To receive an update from Persimmon Homes on the proposed development in the North East Quadrant.
Ted Webster and Paul Bedford - Persimmon Homes
Glenn Godwin – Pegasus Planning Group
Minutes:
Paul Bedford (Persimmon Homes) and Glen Godwin (Pegasus Planning Group) gave an update to the Board. They explained that since the last meeting, Persimmon’s had purchased the land from Defence Estates, and they had been working quite hard to put their proposals forward. These included:
· Improved balance of civilian and military housing in Tidworth
· 600 civilian homes in total with 150 affordableand rented homes to meet local needs
· Provision of the NEQ link road between the A338 and A3026
· Delivery of a new Primary School (in a new position on the site since the previous meeting)
· Enhancement of River Bourne corridor for public open space
· Transfer of some 2.5 hectares of off-site sports pitches
· Ordnance road junction improvements
· New housing would attract New Homes Bonus
A further consultation event had been arranged to update the community on progress with the application and provide the opportunity to discuss the proposals with Persimmon’s consultants and make comments. This would be on Monday 28th March 2011, 3.00pm to 8.00pm at Tidworth Community Centre.
Comments sheets would be available at the event, however for people not able to attend; comments could be submitted by email to peter.atkin@pegasuspg.co.uk by 8th April 2011.
Questions and Comments were taken from the floor, these included:
· Had any representation been made by the medical centre? Answer: When Persimmon’s took over from the Defence Estate there had been no objections. Nothing had been seen from the medical centre.
· What are the proposed timescales of the two phases? Answer: In terms of actual Build, if the outline planning application went to committee in June 2011, an application for phase 1 would be submitted, assuming that went through by Christmas 2011, work would be expected to start on site by spring 2012. It would take approximately 6 to 8 months to have the first of the houses built. Timescales would depend on the demand for the properties, but the whole project could be completed within 7 to8 years.
· There was concern over the level of additional traffic moving through the town, including construction traffic during the development process.
· How many parking spaces would be allocated per house? Answer: Current consultation on the land was underway; following this, Persimmon’s would produce a detailed outline of a scheme which would include details of the parking provision for the development.
· At what stage of the development would the link road be built? Answer: Phase 1 could be started from one end once work on the first houses started and would be built a bit at a time. The whole road would not be completed untilaround 400 to 450 homes had been built due to the cost involved.
Councillor Mark Connolly made the following comments and questions:
· Would moving the school to Phase 1 mean there would be less playing field due to the flood plain. Answer: The proposed school site fell outside the flood plain and would have a more level field.
· Will the school be designed to allow it to expand should there be further developments in Tidworth? Answer: There would be spare capacity in the design of the school to expand the size of the school once the second phase started.
· What will be the split of 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom properties? Answer: The demand was for small family housing, so the mix of number of bedroom properties would meet that need.
· As the site of the school in Phase 1 is taking up less space than the site proposed in Phase 2, would this meanmore houses to be built? Would this and the lack of earthworks required for the sports field of the new school site mean moneybeing made available to go towards a new community centre or more housing for example? Answer: The current application is for 600 dwellings, if further housing was required; a separate and new planning application would be required, which would be subject to its own legal agreements.
The Chairman urged people to attend the exhibition the following Monday and invited Persimmon Homes to come back to a future Area Board to give an update or to deliver any further information.