14th June 2012
Background information from Vice Chairman - Ray O'Luby
TROIKA PLANNING APPLICATION 7-2012-20006-B, MAY 2012 (Renewal of Planning Application 7-2004-20006-A) to develop the local green belt at Riverside Avenue and Holdenhurst Village Road for vehicles - cars, park and ride buses, and lorries - ancillary buildings, flyover, and slip roads at the A338.
13 June 2012
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Troika Developments Limited has applied for a renewal of planning permission within the terms of government guidance "Greater Flexibility for planning Permissions" November 2009, for a Park and Ride, Lorry Park and Grade Separated Junction spanning the A338, in the Green Belt on Riverside Avenue, + ancillary buildings, earthworks and slip roads. Planning Permission was granted by the Secretary of State, in May 2007, but due to the strong objections, the Approval was made subject to 32 conditions, one being that construction was required to begin within 5 years.
It is important to write to the Planning Department, Bournemouth Borough Council, St. Stephens Road, BH2 6EA, or email planning@bournemouth.gov.uk by 29 June stating your name and address and object to these plans which would tarmac the local Green Belt, blight the lives of local residents, damage the Conservation Area of Holdenhurst Village and provide a gateway to develop other areas of Green Belt from Holdenhurst and Townsend to Throop and Muscliff.
The Core Strategy with the Local Transport Plan does not identify a requirement for Park and Ride before 2026. The Council doesn’t want it, can’t afford to subsidise it and it cannot be used for other purposes. It would damage the viability of Bournemouth town centre by forcing the Council to reduce parking and make it more expensive contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework which now allows Councils to provide the parking facilities in town centres that will help them compete with out-of-town shopping centres and it contradicts the Government’s repeated demands that Councils should protect the Green Belt.
Links:
Forum Website for background information and sample comments to Planning
www.tmsthareaforum.info
Planning Application
planning.bournemouth.gov.uk/RealtimeRegister/plandisp.aspx?recno=80946
The Bournemouth Plan Core Strategy Pre-submission Document
www.bournemouth.gov.uk/PlanningBuildings/Planning/Policy/Local/CoreStrategy/CSPreSub.aspx
Department for Communities and Local Government Newsroom Press Notice
"Planning reforms will deliver local growth with community support"
www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/2115423
Department for Communities and Local Government
"Greater Flexibility for planning Permissions" November 2009
www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/1729942.pdf
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Mr. Barry Carse,
Senior Planning Officer,
Bournemouth Borough Council,
Dear Mr. Carse,
OBJECTIONS are enclosed to Application 7-2012-20006-B (Renewal of Planning Approval 7-2004-20006-A) by Troika Developments Ltd., for proposed development of the Green Belt at Riverside Avenue, off Castle Lane East, for a park and ride site, lorry park, ancillary buildings, construction of grade separated junction at the A338 and Holdenhurst Village Road, and associated earthworks.
We OBJECT to the above Application as follows:
1. The Bournemouth Plan, Core Strategy, Pre-Submission Consultation Document, Local Development Framework, August 2011, states on Page 44, Paragraph 4.2.19, 'Park and Ride':
"...the Local Transport Plan does not identify a requirement for park and ride sites in the Borough within the plan period (prior to 2026)."
2. In the Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications to the Bournemouth Plan: Core Strategy, Bournemouth Borough Council, May 2012:
Page 2, Policy CS6, states, in response to objector's and Inspector's comments:
"...in accordance with the town centre first approach" it is stated that certain developments "will only be permitted where the proposed use would not harm the vitality, viability and functionality of the town centre as a whole;"
However, it has been noted by consultants Colin Buchanan Ltd., that a park and ride site at Riverside Avenue, Bournemouth, could only be viable if parking in Bournemouth town centre was severely restricted or made very expensive, which would, of course, discriminate against, and seriously damage traders in the town centre, given that free parking would continue to exist at the Castlepoint Shopping Centre, Castle Lane West, and at all the main supermarkets in the Borough.
Page 5, Policy CS24, states in accordance with 'Planning Policy for Traveller Sites 2012' and in response to objector comments:
"Proposals for unallocated Gypsy and Traveller sites will be assessed against the following criteria; sites should: not be located in the Green Belt; and not be within an identified zone (normally 400 metres) around heathlands."
3. And in a report in the Bournemouth Daily Echo, 31 March 2012, Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood, was noted to have collected 1000 signatures, calling for protection of the Bournemouth green belt, saying that:
"advice published this week by the Department of Communities and Local Government 'clearly stated' that councils should protect green belt land... This petition was all about us as custodians of the green belt, defending this open space for future generations. That means not building houses, not building supermarkets, not building cinemas, not building traveller sites, not building anything. It wasn't about denying travellers their ability to have a traveller site, it was about the fact that the green belt is sacrosanct."
Therefore, as shown above, the Local Transport Plan does not identify a requirement for park and ride sites in the Borough prior to 2026; a park and ride site at Riverside Avenue would harm the viability of Bournemouth town centre; and advice from the Government Department of Communities and Local Government published in March 2012 'clearly stated' that councils should protect green belt land.
There is, in fact, a park and ride scheme, in use on special occasions only, from the Kings Park coach, lorry, and car park for which an Application for re-surfacing (Ref. 7-2012-4667-AP, 16 April 2012) has been received by the Bournemouth Borough Council Planning Department, and so it is presumed that occasional park and ride use on a newly surfaced very large coach, lorry, and car park, will continue.
Therefore, the destruction of all the remaining green belt in Littledown Ward for a park and ride site, lorry park, ancillary buildings, and grade separated junction, as proposed by Troika Developments Ltd., cannot be allowed under any circumstances.
Given the evidence above, the Application by Troika Developments Ltd. to renew plans for a park and ride site, lorry park, ancillary buildings, and grade separated junction, in the Riverside Avenue, Bournemouth green belt, requires to be REFUSED by Bournemouth Borough Council.
Yours faithfully,
C and R O'Luby,
Bournemouth
6 June 2012
To: barry.carse@bournemouth.gov.uk
Troika Planning Application 7-2012-20006-B
Renewal of Planning Approval 7-2004-20006A
We strongly object to the above plans on the following grounds:-
1. The Bournemouth Plan, Core Strategy, Pre-Submission Consultation Document, Local Development Framework, August 2011, states at 4.2.19, 'Park and Ride':
"...the Local Transport Plan does not identify a requirement for park and ride sites in the Borough within the plan period (prior to 2026)."
Therefore, if renewed, the Green Belt will be destroyed for no reason and the Council will be forced to take over something they don't want, can't afford to subsidise and can’t use for anything else - not even an ordinary car park.
2. The National Planning Policy Framework 27 March 2012 and the Department for Communities and Local Government newsroom press report 27 March 2012 states:
"In addition, the new Framework ... following the recommendation of the Portas Review allows councils to provide the parking facilities in town centres that will help them compete with out-of-town shopping centres and supermarkets."
This makes the Park and Ride totally unnecessary, destroying the Green Belt, blighting the lives of local residents and damaging the Holdenhurst East Conservation Area for no reason whatsoever.
3. It totally contradicts the Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications to the Bournemouth Plan: Core Strategy, Bournemouth Borough Council, May 2012 which states at Policy CS6, in response to objector's and Inspector's comments:
"...in accordance with the town centre first approach" it is stated that certain developments "will only be permitted where the proposed use would not harm the vitality, viability and functionality of the town centre as a whole;"
In the planning application, consultants Colin Buchanan Ltd state that a park and ride site at Riverside Avenue, Bournemouth, could only be viable if parking in Bournemouth town centre was severely restricted or made very expensive. This would seriously damage businesses in the town centre, as free parking would continue to exist at the Castlepoint and supermarkets in the Borough.
4. National Planning Policy Framework 9 - Protecting Green Belt Land (90) states:-
"90. Certain other forms of development are also not inappropriate in Green Belt provided they preserve the openness of the Green Belt and do not conflict with the purposes of including land in Green Belt. These are: ...
• local transport infrastructure which can demonstrate a requirement for a Green Belt location;"
As there is no longer a need for a Park and Ride there can be no justification for destroying the Green Belt.
5. The Department for Communities and Local Government newsroom press report 27 March 2012 states:
"The final Framework retains all of the key elements of the draft Framework published in July 2011, including: ...
• guaranteeing robust protections for our natural and historic environment, including the Green Belt...
The original Troika Planning Application in dated September 2004 was refused by Bournemouth Councillors following massive objections from groups including Friends of the Earth, Holdenhurst Village Action Group, Friends of Riverside, Throop Muscliff Strouden Townsend and Holdenhurst Area Forum, etc., the National retired nurses Home, local Residents and the late David Atkinson M.P., but was passed on appeal to central Government. In the press report 27 March 2012, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles stated that in the National Planning Policy Framework,
"These reforms go a step further and make it clear that local communities have the responsibility and the power to decide the look and feel of the places they love."
In view of the above objections, we ask that the renewal be refused by Bournemouth Borough Council.
Alan James Sharp and Wendy Sharp
Holdenhurst Village
Bournemouth