SWDP Consultation Event

The Welland consultation event for the new SWDP is scheduled for Friday 14th Oct 2011 from 2pm to 8pm in the village hall. However the format is not clear and in order for us to have a meaningful discussion with the planning representatives and know how to get our point over, some may feel it useful to 'look-in' on one of the events local to Welland to gauge how to "play the room" when it comes to our own meeting on 14th Oct. Those events local to Welland are:

Monday 26th Sept Hanley Swan Village Hall
Wednesday 28th Sept Rushwick Village Hall
Upton Upon Severn 29th Sept Memorial Hall
Hartlebury 5th Oct Village Hall
Kempsey 10th Oct Village Hall
Malvern Wed 12th Oct Village Hall

All events take place from 2pm to 8pm

Alan Madsen
Chairman
Welland Residents Action Group.

Hello Alan,

Any confirmation yet of when the next meeting is (14th?), what funding is required from us, action we can be taking as individuals, lobbying list??? It feels like time is slipping past & there are no visible signs of activity, though I am sure there is a great deal being done by those who are leading this on our behalf.
I understand orchestrated effort & action is better than individual, so a list of " get on & do" and "recommend hold fire" from our Head of Communications would be good, & guidance on points to raise on 14th?
The head of steam at the first meeting needs stoking regularly, as you know better than most, or numbers rapidly dwindle and we resort to moaning in the corner to no effect.

Best Regards

Jane Dalton, Oldfields

Have no fear since the last meeting the committee has been very busy getting our ammunition ready, doing some research and sorting out a bank account etc. There is nothing for you to do this week but we (the cttee) are preparing the ground for the consultation event on the 14th. There is a general meeting to pass on the actions that we need all members of the WRAG to follow up on so the whole group is ready for 14 Oct and there will be a notice going out in the next couple of days calling such for Tue 11 Oct. There is nothing to prep in advance just make every effort to come along on the 11th and pass the word to your friends.

Hope this puts your mind at rest.

Alan

We will be there.- and thanks for the update
Jane

I went to the SWDP meeting in the village hall and I thought it was really good. I buttonholed one of the planning reps and grilled him for 40 minutes about all kinds of aspects of the plan and he was very forthcoming. I came away not only with a paper copy of the SWDP, which is a bit of a tome but easily read, and also a sense that things are very much in Welland's favour in relation to this Lawn Farm proposal.

The maps showed a very clear idea of where development is planned, and the reasoning behind the sites was sound. The guy said in no uncertain terms that they take a dim view of any planned development that bulges out of village boundaries into open countryside. Large, inorganic development is something they will be doing but it is clearly marked out on their SWDP maps for all to see; an enormous 2,400 house development on the south side of Worcester being a good example.

He said Welland has not been considered for an allocation up to this time despite it being a type 1 village, because of certain features that make it unsuitable: liable to flooding, up against the AONB (the hills) and up against the sensitive area of the common. I felt that Roger's proposal had unfortunately turned the eye of the SWDP towards Welland, as the Eye of Sauron is turned towards Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of The Rings film when Bilbo mistakenly puts the ring on (for the geeky ones amongst us) and that meant that we would inevitably be allocated our SWDP development in due course. But I really do feel now, after the consultation, that it is less likely that I thought and feared. Yes, I still intend to do what I can by making suggestions on the consultation forum but I have greater faith in the people behind the SWDP that I did before to do right by Welland.

What I think Roger's proposal will do, whilst failing to come up trumps for him, is open the way for more leniency from the planning authorities to smaller developments in our village - 10 houses here, 20 there - but after this unhappy and unsettled time I would bet that many of us would be very happy with that sort of approach rather than the awful one on the table at the moment. I would cynically and with my tongue firmly in my cheek suggest that if you have a piece of land in the heart of Welland good for half a dozen houses, now is the time to think about that pension nest egg......

Sarah

SarahR wrote:I went to the SWDP meeting in the village hall and I thought it was really good. I buttonholed one of the planning reps and grilled him for 40 minutes about all kinds of aspects of the plan and he was very forthcoming. I came away not only with a paper copy of the SWDP, which is a bit of a tome but easily read, and also a sense that things are very much in Welland's favour in relation to this Lawn Farm proposal.

The maps showed a very clear idea of where development is planned, and the reasoning behind the sites was sound. The guy said in no uncertain terms that they take a dim view of any planned development that bulges out of village boundaries into open countryside. Large, inorganic development is something they will be doing but it is clearly marked out on their SWDP maps for all to see; an enormous 2,400 house development on the south side of Worcester being a good example.

He said Welland has not been considered for an allocation up to this time despite it being a type 1 village, because of certain features that make it unsuitable: liable to flooding, up against the AONB (the hills) and up against the sensitive area of the common. I felt that Roger's proposal had unfortunately turned the eye of the SWDP towards Welland, as the Eye of Sauron is turned towards Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of The Rings film when Bilbo mistakenly puts the ring on (for the geeky ones amongst us) and that meant that we would inevitably be allocated our SWDP development in due course. But I really do feel now, after the consultation, that it is less likely that I thought and feared. Yes, I still intend to do what I can by making suggestions on the consultation forum but I have greater faith in the people behind the SWDP that I did before to do right by Welland.

What I think Roger's proposal will do, whilst failing to come up trumps for him, is open the way for more leniency from the planning authorities to smaller developments in our village - 10 houses here, 20 there - but after this unhappy and unsettled time I would bet that many of us would be very happy with that sort of approach rather than the awful one on the table at the moment. I would cynically and with my tongue firmly in my cheek suggest that if you have a piece of land in the heart of Welland good for half a dozen houses, now is the time to think about that pension nest egg......

Sarah

Following up on feedback and information received from the planners who led the SWDP event in our village hall last Friday, I want to highlight a key issue. Many of you may well have noticed that there is a presumption in the draft SWDP specifically against any large scale development that is outside of the Welland settlement boundary. Indeed several of the planners at the event seemed bemused that a developer would consider there is an opportunity to do just that in Welland. Please note that neither the draft SWDP, nor the views expressed by an individual MHDC Planning Officer, in no way prohibits any plan being put forward by Cerda. The plans presented to us on Friday were only a draft and are still subject to amendment or change. Accordingly, as part of the ongoing consultation process, Cerda have a legitimate right to put forward alternative proposals and request amendments to the draft in their favour. Please be in no doubt the fight to have the voices of Welland residents heard has a long way to go and responding to the draft SWDP in a manner which will protect our village from unnecessary and unwarranted development is only an initial, albeit vital, first step. Basically be in no doubt whatsoever that the SWDP can and likely will be subject to changes. It is up to residents to make sure those changes support our position.