I have thought long and hard about the proposition of a Neighborhood Plan and in principle, yes i believe -in principle - it is a good idea. However, as recent comments by members of the steering group have shown a complete lack of understanding to what the plan should contain and whats its purpose should be i am forced to sadly withdraw my support for this particular plan. The starting point of any plan is to protect the area in which it serves. The plan is a long term document that will impact on the area for generations to come, not just short term. In this working group the starting point for the plan has been set to provide around 1400 houses over a five year period. The starting point should be ZERO new houses. Before any new houses are considered the infrastructure of the local community should be audited fully to ensure we have provision for the existing population. Audits such as sewer system capacity, clean water supply, broadband bandwidth connectivity, transport links, road traffic flow, medical services and all other public services and facilities. Anyone who is a user of the Ashfields centre will already experience the over subscription problems there, allowing for 1400 more households over five years in sandbach will collapse that service. Anyone trying to commute to work will know the mayhem around the area and the gridlock we already have, it doesnt take a genius to realise that huge housing developments will simply further impact to that gridlock. We are constantly told that any housing developments have to be sustainable and yet not one member of the group can actually explain what is meant by sustainable. Indeed, Cllr Sam Corcoran has questioned the higher council at CEC and fallen without an answer to date, how can you write a plan if you dont know what the requirements in law are to provide housing? Further, as has been seen by many comments on the group they are unclear as to what funding will remain and what funding is being replaced. There is complete confusion by the members over Community Infrastructure Levey and Section 106 funding. Many comments on this issue have clearly just been made up on the hoof as the writers show they have no knowledge of the matters. A Neighborhood Plan takes years to write and prepare, it has to consider hundreds of factors and should take on the full views of as many residents of the area as possible. Considerations from the health authority, education departments, voluntary and third sector providers, ONS data modelling, highways and utilities companies all have to be consulted and considered too. We are being rushed into a corner to provide more housing and sign off on a document that isnt properly thought through or executed correctly. We are told that if you are not in the first event this coming Friday your views wont be considered as favourably. We are told that Friday evening was the only time available for the Town Hall. We are told that the process needs to be as quick as possible. We could have easily adopted the old borough plan as a stop gap a few years back to protect our town, but this wasnt done because of lack of knowledge, lets not make the same mistake by rushing into this plan without considering all factors. And now anyone who tries to correct a point of law, criticism of any mistakes or wrong information is threatened with being excluded from the group and barred from public meetings. This is not the spirit of a Neighborhood Plan, far from it. Sandbach is a historic town with wonderful character, but this is in danger of being lost for ever. Take it under consideration and take our time to get this right!.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 07:27:05 +0000
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