will evolve over time. Its aim is to encompass the concerns of our respective Parishioners regarding the proposed development at St George’s Barracks. We would be grateful if this document could be shared with the team writing the First Draft Master Plan, to enable them to take into account some of the very real concerns and considerations of those that are likely to be most affected by the development. We will circulate the document widely including all County Councillors and all Parish Councils.

We will look forward to your proposed consultation to enable us to expand upon the themes contained within the initial draft paper.

Regards

Paul Cummings – Chair North Luffenham Parish Council
Norman Milne – Edith Weston Parish Council

Note to Parishioners:

Please scan the attached paper and let me have your ideas for further issues that should be included in the next draft of the document. Of course at present we have yet to have sight of the initial draft of the Master Plan document that will tell us much more of what is proposed. The Joint Parish Councils’ Working Group have met frequently and have been pressing RCC for further consultation before any Plans are published. This has now been agreed and we will be meeting in the near future.

How can you influence the process ?? Might I suggest that you write to Sir Alan Duncan your MP and to the local papers to express your concern – you might find some useful themes in the Concerns Paper. To start the ball rolling I have written to the Mercury this week expressing our concern about the scale of the project and highlighting the fact that according to RCC’s Local Plan these homes are not required in the period 2016 – 2036.

PBG CUMMINGS – Tel: 720124

CONCERNS PAPER V1.1

The Chairs of North Luffenham and Edith Weston Parish Councils have written to RCC on behalf of our respective communities to express our concern at the proposed scale of the development of St George’s Barracks (1,500 – 3,000 new homes). We commented that the proposal to build a new town, the size of Uppingham, in an area which has hitherto been predominantly rural in nature, had created near unanimous opposition to what is being proposed. We indicated that there is strong support in the local area for a development of no more than 500 houses phased over an extended period. The letter has been released to Local press and a number of radio interviews have been arranged. A copy of our letter is attached:

Development of St George’s Barracks – Mar 18

We have been advised that Rutland County Council’s Cabinet intend to consider a proposal to release £850,000 of funds to support the redevelopment of the Officers’ Mess Site at St George’s Barracks. The full details of the proposal are in the attached document.

Summary of Proposals: The Officers’ Mess site is a 4 Hectare (10 Acre) brownfield site, which is adjacent to, but entirely separate from the Barracks on the South side of Edith Weston Road. The proposal is to build about 70 homes on the site of which at least 30% will be affordable homes. The intent is that Council acquires the site and takes forward the development separately from, and in advance of the full Barracks Development. The Council have committed to consulting with Parish Councils and the Community to understand our ‘ambitions’ for the site and has committed to holding meetings with stakeholder groups to set out their proposals and to understand and mitigate our concerns, which where practicable will be incorporated into the design.

Action by the Community: This development of at least 70 new homes on a high value site overlooking the Chater Valley, is going to have a significant impact upon our village communities and Edith Weston in particular. Bearing in mind that this initiative is to be funded by local authority money, we need to ensure that we ‘hold the Council’s feet to the fire’ and that our concerns are heard. Silence will inevitably be considered as acceptance or at least acquiescence. The Parish Councils of both villages will continue to seek to influence the Council’s decisions and to represent your views.

Please do read the document.

Barracks Paper – 5 Mar 18