Evicted

[Guest]

Fiddle of the Lands

The joke is that most of these areas are unsuitable for dwellings.

In the Blackwater and Colne areas for example where much of the time the adjacent area is mud !
This is now coming to light with new builds in Heybridge, Rowhedge etc.
It smells, has loads of bugs and flies and has caused allergies.

This has been well known in Docklands.

There are also many cases of children drowning and is a constant worry for parents.

 

[Trevethan]

Re: Fiddle of the Lands

I live about 100 yards from the canal, on the fourth floor. I had problems getting insurance due to the flood risk - told 'em if the water was lapping at my door I'd take the boat and start looking for new moorings on the top of Dartmoor.

Thing is the new stuff is even closer to the water and insuring the properties will be quite difficult I suspect.

 

[Trevethan]

No onme denies things need to be dopne. Its just the plans offered are not suitable.

Little thing like they are building office space, but not providing car parking space - the developers say people working there will be living in Exeter, this runs contrary to the rest of the city's workforce, 70% of whom drive in from outside.

The proposal is misleading regarding the traffic impact - they suggest traffic will increase 10% and tweaking the traffic lights will make it run smoothly. We are already at the point where it takes an average of 45 mins to drive out onto the main road on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon due to congestion.

The artists impressions are not to scale - they show open areas at either end of the basin, however the plans indicate 3 and 4 storey development right to ends.

Views of the water will vanish, the chandelry will vanish - the council has already sold that lease to teh developer, no one will be able to do any work on their boats - new regulations suggested by the council will limit maintenance work on boats, once the development is complete in 3 or 4 years to washing..... Who will use the place for winter layup if you can't do any work on the boat?

This is providing the canal remains navigable - after three or four years of no traffic, we are worried the weed will choke the passage and it will silt up to the point where it unuseable.. already in summer, the relatively low traffic volumes making passage allow the weed to get out of control and various conservation groups limit the work done to maintain the canal.

Instead of limiting passage and closing up the place the council should be making much much more of the place - encouraging people to visit the city by boat, recognising that its a pain to get to, espcially if you have masts and focussing efforts on letting people use the boatyard facilities, encouraging the boat building tradition, creating places for young people and tourists - a backpackers hotel, youth bars, shipwright displays, a canal museum and so on.

That will draw people to the area - Ask yourself this - when visiting a city do you think, it would be nice to go sit in traffic for an hour or so, visit some flats and offices they built a year or two ago, sit in the shadows cast by the buildings and smell teh stagnant water, or it would be nice to down to the quayside, have lunch, look at the boats, visit the boatbuilding school, row down the canal to a lovely pub a mile away or so have a drink, come back and enjoy the evening sun while people watching?

 

[Endymion]

Some Bad News...

/forums/images/icons/mad.gif We have just heard that the Deputy Primeminister (Two Jags Fat Git) has decided not to call in the planning application for the Brightlingsea Development. This has come as a major set back to our campaign, and shows the caring sharing approach of this bloody government..."stuff the rural areas...lets make it all urban!"

Nick, I sincerely hope that your local area will not suffer the same fate! /forums/images/icons/mad.gif

Endy

 

[Twister_Ken]

Hints \'n tips

Locally, we're fighting a proposal for a 30 storey building in a predominantly low rise area. A few tips from what we've discovered:

The objectors should become an organisation. The council likes a single-point of contact.

Despite the above, get individuals to register their objections, with councillors as well as officers - local councillors don't like public pressure.

Find out who the critical decision makers are - planning committee chair, chief planning officer, etc. Talk to them and make you concerns known.

The authority will have a published plan (probably called a unitary plan) which details what they regard as their priority uses for an area. These plans often include motherhood and apple pie stuff which developers find difficult to comply with, like provision of improved nursery education, affordable housing, employment opportunities for handicapped people, etc. Expose EVERY way in which the developers plans fail to meet the council's own land-use parameters.

Major on increased pressure on local services, not just traffic. How about the supply of clean water and the disposal of sewage, on local schools (already oversubscribed, understaffed and underfunded), ditto health services, policing, neighbourhood shopping, etc

These schemes are often the bright idea of someone who has managed to convince the key council officers that it is a good idea, and has swung one or two councillors. Make sure that EVERY councillor in the local authority knows what is going on. If they don't like it they can tell the officers to have no more to do with the scheme.

Demand the opportunity to put your case to the full council. Often there is a 'deputation' provision in local statutes. Wheel in everybody who is against it, especially the aged, infirm, single parent families, ex-offenders, etc.

What's the political composition of the council? Make it an 'if you want to get elected next time' or an 'if you want to hold onto power next time' issue for the politicians.

Find out where the money is going. You already imply that the council has benefited by selling a lease. Where will that money end-up and is it 'for the good of the community'?

The developers will almost certainly be offering a municipal bribe, in the form of what is called Section 106 monies, which the authority should use to benefit those affected by the development (i.e. you). So what do the authority plan to do to improve your lot?

Are there alternative, viable plans for the area? Could another organisation launch a counter proposal - like your pubs/restaurants/museums idea which would be more attractive and better for the city's coffers. Cite the example of the waterside environment in Bristol Docks as an example (perhaps).

Sew doubt about the viability of the scheme proposed. Often the authority is swayed by the prospect of increased council tax, business rates, etc. But if the development is not viable, these will not be forthcoming (neither will the S106 monies).

Sew doubt about the credibility of the developer. You have already said its 'artist's impressions' misrepresent the actual picture. Find as many inconsistencies as you can, then ask why the developer is trying to pull the wool over the public's and the council's eyes.

Organise protests to draw wider attention through public and media awareness. How about a parade of boats led by Pete Goss and/or Tony Bullimore and/or Ellen Mc, etc? How about organising canal trips for local underprivileged or handicapped children?

Try to find endangered flora or fauna around the site - maybe the local university could do some field studies. Then get the conservationists on your side.

Are you sure that the site doesn't have important archaeological or historical value - again talk to local historians/university, etc to try and enlist support.

Having done all these sorts of things, then talk to the developer. Ask if they have considered the attraction of a working boat basin as a draw to buyers/lessees. They might be prepared to adapt their plans to accommodate you when they realise their existing plans are going to be fiercely resisted.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Oh, & good luck, BTW. nm

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