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LDF - "A Step Back." 22/3/11 |
St Edmundsbury's list of foul ups did not end there. While visiting the drop in session for KedingtonNews.co.uk a chance conversation between myself and Barbara Surrage (who was attending as part of the campaign by residents of Calford Green to fight against that part of Kedington Parish being engulfed by Haverhill) was overheard by a member of staff when we mentioned the "Short presentation" at seven O'clock that evening. The member of staff was surprised to hear that we were expecting such a presentation as there was not one due, with the person giving the presentation set to give it at another event in Hopton. She was informed that it was the understanding of Kedington News that as many of the Kedington Parish Council as could attend the presentation were planning to as well as others with an interest. Also that it was advertised on the poster. She asked to see the poster and I volunteered to go fetch a photo copy of the poster I had at home. Whilst fetching it I also alerted The Parish Clerk who accompanied me back to the Community Centre. She also informed St Edmundsbury staff that the presentation was both advertised and expected. There was a series of phone calls from the St Edmundsbury staff. At first we were told the only person prepared to give the presentation was unavailable because he was giving the presentation at a similar event in Hopton. Then after further phone calls Ian Poole, Planning Policy Manager at St Edmundsbury agreed to give the presentation. He was on a train to London, but agreed to turn around and head for Kedington.
Meanwhile the Parish Clerk also raised another issue that had come to her attention. As mentioned in a previous article the new LDF plan now recommends for all housing to be built on the site of the soon to be closed Stourmead sheltered housing estate. This was in early documentation referred to with the serial number AS03 but in later documents including the large map St Edmundsbury staff had brought with them as AS04. The numbers are important for submitting comments on the plans for the area to the consultation. More phone calls were made by the drop in session staff and it was concluded that AS03 was the correct number to use and AS04 was somewhere in Wickhambrook.
Staff at the drop in Session were also able to tell KedingtonNews.co.uk that the current set of consultations will not cover the expansion of Haverhill, any relief road linked to the plan which many are concerned will threaten Calford Green or any proposed buffer zone between Kedington and Haverhill. These subjects will be addressed in consultations taking place in the summer.
About 20 people turned up to see the presentation which was given by Ian Poole, Planning Policy Manager at St Edmundsbury. The presentation dwelt mostly on the subject of what this round of consultations were for and what sort of comments were applicable to the consultation. It was stated that the documents being consulted on can now be found in the Library (they arrived there on Tuesday morning) and online at www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk and there is guidance on responding to the consultation with the documentation. Mr Poole also stressed that if anybody needed assistance they should contact the St Edmundsbury Planning office and they will do all they can to help fill out the paperwork which even Mr Poole described as "complex". Mr Poole also added that if anyone felt they did not want to go to them for advice they also had the option of going to Planning Aid. Planning Aid provides free, independent and professional town planning advice and support to communities and individuals who cannot afford to pay planning consultant fees.
It was also explained that responses should include proper planning reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the LDF proposals. In response to this questions about whether the village sewerage system could cope with more houses as it was already having problems along School Road and at the bottom of Silver Street despite claims from Anglia Water that the system could cope. Mr Poole explained that if a submission was made stating evidence that the sewerage system was not currently fit for purpose or expansion then the situation would have to be investigated and it could be that demands for the sewerage system to be improved before extra houses were built may be included in the LDF.
Questions were also asked by residents of Calford Green with relation to plans to expand the Kedington side of Haverhill and the related road around the eastern side of the town. In tense exchanges fears were particularly expressed about the route of the road, but Mr Poole insisted that no route was currently on the table. He also re-iterated that this question was not part of the current consultation.
Those attending the meeting also raised questions about the short notice given for what had been a very informative presentation. Mr Poole suggested that they had not been able to give notice earlier because they had not had confirmation on the hall booking until after Easter (i.e. some time last week). However Kedington News has been informed that the hall was booked a week or so before that. Also it is at odds with earlier comments of St Edmundsbury Staff at the Drop in session who said that they had wanted to put out the publicity for all the sessions running in villages across the bough over the next month all at once and had only got the last of the halls in another village booked on Tuesday. Mr Pool also suggested that it was common for it only to be a small number to turn up at such meetings, but it was then pointed out to him that the last meeting the village had discussing the LDF filled the school hall with over 150 people with the drop in session for the last round also pulling in far more than the 14 that had turned up during the afternoon. As a result of these complaints Mr Pool committed to make sure that the display from the drop in session would be available in the Library and agreed to try and arrange a further session at a later date, after which the Parish council intend to hold a general meeting to discuss the plans.
At the end of the meeting many of those in attendance thanked Ian Poole for coming to give the presentation on such short notice and with such clarity.
Article by M.P.Upton - 14/4/10
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