Wednesday Dec 8th 2021
Wetlands Proposal
Redrow... are they still in the game?
On Tuesday 7th RoSAG was present at a virtual Staplegrove PC and SWT officer Catch up meeting which is hosted by planning officer Simon Fox.
It is now several months since the last SW and T Officer Teams [online] meeting with local councillors and residents’ groups when an initial presentation on proposed wetlands to deal with phosphate problems. You may all recall that planning applications across Somerset were being delayed because of issues about phosphates.
On Tuesday a Teams on line meeting was held where Origin 3 and Stantec[ the design company for the proposed wetlands] gave a presentation on behalf of Ptarmigan Land promoters on their forthcoming proposal for a planning application. The “wetlands sites” is a separate planning application.
These wetlands sites will be on the farmer’s own land and upstream from the proposed development at Staplegrove West. The proposals are Nailsbourne being one site and Longfield and Yarde together making up a second site. Since this is on established farm land it is not thought to impact on neighbouring properties.
Land will be excavated to form Integrated Constructed Wetlands [ICW] This top soil will be then utilised by the farmer spreading it over their farmland. The planting in the ICWs will absorb the phosphates and will provide benefit with regard to flood control. In addition there will be biodiversity gains. ICWs are described as “a joined-up approach to land and water management”.
Questions to the applicants included clarification as the exact location of these wetlands, their proposed lifespan and possible issues around future costs for the wetlands being included in the management fees for residents of the new development.
Whilst the proposal for the wetlands seems a sensible one given climate change and other environmental issues coming to the fore, RoSAG did raise one concern in the form of a question which was not fully addressed.
We pointed out that up until now Redrow have been in the driving seat for Staplegrove West. Over the past few months Redrow’s dedicated website to the north Taunton development has “disappeared”. The applicants for this curent proposal are Ptarmigan Land who are acting on behalf of the land owners.
Up until now the applications for the spine road and the detailed application for phase 1 have all been made by Redrow. [ Neither of these despite having been lodged well over a year ago have yet been to committee].
At this stage there is therefore nothing further that RoSAG can add re Redrow’s continued involvement.
Once we are aware that the wetlands application is received at SWandT we will update you.
https://www.somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk/planning/phosphates-on-the-somerset-levels-and-moors/
Tuesday May18th 2021
RoSAG recently attended a virtual Staplegrove PC and SWT officer Catch up meeting which is hosted by planning officer Simon Fox.
Simon reported that the planning applications for phase 1a and the spine road were still “ rumbling on “. This is partly due to the phosphates issue affecting all applications in Somerset plus some design improvements for phase 1a still being negotiated. Regarding the latter he hopes that it will only be a few weeks before there will be some information which can be made public.
Regarding funding of the spine road – negotiations are still on-going regarding the developers taking the Govt HIF loan. There is a draw down deadline and due to delays thus far SWT are in discussion with Homes England to see if this can be extended.
There was discussion about the spine road construction and the fact that currently developers for the East side have not yet got outline approval. It was agreed that it was vital that the spine road was built in its entirety as had always been agreed by the original land promoters to avoid ending up with 2 cul de sacs.
When there is more information We will post another update
Wednesday February 3th 2021
The last news update was in December 2019 and moving on 14 months there is still not much to report. Covid-19 has impacted progress during 2020 and we were keen to learn from Somerset West and Taunton Council if this was going to have an effect on the Housing Infrastructure Fund monies that were promised to ensure the early delivery of the Spine Road.
We eventually received a response from SW&T which along with our reply we publish below for your information.
As always please watch this space......
From SW&T
Dear Jackie
Many thanks for your email and apologies for the late response. In response to your queries please see responses below outlined in red:
The extension of spend programme to March 2023 was agreed with Homes England, in recognition of impact both the SCC education request and Covid would have on delivery timescales for the Staplegrove development. At present we have requested a further extension to the HIF spend programme, in recognition of the additional delays to Staplegrove development (and many residential applications in Somerset) arising from the recent advice from Natural England regarding the unacceptable levels of phosphates in the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site. We are awaiting a decision on this additional extension request from Homes England.
2. The original £14.2 m was an allocation for infrastructure to include both the North Taunton spine road and the school building but not exclusively for building the school and the spine road. £7.2m was for the construction of the spine road with an amount for the school building [ we thought £4m] and the remainder for infrastructure relating to providing a school The allocation was for infrastructure in general relating to the development Is this still the case ?
The original Government funding announcement included construction of a spine road, drainage, utilities, a fully serviced school site and bat mitigation planting. At present negotiations on how the £14.2m will be split/allocated between the key infrastructure (ie spine road and primary school) are ongoing and will depend on the final procurement costs for the delivery of both items of infrastructure. At present it is likely that the majority of the HIF funding will be allocated to the delivery and completion of the spine road with the balance towards the construction of the primary school. Somerset County Council estimate the cost of the primary school to be approx £7.2m. Negotiations are ongoing to consider how any shortfall in funding available for the delivery of the primary school can be addressed. We understand that the developers will still utilise the temporary access/drop down road ahead of completing the spine road.
I trust the above information addresses the queries you raised. Please feel free to contact me, on the telephone number below, if you would like any further clarification.
Kind regards
Kate
Kate Murdoch
Strategy Specialist
Our reply to Kate Murdoch
Dear Kate
Many thanks for your reply on behalf of Mike Rigby
As stated in my letter to Cllr Rigby your reply will be circulated to our members and be posted on our website
You will recall 2 meetings with Chris Rix and myself [on behalf of RoSAG], The first meeting was April 25th 2019 with yourself and Nick Bryant and the second on Dec 16th 2019 with yourself, Rebecca Miller and Nick Bryant. The purpose of these meetings was to clarify HIF funding with particular reference to the spine road.
Dec 2019 was only 3 months prior to the first major Covid lockdown. Since then “disruptions” have understandably continued.
It therefore does seem reasonable that Government are sympathetic to extensions to the dates by which take up of monies has to be secured.
Thank you for clarifying that point
However, it is unclear why costs always supposed to be around £7.2m for the spine road now seem to have increased so dramatically.
Our understanding from the above meetings was that the £14.2m consisted of £7.2m towards the spine road and the remainder to provide infrastructure for providing a functioning primary school site from day 1 of houses being occupied. I recall your words being along the lines of “ the application for an additional £7m was to enable early delivery of the school”
Reading your current reply the impression given is that the spine road will cost far in excess of what was originally envisaged. I appreciate that at one full Council meeting there was mention of the road possibly costing up to £8m.
Also, there was never any mention of bat mitigation planting affecting the site’s viability. From day 1 of the outline panning consent being granted this was a cost to be met by the developer. I am unaware of it ever appearing in any of their documentation regarding site viability.
On September 30 2020 SW&T’s Scrutiny Committee agreed to set aside a sum of £4m [ to come from CIL] for the primary school.
To now learn that the majority of the £14.2 m could be needed for the spine road funding seems to be an incredible rise in costs in just 12 months! At this rate by the time the work begins the cost could be in excess of £14.2 m !!. Will the developers then delay its completion because of lack of monies?
I appreciate your understanding of the complexities of funds and costs far outweighs mine and that of other residents. However, I am sure you will appreciate that we are left with serious concerns about how the parameters for using the HIF could have altered so much.
Presumably, the Government are in agreement that the original applications for the 2 separate sums of money will now possibly be used for the spine road alone and that enabling early deliverability of a school could be in jeopardy ?
Kind regards
Jackie Calcroft
Pp RoSAG
Wetlands Proposal
Redrow... are they still in the game?
On Tuesday 7th RoSAG was present at a virtual Staplegrove PC and SWT officer Catch up meeting which is hosted by planning officer Simon Fox.
It is now several months since the last SW and T Officer Teams [online] meeting with local councillors and residents’ groups when an initial presentation on proposed wetlands to deal with phosphate problems. You may all recall that planning applications across Somerset were being delayed because of issues about phosphates.
On Tuesday a Teams on line meeting was held where Origin 3 and Stantec[ the design company for the proposed wetlands] gave a presentation on behalf of Ptarmigan Land promoters on their forthcoming proposal for a planning application. The “wetlands sites” is a separate planning application.
These wetlands sites will be on the farmer’s own land and upstream from the proposed development at Staplegrove West. The proposals are Nailsbourne being one site and Longfield and Yarde together making up a second site. Since this is on established farm land it is not thought to impact on neighbouring properties.
Land will be excavated to form Integrated Constructed Wetlands [ICW] This top soil will be then utilised by the farmer spreading it over their farmland. The planting in the ICWs will absorb the phosphates and will provide benefit with regard to flood control. In addition there will be biodiversity gains. ICWs are described as “a joined-up approach to land and water management”.
Questions to the applicants included clarification as the exact location of these wetlands, their proposed lifespan and possible issues around future costs for the wetlands being included in the management fees for residents of the new development.
Whilst the proposal for the wetlands seems a sensible one given climate change and other environmental issues coming to the fore, RoSAG did raise one concern in the form of a question which was not fully addressed.
We pointed out that up until now Redrow have been in the driving seat for Staplegrove West. Over the past few months Redrow’s dedicated website to the north Taunton development has “disappeared”. The applicants for this curent proposal are Ptarmigan Land who are acting on behalf of the land owners.
Up until now the applications for the spine road and the detailed application for phase 1 have all been made by Redrow. [ Neither of these despite having been lodged well over a year ago have yet been to committee].
At this stage there is therefore nothing further that RoSAG can add re Redrow’s continued involvement.
Once we are aware that the wetlands application is received at SWandT we will update you.
https://www.somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk/planning/phosphates-on-the-somerset-levels-and-moors/
Tuesday May18th 2021
RoSAG recently attended a virtual Staplegrove PC and SWT officer Catch up meeting which is hosted by planning officer Simon Fox.
Simon reported that the planning applications for phase 1a and the spine road were still “ rumbling on “. This is partly due to the phosphates issue affecting all applications in Somerset plus some design improvements for phase 1a still being negotiated. Regarding the latter he hopes that it will only be a few weeks before there will be some information which can be made public.
Regarding funding of the spine road – negotiations are still on-going regarding the developers taking the Govt HIF loan. There is a draw down deadline and due to delays thus far SWT are in discussion with Homes England to see if this can be extended.
There was discussion about the spine road construction and the fact that currently developers for the East side have not yet got outline approval. It was agreed that it was vital that the spine road was built in its entirety as had always been agreed by the original land promoters to avoid ending up with 2 cul de sacs.
When there is more information We will post another update
Wednesday February 3th 2021
The last news update was in December 2019 and moving on 14 months there is still not much to report. Covid-19 has impacted progress during 2020 and we were keen to learn from Somerset West and Taunton Council if this was going to have an effect on the Housing Infrastructure Fund monies that were promised to ensure the early delivery of the Spine Road.
We eventually received a response from SW&T which along with our reply we publish below for your information.
As always please watch this space......
From SW&T
Dear Jackie
Many thanks for your email and apologies for the late response. In response to your queries please see responses below outlined in red:
- The original spending deadline for HIF monies was March 2022 now it is cited as March 2023 - Has this been moved forward due to Covid?
The extension of spend programme to March 2023 was agreed with Homes England, in recognition of impact both the SCC education request and Covid would have on delivery timescales for the Staplegrove development. At present we have requested a further extension to the HIF spend programme, in recognition of the additional delays to Staplegrove development (and many residential applications in Somerset) arising from the recent advice from Natural England regarding the unacceptable levels of phosphates in the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site. We are awaiting a decision on this additional extension request from Homes England.
2. The original £14.2 m was an allocation for infrastructure to include both the North Taunton spine road and the school building but not exclusively for building the school and the spine road. £7.2m was for the construction of the spine road with an amount for the school building [ we thought £4m] and the remainder for infrastructure relating to providing a school The allocation was for infrastructure in general relating to the development Is this still the case ?
The original Government funding announcement included construction of a spine road, drainage, utilities, a fully serviced school site and bat mitigation planting. At present negotiations on how the £14.2m will be split/allocated between the key infrastructure (ie spine road and primary school) are ongoing and will depend on the final procurement costs for the delivery of both items of infrastructure. At present it is likely that the majority of the HIF funding will be allocated to the delivery and completion of the spine road with the balance towards the construction of the primary school. Somerset County Council estimate the cost of the primary school to be approx £7.2m. Negotiations are ongoing to consider how any shortfall in funding available for the delivery of the primary school can be addressed. We understand that the developers will still utilise the temporary access/drop down road ahead of completing the spine road.
I trust the above information addresses the queries you raised. Please feel free to contact me, on the telephone number below, if you would like any further clarification.
Kind regards
Kate
Kate Murdoch
Strategy Specialist
Our reply to Kate Murdoch
Dear Kate
Many thanks for your reply on behalf of Mike Rigby
As stated in my letter to Cllr Rigby your reply will be circulated to our members and be posted on our website
You will recall 2 meetings with Chris Rix and myself [on behalf of RoSAG], The first meeting was April 25th 2019 with yourself and Nick Bryant and the second on Dec 16th 2019 with yourself, Rebecca Miller and Nick Bryant. The purpose of these meetings was to clarify HIF funding with particular reference to the spine road.
Dec 2019 was only 3 months prior to the first major Covid lockdown. Since then “disruptions” have understandably continued.
It therefore does seem reasonable that Government are sympathetic to extensions to the dates by which take up of monies has to be secured.
Thank you for clarifying that point
However, it is unclear why costs always supposed to be around £7.2m for the spine road now seem to have increased so dramatically.
Our understanding from the above meetings was that the £14.2m consisted of £7.2m towards the spine road and the remainder to provide infrastructure for providing a functioning primary school site from day 1 of houses being occupied. I recall your words being along the lines of “ the application for an additional £7m was to enable early delivery of the school”
Reading your current reply the impression given is that the spine road will cost far in excess of what was originally envisaged. I appreciate that at one full Council meeting there was mention of the road possibly costing up to £8m.
Also, there was never any mention of bat mitigation planting affecting the site’s viability. From day 1 of the outline panning consent being granted this was a cost to be met by the developer. I am unaware of it ever appearing in any of their documentation regarding site viability.
On September 30 2020 SW&T’s Scrutiny Committee agreed to set aside a sum of £4m [ to come from CIL] for the primary school.
To now learn that the majority of the £14.2 m could be needed for the spine road funding seems to be an incredible rise in costs in just 12 months! At this rate by the time the work begins the cost could be in excess of £14.2 m !!. Will the developers then delay its completion because of lack of monies?
I appreciate your understanding of the complexities of funds and costs far outweighs mine and that of other residents. However, I am sure you will appreciate that we are left with serious concerns about how the parameters for using the HIF could have altered so much.
Presumably, the Government are in agreement that the original applications for the 2 separate sums of money will now possibly be used for the spine road alone and that enabling early deliverability of a school could be in jeopardy ?
Kind regards
Jackie Calcroft
Pp RoSAG