Press Release 19th December 2011 - Petition on Intolerable Traffic Presented to County Council Leader
A petition has been signed by 128 residents representing practically all of the households in Barkby & Barkby Thorpe. It states:
"As residents of the parishes of Barkby & Barkby Thorpe we are intensely aware that the volume of "rat-runners" and shopping traffic from all directions through our villages has reached an intolerable level.
We fully support our parish council's campaign to persuade the highways authorities to conduct a new census of traffic volumes and then to propose measures which will properly address the problem".
The petition was presented to the Leader of Leicestershire County Council Mr David Parsons by the Head Boy, Matthew Bartram, the Head Girl, Victoria McLean and pupils of Barkby Pochin School on 19th December.
Speaking at the handing over of the petition Pam Green, Chairman of Barkby & Barkby Thorpe Parish Council said "With the new housing development awaiting planning approval on Barkby Thorpe Road, Hamilton Lane together with Charnwood’s possible proposal for a new town of 5,000 houses towards Thurmaston there is the prospect of even more traffic through our villages - so now is the time for this problem to be addressed”. David Parsons, Leader of Leicestershire County Council, said: "It's clear that there are concerns in the community around motorists using village roads as a short-cut and the knock-on effects of potential development. Residents have taken action to galvanise support and I'm pleased to accept the petition on behalf of Leicestershire County Council, and will ensure officers explore the options available. The petition will be presented to the Charnwood Highways Forum and officers' findings reported back at a future meeting."
Carla Cunningham-Atkins
Clerk To Barkby & Barkby Thorpe Parish Council
Traffic races past the Pochin School in Barkby
Children of the Pochin School Barkby and the petition with County Council Leader David Parsons and Chairman of Barkby Parish Council, Pam Green.
Persimmon 150 Houses Development Leaflet
The new BABTAG information flier.
June 2011 - Village Conservation Area report finds much to value in Barkby and Barkby Thorpe
PRESS RELEASE 10th June 2011
BABTAG welcomes the adoption by the Charnwood Borough Council Cabinet on 9th June of a report that spells out the charm and the character of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe - villages whose integrity is threatened by the 5000 houses proposal.
The Appraisal by Charnwood's Conservation and Landscape Team lists buildings and vistas of historic and architectural merit and draws attention to the layout of the village which has scarcely changed in 230 years.
It notes the presence of seven working farmsteads in the villages as unique in Charnwood and makes the point that "the relationship of the hamlet and the village to their rural setting is an important part of the character of the area"
Whilst the report is clearly captivated by the parkland, the scene along the brook, the biodiversity of the area and the rich archaeology it also draws attention to one of the less attractive features - the high volume of traffic which uses the village roads as a rat-run to and from Leicester.
Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG, believes the report will help the fight to protect the identity and integrity of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe from the threat of the 5000 houses and even more through traffic. "All would be developers will have to pay heed to this report which is an important planning document". Whilst the Appraisal properly concentrates on the conservation area where most of the farmsteads are situated it does not take much of a leap of imagination to see how diminished these working farms and the rest of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe would be without the surrounding fields.
It is these fields that provide the essential setting for villages which Mathew Blain, Lead Councillor for Planning, speaking at the meeting of the Charnwood Cabinet that adopted the report "considered the jewels in the Charnwood crown."
Note to Editors
The Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Character Appraisal Conservation Area Character Appraisal can be found on the Charnwood Borough Council website www.charnwood.gov.uk
June 2011 - BABTAG Briefs Council Chiefs On Its Campaign
BABTAG presents petition and briefs the new Charnwood Council leaders on its campaign to save its countryside from the 5000 houses
BABTAG members presented their case against the proposal to build 5000 houses on productive countryside east of Thurmaston and north of Hamilton to new council leader, David Slater and new lead councillor on Planning, Matthew Blain, at a meeting in the leader's office in Loughborough on Monday 20th June. They also delivered a 350 signature petition calling on the council to "withdraw its proposal for the new town and replace it with a plan that allows for necessary growth in existing communities whist protecting precious productive countryside and village identity". (See attached photos)
"It was a cordial meeting" say Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG., "We let them know the strength of the opposition to the 5000 houses and the solid reasons why this is the wrong place to build a new town. At a time when good agricultural land should be protected for future food security it would be incredibly short-sighted to opt for such a major Greenfield development". BABTAG also warns of infrastructure inadequacies, traffic chaos and threats to the integrity and identity of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe which were described just a week ago as "the jewels in the Charnwood crown" by Councillor Blain.
Left to right
Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG, presents Charnwood Council leader David Slater and lead
councillor for Planning, Matthew Blain with a 350 signature petition opposing the 5000 houses
(the Thurmaston SUE proposal)
Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG presents Charnwood Council leader David Slater and lead councillor for Planning Matthew Blain with a 350 signature petition opposing the 5000 houses (the Thurmaston SUE proposal). Also present BABTAG committee member Edward Kirk (extreme left) and Chairman of Barkby Parish Council, Pam Green (extreme right)
More information from
Owen Bentley Tel: 0116 2692845 Mob: 0788 7881733
Press Release - 16th February 2011
Residents Survey Confirms Overwhelming Support for BABTAG and Opposition to 5000 Houses
Two years after it was established to fight proposals for a new town of 5000 houses on its doorstep, local pressure group BABTAG has received a 100% endorsement of its founding aims from the villagers of Barkby, Barkby Thorpe and Hamilton Grounds. This is the key finding from a recent survey distributed to every household in the two parishes, to which over 140 responses were received.
"We felt it was time to verify that our campaign was still in tune with the views of local residents impacted by the new town proposal " said Owen Bentley, Chairman of the Action Group. "For the past two years, BABTAG has used reasoned argument to oppose the 5000 houses because of the devastating impact it would have on the identity and integrity of Barkby, Barkby Thorpe and Hamilton Grounds, not to mention the destruction of fertile farming land and consequences of additional traffic on our already congested roads". "With such overwhelming public support BABTAG can continue its campaign with renewed vigour knowing that we have the full backing of the residents of our threatened villages," he added.
Other findings from the questionnaire included:
- In tune with Government thinking on the 'Big Society', nearly 96% of respondents agreed that BABTAG should seek active participation in consultations with Charnwood Borough Council over housing development
- There was a majority, albeit a small one, favouring limited housing development in the villages as an alternative to the 5000 houses
- There was an emphatic rejection of any idea that the offer by developers of community facilities in the villages would soften opinion towards the new town
BABTAG now intends to send the results of the survey to the leader, councillors and planning officers of Charnwood Borough Council to emphatically demonstrate that the residents of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe are opposed to their development plans. BABTAG will call on Charnwood Borough Council to abandon for good its proposal for the new town and demand that BABTAG is included in any future consultations on housing proposals under the Local Development Framework.
"BABTAG is determined to show that residents' opinions really count," commented Owen. "We will simply not allow our unique heritage to be destroyed by these planning proposals."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- For further information and a copy of the survey results, please contact Owen Bentley, Chairman, BABTAG.
- 316 questionnaires were distributed in mid-January, with 141 returned by the closing date. The response rate was 44.66%
- For further information on the aims and objectives of BABTAG, please visit www.babtag.co.uk or our Facebook page BABTAG1
Press release - 12th October 2010
THE 5000 HOUSES - THE THREAT REMAINS
Following the General Election in May the coalition government abolished regional strategies for housing development. This was a top-down system which had led Charnwood Borough Council to propose the Thurmaston Sustainable Urban Extension (the 5000 houses) as a way of fulfilling an imposed housing target. On the abolition of regional strategies BABTAG immediately requested the Council to withdraw its 5000 houses proposal and replace it with more modest plans which would be acceptable to the local community. Now BABTAG has been told that the Thurmaston SUE remains an option and there will be no decision on it until after the next Charnwood borough elections in May 2011. How come?
It is true that the new coalition government has abolished the Regional Plan under which our local borough council was directed to plan for major housing developments in south Charnwood of which the proposal to build a "sustainable urban extension" of 5000 homes on farmland north of Hamilton and East of Thurmaston (in shorthand the Thurmaston SUE) was a key component.
But it is also true that Charnwood is now quietly developing its own plan for housing and the Council has told BABTAG that the Thurmaston SUE remains an option for development
It is also true that that Council has told BABTAG that the would-be developer, Commercial Estates Group, is still actively promoting the 5000 houses and for that reason the Council cannot withdraw the proposal from the "core strategy" planning process.
So what is really going on behind the scenes?
The one thing that is obvious is that the whole planning process has been delayed. Good news for
BABTAG but not a victory. Charnwood is having to adjust to its new freedom to choose for itself how
many houses should be built in the Borough and where that development should be located. Sounds simple.
So why hasn't the Council made some decisions and told us exactly where housing development is going to be?
The answer is that it is cautiously waiting for three things before it sets out a new timetable that will lead
to some action. These are:
- The Government's household projections due in November. These will update the housing requirement.
- The Government's spending review due in late October This will determine the economic climate for the next few years and indicate whether the Council will have any money at all to put towards infrastructure and housing projects.
- The Government's Decentralisation and Localism Bill which will spell out how the citizen and local groups like BABTAG get to be part of the planning process rather than the spectator shouting from the sidelines.
Then what?
Once the Council has found out what the new rules of the game are it will institute a new round of public consultation
in the first half of 2011. The Council will then prepare a new "Core Strategy" draft which will set out the Council's
housing proposals for south Charnwood and the borough as a whole. No doubt there will be even more consultations before
the plan goes to a vote by the elected councillors and, under the present rules the process won't end until a Government
Inspector add his stamp of approval. This could easily take till 2012.
No decisions before the Local Election in MAY
Surprise, surprise! No major decisions will be taken before the Charnwood Borough Council elections in May so no councillor will face the electors having voted for a highly unpopular development. However when the councillors are safely back in their seats with a four year secure term ahead councillors can be more easily persuaded to vote for unpopular measures.
So what are BABTAG's priorities for the coming months?
Combat complacency and make sure that local people realise that the battle is not won.
If the Government's community involvement policies (to be spelt out in the Localism Bill in November) allow it make sure BABTAG participates in the planning process.
For the May elections get all local councillors and candidates to say where they stand on the 5000 houses and after the elections hold the elected councillors to account when decision time come round for the Thurmaston SUE.
Owen Bentley
Chairman BABTAG
0116 2692847
0788 7881733
Press release - 25th May 2010
STOP THE 5000 HOUSES
New policies from the new coalition government give Charnwood Borough councillors the opportunity to ditch their unpopular proposal to build a new town of 5000 houses on pleasant and productive farmland north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston. BABTAG (Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Parishes Action Group) urges them to seize the moment and set their planners to work on more modest schemes that will attract the support of the public.
The government is set on a course to abolish regional control over local councils. If this happens in full then Charnwood will no longer be told how many houses it has to plan for and where they need to be built. At present it is obliged to plan for 5000 houses on a narrow band on the Leicester fringe. Freed from these irksome obligations the council can now decide for itself how many new houses it needs for its own population and place them where they will be welcomed by the citizens.
It is highly likely that without the obligation to plan for Leicester's overspill the numbers of new dwellings required will be a good deal fewer than the current target. Given that neither the council nor the developers have any money to pay for major infrastructure new town developments such as the so called Thurmaston Sustainable Urban Extension are clearly unsustainable and unnecessary and must not go ahead.
BABTAG reminds Charnwood councillors that they face their own electorate next year and urges them to act now to stop the 5000 houses.
Owen Bentley
Chairman BABTAG
0116 2692847
0788 7881733
Press release - 16TH February 2010
Cream Teas an attraction of BABTAG's Battlefield Tour Sunday 25th April 2010
Plans for 5000 houses on pleasant and productive farmland north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston may have been put on hold until after the General Election but the battle has not yet been won and the threat remains.
BABTAG (Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Parishes Action Group) intends to raise awareness of the proposed development by organising a "battlefield" tour on Sunday 25th April when its members will be leading walking tours of the threatened countryside. Tour groups will leave Barkby from outside the Malt Shovel pub at 2.30pm, 3.00pm and 3.30pm and the circular route, on public footpaths, will follow the ridge around Barkby Thorpe to Hamilton Grounds Farm where cream teas will be served. Walkers will then follow the direct footpath back to Barkby. BABTAG guides will point out features of the landscape and its value for farming and recreation. If the walk is a step too far for some folk they can drive Hamilton Grounds to enjoy the cream teas which will be served from 3.30pm.
"Come and enjoy a walk in Leicestershire's countryside on 25th April" says Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG. "There's no charge for the walk so just turn up for the tour and learn why we feel so strongly that this landscape must be protected".
More information from Owen Bentley
Tel: 0116 2692847
Mob: 0788 7881733
Email: owen.bentley@barkbythorpe.net
Press release - 13th January 2010
The latest on BABTAG's campaign to oppose the proposal to build 5000 houses on farmland north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston
- An odd day to bury good news?
Charnwood Borough Council finally admitted in a midday press release on 23rd December that there'll be no decision on the 5000 houses before June 2010 admitting that there are "questions around alternative directions for growth". Firing off a press release on the eve of Christmas Eve guaranteed no coverage in the local media just before Christmas but BABTAG is happy to trumpet such a useful delay. - Leaflet charts BABTAG's achievements
BABTAG has organised another leaflet drop in the villages (see attachments sent separately to you) to ensure that everyone is up to date on the campaign and can read what BABTAG has been up to in the past year. "It is really for people who couldn't get to our fund-raising evening in Barkby Village Hall where we explained the campaign" said Owen Bentley, Chairman of the Action Group. Over GBP300 was contributed to BABTAG's funds that evening. - New Govt. policy on farming helpful to the campaign
Concreting over 700 acres of prime agricultural land has always seemed a daft idea to BABTAG. How much more so now when the Environment Minister, Hilary Benn wants British farmers to produce more food? Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference on 6th Jan 2110 he said: "I want British agriculture to produce as much food as possible.
No ifs. No buts.
And the only requirements should be, first, that consumers want what is produced and, second, that the way our food is grown both sustains our environment and safeguards our landscape. And everything that we do - each of us - should be judged against these simple tests." - Battlefield CampaignTour Sunday 25th April
Whilst the local politicians have kicked the 5000 houses into the long grass until after the General Election BABTAG plans to keep the threat of the new town very much alive by planning a tour of the "battlefield" i.e. the pleasant and productive farmland north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston that is at the centre of Charnwood's development proposal. Using public footpaths there will be guided tours throughout the day so people can see with their own eyes what they are in danger of losing. - Sign up to our petitions
There is still plenty of time to sign up to BABTAG's petitions to Downing Street and to Charnwood Borough Council. They can both be accessed online via the BABTAG website www.babtag.co.uk or for Downing Street you can use the following link:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BABTAG
There they will find the online petition which reads:-
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to abandon the government's top down housing policy which has compelled Charnwood Borough Council to propose building a new town of 5000 dwellings on precious and productive countryside north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston."
BABTAG's petition to Charnwood Borough Council calls on the local authority "to withdraw its proposal for a 5000 dwellings new town development north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston and replace it with a plan that allows for necessary growth in existing communities whilst protecting precious productive countryside and village identity"
Fundraising success - 13th November 2009
GBP300 was raised at a fundraising event in Barkby village hall on 11th November. The donations will help to fund BABTAG'S continuing efforts to stop 5000 houses being built on countryside north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston.
The event also saw the launch of two online petitions against Charnwood's "new town" proposal, one a Downing St. petition to the Prime Minister and the second to Charnwood Borough Council. Both can be accessed through BABTAG's website www.babtag.co.uk
The event attracted supporters from Syston, Thurmaston, Quenborough and Beeby as well as villagers from Barkby and Barkby Thorpe who were able to see an exhibition about BABTAG's campaign and to watch a video of the march through Barkby last April to erect the first of the banners and placards alerting the public to the threat to the surrounding countryside.
Addressing the supporters in the hall Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG, said that BABTAG could take some of the credit for Charnwood's delay in coming to a decision on the new town which could now stretch until after the General Election but he warned about complacency. "It is far too early to think we are winning. The planners will continue to plan. Delay is useful but it does not remove the planning blight that now affects all our houses and threatens our precious countryside and our way of life. We need to see this particular proposal dropped. This is why BABTAG will continue to campaign. There is a need for housing in Leicestershire which BABTAG acknowledges. We can see the need for some new homes in our villages to breathe new life into our communities but we fiercely oppose this huge new town which will ruin a unique part of rural England."
More information from:
Owen Bentley
Email: owen.bentley@barkbythorpe.demon.co.uk
Tel: 0116 2692847
Mobile: 0788 7881733
What has BABTAG achieved:BABTAG speech - 11th November
WHAT HAS BABTAG ACHIEVED IN 2009?
Extract from speech by Owen Bentley, Chairman BABTAG to supporters in Barkby Village Hall 11th November 2009
So has BABTAG achieved anything in the past year?It is not all down to BABTAG but I'm sure we can take some small credit that Charnwood Borough Council is a long way from endorsing the proposal of its planners to build 5000 houses on our doorstep. When BABTAG was formed last December there was every chance that Charnwood would have voted for the scheme in March. Then the big decision was to be June and then October and then March 2010 and now we hear that the proposal may not come up before the council until after the next General Election. If we get a change of government with new planning policies it could be the end of 2010 before Charnwood councillors come to vote on where the housing should go. And remember that in 2011 all our Charnwood councillors are up for re-election and they won't want to back a scheme that their consultation exercise has told them is deeply unpopular.
But it is far too early to think we have won. The planners
will continue to plan. Delay is useful but it does not
remove the planning blight that now affects all our houses
and our precious countryside. We need to see this particular
proposal dropped. This is why BABTAG will continue to campaign.
There is a need for housing in Leicestershire which BABTAG
acknowledges. We can see the need for some new homes in our villages to breathe new life into our communities but we fiercely oppose this huge new town which will ruin a unique part of rural England.
So what has BABTAG actually done?
We've used the consultation process to register our reasoned opposition to the 5000 houses. You can read copies of our comments to Charnwood's Director of Development on such issues as traffic and roads on our website.
We've exposed the ambitions of the developers... the CEG Group, Savills and Red Row... to create a swathe of housing far in excess of 5000 stretching from Hamilton to Queniborough and by a big leaflet drop organised by ourselves and the Thurmaston Unite Group we've alerted Queniborough and Syston to the threat to their countryside and their identities
We've held civilised but not particularly productive meetings with representatives of the key developers, CEG, and also with John Pochin.
We've twice been to Loughborough to talk to the planners and learnt at one of those meetings of the possibility of reducing the number of houses in our area by splitting the development between Thurmaston and Anstey
We've discovered that planners don't really plan for the whole community. Too often they are led by the nose by landowners and developers.
We've found out that there is a surprising lack of liaison between Charnwood's planners and their colleagues in Harborough district and in the city of Leicester. Don't they realise that a development in one area must have a knock on, for example, in traffic congestion in the others?
We've twice contacted all 52 Charnwood councillors urging them to oppose the 5000 houses.
We've had useful meetings with our local councillors, Mike Preston and Paul Harley.
We've sought the support of our local MP Stephen Dorrill and talked to his Labour opponent Eric Goodyer
And we've been doing a bit of drum-banging to alert not only locals but all of Leicestershire and beyond to our cause.
Most notably we had the march through the village in April to erect the first of our Stop the 5000 houses banners and since then more banners, placards and wayside signs have sprouted throughout the threatened area. The march got good coverage on BBC TV, the Leicester Mercury and Radio Leicester but throughout the year our press releases which you can read in the purple ring binder have led to stories about BABTAG's activities in the local media.
We've got our own website which is being demonstrated here tonight by its creator Peter Welch. All our key documents are on it including our Downing St petition to the Prime Minister and our petition to Charnwood Borough Council.
Then of course there are our green leaflets which I've mentioned earlier. They will continue to drop through your letterboxes from time to time in the coming months.
So that's what BABTAG's been up to in the past 11 months but what can you do?
Well of course you can sign the petitions and give us a little cash but the most important thing that you can do is to write to the Director of Development of Charnwood Borough Council and to your local councillor expressing your objections and concerns about this plan for a new town of 5000 houses that so threatens us and our countryside. There are other solutions to the housing problem and by writing, emailing and talking to Charnwood, you can help persuade them to explore the alternatives, alternatives that could be far better for Charnwood as a whole in the long term.
BABTAG launches Downing St. petition to stop 5000 houses being built over precious countryside
BABTAG's online petition to the Prime Minister will be launched at a fundraising event in Barkby village hall on Wednesday 11th November starting at 7pm.
when supporters will be urged to sign by visiting:-
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BABTAG
There they will find the online petition which reads:-
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to abandon the government's top down housing policy which has compelled
Charnwood Borough Council to propose building a new town of 5000 dwellings on precious and productive countryside north of
Hamilton and east of Thurmaston."
Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG explains the wording of the petition:- "We do not think it right that our district council should be told where it has to build housing by the Regional Office of the Government. BABTAG wants to persuade Charnwood Borough Council to adopt a policy of encouraging natural growth in existing communities rather than grandiose schemes like the 5000 dwellings proposal but this requires a change in current government policy. We urge all concerned people to sign the petition.
BABTAG will also be petitioning Charnwood Borough Council calling on the local authority "to withdraw its proposal for a 5000 dwellings new town development north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston and replace it with a plan that allows for necessary growth in existing communities whilst protecting precious productive countryside and village identity"
BABTAG will also be petitioning Charnwood Borough Council calling on the local authority "to withdraw its proposal for a 5000 dwellings new town development north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston and replace it with a plan that allows for necessary growth in existing communities whilst protecting precious productive countryside and village identity"
Supporters will have choice of signing a paper petition or signing online by visiting the BABTAG website:-
www.babtag.co.uk
Council Delays
There have further delays in the timetable of the proposed development and no decision by Charnwood Council is likely before the spring of 2010 and possibly not till after the General Election.
The fundraising evening on November 11th will provide an opportunity to update villagers on the progress of the campaign and will feature a showing of a video of the parade of banners and placards through the village in April, a live demonstration of the BABTAG website and displays showing the Action Group's activities. Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG said:- "Delays may be welcome but they are no substitute for a decision not to concrete over our precious and productive countryside so for BABTAG the fight goes on. We are determined to keep this issue in the public eye and our recent leaflet, (see it on the attachments to this email) the petitions and this fundraising evening will do just that."
More information
Owen Bentley
Chairman BABTAG
0116 2692847
0788 7881733
email:- owen.bentley@barkbythorpe.demon.co.uk
Stop the 5000!
An update from Owen Bentley Chairman of BABTAG (Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Parishes Action Group)
No decisions till the New Year
Charnwood Borough Council was to have decided in November to approve or reject the proposal to build 5000 dwellings on land
north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston. Now the proposal will not be put to the full council before March 2010 and that is
not necessarily the end of the delays. The General Election looms with the potential of a change of Government and a change of
the current policy that insists that 6000 houses should be built on the Leicester fringe. And it will only be a year later
that Charnwood councillors are up for re-election in 2011 and they won't want to face the polls having voted for a development
that 97% of the people who responded during the public consultation period did not want.
Splitting the 5000 houses between Thurmaston and Anstey
One of the reasons for the delay is that the council is considering other options. Because the original proposal brought
such a storm of protest, not least from BABTAG, Charnwood Council has been looking into the possibility of splitting the
development between Thurmaston and Anstey. Whilst it is good news that the Council is showing some flexibility we would still
end up with a minimum of 2,500 new dwellings on our doorstep if even this least damaging option was adopted.
No Syston by-pass
A revised transport study has concluded that a development of 5000 houses and 20 hectares of employment land does not
justify the building of a Syston by-pass to link in with a developer funded road running from Barkby Lane to Barkby Thorpe
Road. So Syston folk may well get the aggravation of the development without the by-pass that the Town Council craves. There
is of course, no guarantee in these straitened times that the developers will foot the new road and other infrastructure costs
so Charnwood Council might well be left holding this singularly unattractive baby and who knows - might even drop it!
The campaign continues
Delays may be welcome but they are no substitute for a decision not to concrete over our countryside so for BABTAG the
fight goes on. No-one driving through the parishes of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe this summer can have failed to notice the
signs, placards and banners all with the "Stop the 5000 houses" strapline. We promise you more of these as the campaign moves
on.
Representing the views of the villages
If we are to face down this new town proposal we'll need the support of Syston and the surrounding villages. We are really
pleased that our parish council is seeking the support of all neighbouring councils so that we can present Charnwood with a
united front.
BABTAG is regularly lobbying Charnwood councillors and planners and uses every opportunity afforded by the consultation
processes involved in big planning decisions to get our reasoned opposition on the record. On our website www.babtag.co.uk
you will find copies of all our submissions and of the press releases written to inform as many people as possible about the
threat to our countryside and the prospect of massive traffic congestion and air pollution if the development goes ahead.
Autumn activities
BABTAG will be organising another leaflet drop in October to tell the people of the latest developments and what the campaign
group has been doing to stop the 5000 houses. We'll also be plotting a lobby of the Charnwood Cabinet and Council at their
decision-making meetings in February and March next year.
There will be a fund-raising social event in Barkby Village Hall in November when, over a glass of wine and a plate of food,
the members of the BABTAG committee will be happy to answer your questions and relieve you of a little cash. We hope to see
you there.
BABTAG Meeting with Charnwood Borough Council
BABTAG MEETING WITH CHARNWOOD BOROUGH COUNCIL OFFICIALS AND LEADER OF THE COUNCIL AT SOUTHFIELDS ON 12 JUNE 2009
Present:
Mike Preston - Leader CBC
Dave Hankin - Director of Planning, CBC
Richard Bennett - Dep. Director of Planning
Tony Hetherington - Director of Transport
Owen Bentley, Pam Green, Nick Toms, Angela Barnett - BABTAG
Timeline and further public consultation on Charnwood 2026
Dave Hankin confirmed that the date of the Cabinet meeting had slipped to October, and the full Council vote on the SUE developments would take place in November - followed by a 6 week consultation period. The planners and the council would not be disclosing any modifications to the plans in the next three to four months. The revised development plans would be in the public domain (on the web) one week before the Cabinet meeting. Any changes to the area of the Thurmaston SUE would not require a recommencement of the whole planning process.
Housing Figures
Dave Hankin said that there was no change in the number of houses required by 2026. A review to be published in the first week of October would give the new household projections to 2031. There was likely to be a net increase regardless of Eastern Europeans leaving the UK. If all the proposed new houses were not needed by 2026 they would be by 2031. However if prosperity did not return, houses would not be built. A change of government with a commitment to devolve planning matters to district councils might impact on the scale of development.
Planners had to take an integrated view. A SUE had to be a self sustaining community. 5000 houses required a secondary school, 2500 houses required a primary school, doctors' surgery, recreational space, employment land etc. There was an aspirational view that people should live near their work. Planners must provide such components in all developments.
Richard Bennett gave the number of empty houses in Leicestershire excluding the city was 4574 at the end of March 2008. It was likely that the figure for Leicester was of the same order.
SHLAA Report
The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SCHLAA) looked at every bit of developable land over the next 15 years - including potential for employment. It was policy neutral and the figures did not contain the proposed SUE houses. It was a tool for planners. No new brownfield sites had been revealed by the report.
The Thurmaston brown field site overlooking Watermead was discussed. The council does not have power to purchase such sites, but it would be looked at in the light of the Thurmaston Action Area Plan. The other areas in this category were Shepshed and East Loughborough. GBP9 million had been earmarked for improving these deprived areas.
Transport
Tony Hetherington confirmed that Leicestershire County Council, the City Council and the Highways Agency were already looking at the recommendations in the Transport Assessments report. Cabinet would be informed of the transport implications of the proposed developments on the different areas - Thurmaston, Birstall and Anstey. Recommendations would be published just before the October Cabinet meeting. The Barkby rat run was discussed - including a proposal to close the road past the cricket ground. Fig 4.1 in the Transport Assessment showed the traffic through Barkby Thorpe using the Scraptoft Road was not perceived as a serious problem - a view disputed by BABTAG.
Infrastructure Costs
The funding gap identified in the Infrastructure Assessment was admitted by the planners but Dave Hankin believed it would be greatly reduced as it included such items as a Leicester tram service which would almost certainly never get the go-ahead. The districts were now doing localised work on the Infrastructure Assessment. The Hallamfields Birstall example was given: 900 homes + employment land = GBP10 million in infrastructure costs. Nonetheless Charnwood Borough Council had to make provision for 10,500 new homes. The funding issue would be discussed by the Leadership Board of the Economic Development Sector which had produced the Infrastructure Report and the Leadership Board would feed back into the Regional Plan. There would be horse-trading with developers. If a planning application did not provide the infrastructure, the permission would not be granted. A lot would depend on the length of the recession, but it was always a question of when - not if.
In the case of the Thurmaston SUE, CEG's permission to develop was dependent on the local authority which could always refuse to grant planning permission if the infrastructure was not to their liking. The planners agreed that a bypass east of Syston would not be developer-funded and was therefore unlikely to be built.
Dave Hankin outlined various funding streams which could be used to finance the development. They could bid to government, the Highways Authority had a pot of money, and revenue would come from the development itself in the form of council tax and other local taxes.
Alternatives to the Thurmaston SUE
It was agreed that the transport and infrastructure costs for 2,500 homes were favourable in Anstey. However there was not enough land for 5000 homes to be built in Anstey within the borders of the borough of Charnwood and Richard Bennett said there was no possibility of negotiating with Blaby to build 2,500 on adjacent land.
Wymeswold was still an option, but not much effort was being put into this area as no developer was promoting it. Also it was not adjacent to the PUA (Principal Urban Area) and developments must conform to the East Midlands Regional Plan.
The scale of housing need was great. If no new housing was provided between now and 2026 40% of households would have no house of their own to live in.
Dave Hankin confirmed that he had requested reports and figures for a range of options which included splitting the development rather than going for a single option. Birstall and Anstey were still in the frame as well as Thurmaston.
Dave Hankin said that he understood that BABTAG opposed all aspects of the Thurmaston SUE - but when decisions were made it would be to the advantage of BABTAG to have a fall-back position and to work with the planners.
Savills and Redrow
Shown a BABTAG map of the aspirations of the developers Dave Hankin thought that if Savills put in a planning application for land between Syston and Queniborough it would be refused as the location was well beyond any limits of the Thurmaston SUE. Redrow was more likely to gain planning permission.
Thurmaston Area Forum February 09
Dave Hankin apologised for the unanswered questions posed by BABTAG at the Thurmaston Area Forum and would ensure that written answers would be given.
Press release - 20th May 2009
HONOURING PROMISES - WHERE DO OUR LOCAL POLITICIANS STAND?
BABTAG (Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Parishes Action Group) has a question for all the candidates standing for the County Council seats in the South Charnwood area where 5000 homes are being proposed which, if adopted, will obliterate the rural identities of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe.
The question is do they stand by the pledge given by the Leicestershire County Council at the time of public consultation when Hamilton was about to be developed?
The pledge
"Assurances have been given in the past and they will be respected in the future" "The three villages - new development will not encroach upon Barkby, Barkby Thorpe and Beeby and they will retain their own physically separate characters and identities."
Signed assurance given by Donald Sabey, Director of Planning and Transportation Leicestershire County Council, November 1981 in pamphlet summarising the Hamilton District Plan published by the County Council in January 1982
Development within a few hundred yards of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe constitutes encroachment by any definition. So does the pledge have any meaning at all or is it a worthless scrap of paper? Do politicians and council officers ever honour commitments given in the past?
Owen Bentley
Chairman BABTAG
0116 2692847
Email: owen.bentley@barkbythorpe.demon.co.uk
www.babtag.co.uk
Press release - 4th May 2009
FUNDING AND TRANSPORT PROBLEMS SHOULD KILL OFF SOUTH CHARNWOOD 5000 HOUSES DEVELOPMENT
Two recent local government reports cast doubts upon the viability of the Charnwood plan to build 5000 houses on productive farmland to the east of Thurmaston and the north of Hamilton according to BABTAG (Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Parishes Action Group).
Infrastructure
Both the "Southern Charnwood Transport Assessments" and the "Leicester and Leicestershire HMA (housing market area) authorities Growth Infrastructure Assessment", published in March and April this year point up the huge cost of building the infrastructure (in particular roads ands schools) to support the new town and the massive funding gap to be bridged before development can take place.
Across the county in the period to 2026 new infrastructure costs are put at GBP2,016 millions with only GBP522 millions of mainstream funding and GBP150 millions of developer funding to pay for them, leaving a funding gap of GBP1,344 millions.
In the past developers have paid for infrastructure including link roads and schools. In these harsh economic times this is no longer the case. According to the Growth Infrastructure Assessment "it means that Sustainable Urban Extensions (like the Thurmaston 5000 houses proposal) and other strategic sites will not be able to find infrastructure from developer contributions to any great extent. The pre-credit crunch approach of giving away development rights with a planning contributions price ticket attached will not work any more."
The report reveals that Charnwood can only expect GBP2.3millions in developer contributions for all its projects throughout the borough between now and 2026 yet the transport infrastructure alone of the Thurmaston proposal is estimated at GBP11 millions. Even if Charnwood manages to attract some new sources of government funding there is still likely to be a huge deficit.
Given this deficit, questions must be asked about the sense of proceeding with such a grandiose scheme when smaller scale developments partly using existing infrastructure must be an alternative. One such scheme, considered by the Transport Assessments for 2,500 dwellings at Anstey (GBP6 millions) is half the price of Thurmaston.
Transport
The Southern Charnwood Transport Assessments published in April provide plenty of ammunition to BABTAG and other opponents of the plan to build a new town of 5000 houses on countryside east of Thurmaston and north of Hamilton which is becoming known as the Thurmaston SUE (Sustainable Urban Extension).
The report calls for a bigger area to be developed than the one Charnwood based all its public consultations on in 2008, with extensions in the north joining on to Syston and in the south-east to Hamilton. If Charnwood borough council accepts this report, BABTAG will call for the consultation process to start again from scratch as the development area is so different from that proposed in widely distributed glossy booklets such as "Charnwood 2026 Planning for Our Next Generation".
The report also makes it clear that traffic congestion will be a problem in the new town. Despite new roads and bus and train options congestion is likely to increase from today's barely tolerable levels and could be running at 24% more than today. At the same time the Infrastructure Assessments warn that journeys out of the new development are likely to be higher than first thought. (By comparison the traffic mitigation measures proposed for a 2,500 dwelling development in Anstey projected real improvements (18%) to current congestion there.)
To keep traffic levels down in the Thurmaston SUE a bus corridor and a half-hour rail service to Leicester City Centre are seen as key mitigation factors, but they have not been costed or fully checked with the city and rail authorities.
Reducing traffic flows through Barkby and Barkby Thorpe is an acknowledged aim of the Transport Assessments but the current rat-run through Barkby and Barkby Thorpe to Tesco at Hamilton and to Scraptoft and thence to the A47 and via Stoughton to the A6 gets no mention. Traffic on this route will inevitably increase with 15,000 people living in the vicinity and there can be no prospect of reduced traffic flow on this route until the problem is addressed.
BABTAG says that the Transport Assessments through their findings and their omissions weaken rather than strengthen the case for the South Charnwood SUE.
MORE INFORMATION
Owen Bentley
Chairman BABTAG
0116 2692847
0788 788 1733
or visit www.babtag.co.uk
Press release - 4th April 2009
DEVELOPERS' THREAT TO THURMASTON'S COUNTRYSIDE
BABTAG (Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Parishes Action Group) has been looking at all the responses to Charnwood Borough Council's consultation exercise on the borough's proposal to build 5000 dwellings on land to the east of Thurmaston and north of Hamilton. The overwhelming majority - 96% - of the representations made to the council were firmly against the proposal, but the would-be developers also used the consultation exercise to post their thinking on the Charnwood website (http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/charnwood2026). Three developers responded to Charnwood BC and, as their representations are in the public domain, BABTAG has produced a map showing the areas presented for development by Pegasus, Savills and Redrow, plus the Charnwood preferred option.
What does the sketch map show?
- The dark border shows the size of the area where Charnwood wishes to build 5000 dwellings.
- The shaded areas show land presented for development by Pegasus, Savills and Redrow in their public responses to Charnwood's consultation exercise.
Please click on the map to the left to see a large version.PEGASUS
What is immediately noticeable is that the Pegasus area is much bigger,
(450 hectares) and comes a lot closer to Barkby Thorpe and Barkby than the
Charnwood preferred option (284 hectares).
It also includes to the north Green Wedge land. In their representation
Pegasus point out that the area could support future additional growth beyond
the 5000 dwellings sought by Charnwood.
SAVILLS
Savills wish to build 500 homes between Syston and Queniborough along the Queniborough Road north of Barkby. What is most interesting about their representation is that it falls a long way outside the area that Charnwood has identified as the favoured area for development.
REDROW
Redrow owns land that comes within one field of the deserted medieval village of Hamilton. Red Row proposes building houses on this land which adjoins the East Hamilton development site, which already has outline planning permission for 550 homes. Again, like Savills the area identified falls a good way outside the Charnwood preferred option.
BABTAG has produced this map to alert the residents of Thurmaston, Barkby, Syston and Queniborough to the threat to countryside posed if the developers' aspirations were to become reality.
MORE INFORMATION
On the BABTAG website www.babtag.co.uk
Owen Bentley, Chairman BABTAG Tel: 0116 2692847
Email: owen.bentley@barkbythorpe.demon.co.uk
Press release - 5th March 2009
BABTAG issued the following statement covering our Heritage in Danger
The conservation villages of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe, the environs of the deserted medieval village of Hamilton and important archaeological sites, including a possible Roman temple complex, are all at risk from developers if the proposed SUE (Sustainable Urban Extension) east of Thurmaston and north of Hamilton gets the approval of Charnwood Borough councillors, claims BABTAG in its latest response to Charnwood 2026 (see below).
"We now know the thinking of the developers because we've seen their documents submitted to CBC as part of the consultation process over Charnwood 2026. Developers "Red Row" want to build just one field away from Hamilton DMV" says Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG "and the rural setting of the many listed building and farmhouses that make up Barkby and Barkby Thorpe is equally under threat from developers Pegasus Planning Group".
"Nor do we wish to lose key archaeological sites like the possible Roman temple complex south of Barkby Thorpe to housing and tarmac and BABTAG calls upon the Leicestershire County Council's archaeological team to undertake a new survey of the threatened area before any irreversible decisions are made". We have sent the following letter.
To the Director of Development, Charnwood Borough Council: Charnwood 2026 - East of Thurmaston North of Hamilton proposal
Loss of Heritage
The following representations amplify BABTAG's original comments on heritage issues contained within a broader case objecting to the development proposal sent to the Director of Development in December 2008.
In the intervening months BABTAG has been in touch with English Heritage and with the county archaeologists and has been able to call upon the knowledge of Keith Randon, a member of the Action Group, whose special interest is the heritage of the area now threatened with development.
BABTAG is at one with English Heritage on fundamental issues concerning the favoured SUEs in Charnwood 2026. We cannot agree with your "Vision" statement on page 20 of "Charnwood 2026 Planning for our Next Generation" which asserts that by 2026 "The essential characteristics and diversity of the Borough's landscape, ecology, heritage and built environment (will) have been preserved". We agree entirely with English Heritage "that development in these locations is not consistent with the aspiration" (stated above) and that "the overall level of growth will breach the environmental capacity of the area to accommodate this level of growth".
BABTAG also believes that the development east of Thurmaston north of Hamilton is inconsistent with the Borough's spatial objective SO9 (p23) "to protect the historic environment and identity of the Borough's locally distinctive towns, villages and neighbourhoods". Development so close to the conservation villages of Barkby and Barkby Thorpe, with their wealth of attractive 18th and 19th century buildings and farmhouses, cannot but weaken their visual and landscape appeal. Similarly, further building encroachment on the deserted medieval village of Hamilton, as envisaged by the developer Red Row, will destroy the setting of this key listed monument. At present the location is atmospheric and rural: and access is by a winding country road crossing an attractive stream. Hemmed in by housing it will be a sorry place - a mere few humps in a semi-urban environment.
BABTAG notes that the Charnwood planners and the would-be developers are somewhat dismissive of the archaeological importance of the east of Thurmaston north of Hamilton proposal with the exception of Hamilton DMV. However, all information supporting this view is itself historic as the county archaeologists have admitted to BABTAG that they have done no recent surveys on the area. In Barkby, the field-walking group headed by Keith Randon believes there is good evidence for Roman farmsteads/villas and even the possibility of a Roman temple in the area a quarter of a mile south of Barkby Thorpe which takes in Abbot's pond and spinney and the fields to the west of Barkby Thorpe Road. Appendix 1 (below) lists sites identified by Keith Randon as threatened by development.
Before the sites are even considered for development, BABTAG calls for a full up-to-date archaeological survey to be undertaken by the county archaeology team.
To summarise: if heritage arguments carry any weight, the east of Thurmaston north of Hamilton area is the wrong place for major urban development.
Appendix 1:
A summary of the important and identified sites threatened by development
Thurmaston Parish
MLE 1048 (SK627 095) Iron Age(?) Enclosure predating ridge and furrow.Barkby Parish
MLE432 (SK625106) 3 Ring Ditches.MLE433 (SK625 106) Pit Alignment.
MLE434 (SK625 106) Enclosure.
(All the above are in one field. The field immediately west also has many interesting cropmarks).
MLE435 (SK622101) Pit alignment, covers most of field and seems to carry on from the field above and then continue beyond the field boundary.
All the above thought to be Iron Age or Bronze Age.
Barkby Thorpe Parish
Firstly, all around the village there seem to be traces of when it was significantly larger maybe Saxon - Medieval.The major item under threat is the Roman 'Temple'/Abbot's Pond complex (SK630 087) Temple, to (SK634 088) Pond.
Here has been found a hoard of Saxon coins, inhumations (MLE454) - possibly Romano-British as small R-B finds have come from this field. The pond itself may have been sacred for many hundreds of years. Near the Temple have been found some valuable Medieval items (MLE6660).
An iron Age enclosure is identified (MLE451 at SK635 084).
Press release - 30th January 2009
Action Group contacts all 52 Charnwood councillors in bid to stop new town of 5000 houses in south Charnwood.
The Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Parishes Action Group (BABTAG) today emailed every Charnwood councillor as part of the group's campaign to resist the borough's plans to build a new town on 300 hectares of countryside to the east of Thurmaston and to the north of Hamilton. (See attachments for full texts.)
"Later this year the Charnwood councillors will be voting on the development proposal and we shall be looking for a "no" vote at the council meeting" said Owen Bentley, Chairman of BABTAG, "We are asking them to deal with the following 10 key points before they decide on how to cast their votes. We ask them to:-
- Question the housing figures imposed on Charnwood by the East Midlands Government Office.
- HOUSING FIGURES
Why has Charnwood Borough Council not challenged the Government's contentious figure of 19,300 dwellings required in the borough? Are you aware that both Government and Opposition are revising their policies towards top-down diktats and there are moves at Leicestershire County Council to challenge the figures emanating from the Government office in Nottingham? Why should you vote on a major development based on a top-down regional spatial strategy that within six months could be abolished and decisions on the real number of dwellings required could be handed back to local authorities? This could happen if there is a change of Government in 2010. - Be aware that green fields near Syston and Queniborough are being targeted by developers as well as farmland east of
Thurmaston and north of Hamilton.
- Dispute the planning orthodoxy that there is no alternative to SUEs (Sustainable Urban Extensions).
- Welcome the new south Charnwood transport study but question how the east of Thurmaston north of Hamilton
development option progressed so far with wholly inadequate traffic and transport research.
- Check that flooding and run-off from 5000 dwellings has been properly calculated.
- Resist the loss of 300 hectares of productive farmland.
- Reject the view that village identity can be preserved when 200
metres is the planners' yardstick for separation from a new town of 5000 dwellings.
- Value and protect the heritage and ecology of the rural haven surrounding Barkby and Barkby Thorpe.
- Prevent further urban encroachment on an area that has taken more than its fair share of development in the last 30 years."
For more information visit www.babtag.co.uk or contact:
BARKBY AND BARKBY THORPE PARISHES ACTION GROUP
15 Queen Street, Barkby Thorpe Leicester LE7 3QH
Chairman: Owen Bentley
Email: owen.bentley@barkbythorpe.demon.co.uk
Tel: 0116 2692847
Press release - 16th January 2009
Local Action Group Fights Charnwood's proposal for 5000 Houses
Barkby and Barkby Thorpe Parishes Action Group (BABTAG) was set up at a public meeting in St Mary's Church, Barkby on 2nd December to oppose the building of a development the size of Syston on land to the east of Thurmaston and north of Hamilton towards Barkby, Syston and Queniborough. This is what it has done so far.
- Detailed objections to the proposed development were sent to Charnwood Council in response to the Borough's consultation exercise.
- Publicity for the BABTAG's objections appeared on Radio Leicester and in the Leicester Mercury.
- Common cause has been made with the Thurmaston Unite Group and there will be a leaflet drop in Barkby, Barkby Thorpe, Syston and
Queniborough alerting
residents to the proposed development and urging them to contact their local Charnwood councillors.
- Meetings have been organised with the Charnwood Borough planners and our local MP Stephen Dorrell where BABTAG can voice its
concerns not least over traffic and flooding.
- Key information is being gathered on the quality of the threatened agricultural land, on
the development companies that have approached Charnwood and on heritage and wildlife sites at risk.
- Large banners will shortly be appearing in prominent positions in Barkby and Barkby Thorpe
alerting villagers and the passers by to the potential loss of precious productive countryside.
- A website has been set up - www.babtag.co.uk - carrying up to the minute news and information about BABTAG's activities.
