Leicestershire Parish Councils

News this week (dated 28th September 2008)

The Beacon Lighting attracted over 200 people and the media to King's Norton - which was one of our objectives . The work that went into setting up gazebos, the stage, the food and the drink, as well as the bonfire itself, was amazing so many thanks to the few who made it all worthwhile. For future events we will need more help as we cannot just rely on a few dedicated people to make these things happen. Two photos attached - one showing Anne Bond hurling a Caroline Flint poster into the fire, and the other showing just a few of the people who attended the event. Many thanks to everyone who came and those who helped make it such a success.

The Beacon evening also made some money, which is fantastic, and it all goes into the fund for the legal challenge that lies ahead to ensure Pennbury doesn't happen. To date we have paid our lawyers to ensure we are part of the BARD (Warwickshire eco-town campaign) judicial review process; we haven't a firm date yet, but we expect it to be before Chrstmas.

Pennbury cannot happen. It will not happen with your support. Wednesday 25th September showed why it is all worthwhile. We have the national and local politicians doing all they can to stop the destruction of this farmland, there are transport planners working on models, and there are lawyers to ensure the process is challenged and ultimately delayed. We would prefer the Co-op to withdraw like their High Street opponents, Tesco, have done for the Cambridgeshire eco-town at Hanley Grange, but while the Co-op are intrinsically linked with the Labour Party through their Co-operative Party members and financial support, we have an uphill battle. We will ultimately win, I feel sure, but it needs all of you to do your best to heap pressure on the Government and the Co-op.

Also this week - there was a County Council meeting that some of us were involved in until after 7pm on Wednesday. The leader's statement included the following paragraphs:
Pennbury

• It is becoming increasingly clear that the Government’s eco-towns programme is in a mess.

• The protest group in Warwickshire know as BARD has been given leave to appeal to the High Court. The Judge noted that there could be a conflict of interest because as the promoter of eco towns the Secretary of State could also be asked to give approval to subsequent planning applications. This is a concern that the County Council raised in its initial comments to the Government earlier this year.

• The status of those locations finally chosen for eco towns – a decision on this is not now expected until the New Year – is also far from clear. They were initially to meet national need and then it was said that they would contribute to the new housing allocations in the review of the Regional Plan. I recently asked the Minister for Housing for reassurance that even if Pennbury was identified in the Government’s policy statement, it would need to be compared to other potential locations for additional housing development and only chosen if it was the best location. She referred me to ‘Eco-towns living a greener future: progress report’ which states:

‘As regional plans or Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) are reviewed we will expect them to consider how eco-towns can help deliver housing. Where an eco-town has already been identified in local plans, or is already proceeding, they should reflect the location and consider the longer-term growth options.’

• The legal advice to the LGA is that the eco-towns programme is likely to be illegal because it fails to allow the most appropriate distribution and location of development for each area to be identified through the sequential Regional Plan and LDF processes. Despite this the Government still seems determined to try to get eco-town locations in by the back door.

• Finally, Government officials have clearly indicated that the majority of local authority costs would be met either by the promoter of the eco-town or the Government. The Co-op has so far failed to confirm that it will pay for the costs of the transport assessment for the Pennbury proposal and the Government has announced that it will only make available £100k for the four local authorities in Leicestershire. This will leave a substantial bill to be footed by the Leicestershire Tax payer for what could be an illegal scheme. Like me, I am sure you will find this situation entirely unsatisfactory. I will take legal advice before deciding how to proceed.

During the discussion that followed this statement, the scale of the almost £750k costs to council tax payers was described. This is the amount so far budgeted by three of the four councils, plus over £150,000 by the Government on the Pennbury location, and then there are the millions so far expended by the Co-op on this pointless exercise. What a waste of money! Multiply this by 12 to find the total amount probably being spent across the country on the remaining 12 eco-town bids. And here we are experiencing a credit crunch and meltdown of financial institutions and a house building industry on its knees !!

HAVE YOUR SAY 8th October - 7pm Great Glen Primary School Main Hall
This Community Forum is open to people living in the Mid Rural sector of Harborough District - includes the Glen, Kibworth and Fleckney wards. There will be feedback on the latest news about the eco-town from Harborough District Council, and by then the timetable for the next round of Government 12 week consultation on the eco-town Planning Policy Supplement (PPS) and Sustainability Assessment (SA) together with the Co-op latest design for the eco-town, should be available; they might even be beginning about then. If you live in the Great Glen, Little Stretton, Great Stretton, Burton Overy, Carlton Curlieu, Kibworths, Smeeton Westerby, Fleckney, Saddington, Langtons, Foxton, Lubenham areas and want to know the latest news - then do please come along.

Co-op latest design for Pennbury
This has already created a bit of a stink in the local press. As I said last week, a number of elected councillors were briefed on the new "hybrid" design on 18th September. The press were due to be briefed on the same design the following day - Friday 19th September, but the Co-op cancelled the press briefing. In the meantime, CASCET members who are also elected representatives for the residents of the affected villages and area, gave some interviews to the local press. Apparently this upset the Co-op greatly, because they published the following letter in the Leicester Mercury on Thursday (25th) probably because (a) we had stolen their thunder, but more likely (b) had not put the same spin on it.
Since submitting a bid for an eco-town, the Co-operative Group has been committed to full public consultation throughout the design process – a process developers would usually carry out behind closed doors.

So, while we are happy to accept constructive criticism, we have to cry "foul" at your leading article "We all need to see a 'final' eco-town plan" (Opinion, September 24), which highlights a fundamental misunderstanding of the briefing to councillors last week. We did not seek this meeting – we responded to a request from councillors for an advance briefing on the masterplan to enable them to answer questions from local people when the plans became public.

We made clear at the briefing the importance we attached to the properly co-ordinated release of information to ensure the public was given the full picture.

It is regrettable that a small number of councillors ignored this request and briefed the media. They are determined to ensure the plans do not get a fair hearing locally and have used this event as an opportunity to indulge in irresponsible scaremongering using information provided by my team selectively and out of context.

We are now forced to sit down and consider only giving briefings for elected representatives when we choose, not on request.We can assure readers that full details of our proposed masterplan for the eco-town will be put before the public early in October.

The eco-town is a step-change in community design, with benefits for Leicester and the county – a project on which everyone is entitled to have full information.

Lynda Shillaw, managing director, Co-operative Estates.

I responded with this on-line riposte and also sent it in an email to Lynda Shillaw :
The eco-town is a major planning issue facing the county and districts in south-east Leicestershire. As elected members we represent our electorate, who have been patiently waiting all summer for further clarity about the proposed development on the farmland owned by the Co-op and English Partnerships. Right from the start of this flawed process we have complained about the lack of detail, and the lack of sufficient engagement with elected members, so we can, in turn, advise the people who matter - the residents of the area - about what is being proposed. The Co-op have had almost a year to sort out their facts through their iterative approach to town planning, and if they exclude elected members from any future briefings, they risk the consequences of uninformed councillors who are ultimately the people who will make decisions - not the officers. I notice the Co-op are not disputing any of the details, including the extension of the town towards Great Glen, just that they haven't had the chance to put their spin onto them.

Be ready ... next week we are anticipating the announcement of the start of the next public consultation on the planning policy supplement (PPS) and Sustainability Assessment (SA) documents. These will list the remaining eco-town bids and include information about them. it is imperative that people respond to these consultations which will end 12 weeks later. CASCET will do our best to provide some information, but it is up to you - who do not support the eco-town in this location - to do your bit.

Future CASCET events
Planning is already underway for more events to involve existing CASCET supporters, and to bring more people into the eco-town campaign. For all you classical music buffs, we haven't forgotten you. We will be announcing some events to take us through the winter months including one venue that will have many of you reaching for your cheque books - the new, state-of-the-art Leicester Grammar School site in Great Glen.

Also students at Oadby Beauchamp College are planning to hold a big debate on the eco-town, so look out for future news updates - could be Monday 13th October depending on speakers' availability. CASCET, Co-op and Transition Group speakers have been invited.

CASCET Merchandise - we now have T-shirts and baseball caps for sale at very reasonable prices £5 T-shirts (sizes Medium, large, Extra Large and XX-Large), £4 baseball caps. Both in black with our main slogan STOP THE CO-OP "ECO" TOWN in white on them. Call in at Great Glen Parish Office on Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays -10.00am to 12.30pm or contact us through the website.

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