An update on the progress of the Kings Gate development.
Minutes:
Steve Llewellyn gave a detailed presentation on the community benefits from King’s Gate and Archer’s Gate developments. It gave a summary of the facilities and infrastructure that have been secured from these developments for the benefit of the communities both within the development and the wider Amesbury area.
Within the Archer’s Gate development there was a local centre which comprised of a convenience store that is occupied by Co-op and four smaller retail units that are currently occupied by Barnados, a hairdressers, a Chinese and Thai take-away and a fish and chip shop. There are six residential units above these shops that provide a degree of natural surveillance of the site to discourage anti-social behaviour. In addition there was a public house and the Bowman Centre, a community building that offers a modern and functional facility for use by residents of the Archer’s Gate development but also the wider Amesbury community and includes a main hall, separate meeting/function rooms and a kitchen. A total of 79 parking spaces had been provided. There are also two plots within the local centre that are currently vacant. The Local Centre offers services and facilities locally, especially for those people that may be less mobile and that have difficulties accessing the facilities in the town centre. It also serves as a focal point within the development for the community.
Amesbury Archer School had been built to both ensure provision of an available school from the first occupation of the dwellings and accommodate children that reside outside the Archer’s Gate development.
Two full size adult football pitches and a cricket pitch were provided together with a pavilion/changing facility with an associated car park that provided 44 parking spaces.
The development included the provision of a toddler’s play area of 100m2 and a junior play area of 400m2 that provided play areas with high quality and modern equipment; promote a healthy and active lifestyle for children and provide a safe place for children to play. There were substantial areas of open space that provided opportunities for dog walking and new areas for recreation. Land had been provided for a new cemetery, and a financial contribution was given towards the improvement of public transport facilities which had helped fund the Amesbury Hoppa bus service.
The King’s Gate development had provided additional classrooms to the primary school, a contribution towards secondary education provision and facilities, up to 40% affordable housing provision and 2.4 hectares of land for a 60-bed extra care facility. Contributions had also been made towards the provision of essential infrastructure for the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, public art and public transport. Equipped children’s play areas and a country park had also been provided, and the local community’s wishes were also accounted for with contributions towards allotments, a cultural/heritage facility and a skate park.
Future phases of the King’s Gate development would provide the opportunity for the local community to identify the community-related facilities and infrastructure that it would like to see and suggestions were welcomed.
Cllr Westmoreland said that it was not just the big schemes that could benefit but smaller ones too. The next Housing, Economic Development, Planning and Tourism group meeting would focus on community boundaries, and work was planned on developing a planning toolkit. The cost of a neighbourhood plan was between £17,000 to £20,000, and any way to reduce this was welcomed.
A question was raised over the provision of doctor’s surgeries given the influx of new people and this was passed to Mark Harris from the CCG to respond.