Village Expansion Update (revised) – August 2011

August 18, 2011 by 2 Comments

Following the village consultation exercise in May, which generally endorsed the principles for development proposed by the Parish Council Expansion Working Group, there have been further meetings with Swindon Borough Council and an initial meeting with the developers.
The timetable for the South Marston supplementary planning document has been put back three months due to the number of responses received by Swindon Borough Council to the draft Core Strategy and we hope to consult further with the village by November.
We are discussing options, locations and costings with SBC’s Education Department for the school and with the Highways Department regarding the proposed development at Rowborough, access onto the A420, Pound Corner and minimising through-traffic.
The developers say that their vision for the expansion of the village is not far apart from ours and we are to have more detailed discussions with them.
We are also meeting again with the Environment Agency to address flooding issues.

The Working Party will consult with villagers on options for expansion before the village SPD is drawn up by SBC.  The government’s localism agenda may support our influence, but its policy of promoting economic growth by building more houses supports the developers.

We will continue to keep everyone informed on future developments.
South Marston Parish Council

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Advertiser – Enormous reaction to town plan

August 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Swindon Advertiser yesterday ran an article about the responses received to the new Core Strategy:

A MASTERPLAN for the expansion of Swindon has sparked an unprecedented reaction.

The number of individual responses to the council’s Core Strategy has been counted by the council — and amounts to about 1,400.

The figure is a new record and the council has said it will amend the strategy to take account of residents’ feelings.

But is has also been issued with a stark warning — listen to the people or else.

Among those who responded to the consultation was Steph Exell, membership secretary of the Oakhurst Residents’ Association. The 49-year-old former councillor, of Southwold Close, gasped when told of the full scale of the responses.

She had submitted a 22-page critique of Core Strategy’s plans for 1,700 homes at nearby Tadpole Farm.

“The Core Strategy is still not set in stone,” she said. “It hasn’t been approved by the council or the planning inspector, and I’m hoping Tadpole Farm will disappear. It’s not a sustainable site, and I hope the planning inspector will see that.

“I think what this shows is democracy is alive and kicking. We’re ready to fight. Bring it on. We’ll fight tooth and nail. They’re going to have, all over Swindon, so many communities who are angry and feel let down by the Conservative administration.

“They are going to find themselves in a bit of trouble at the ballot box if they are not listening to the community. They should be afraid for their votes.”

The Core Strategy is a blueprint for where Swindon’s new homes and infrastructure will be built between now and 2026.

In the east of the town, residents have been objecting to the Core Strategy’s plans for hundreds of homes around South Marston. Stuart Young, 52, of Manor Meadows, is part of a village working party on the issue.

“We’re particularly concerned about the impact of any development on flooding. We had major floods in the last few years.”

In a statement, the council said: “We are currently analysing the comments that have been made.

“We have received about 1,400 comments on the Core Strategy and we will be making changes to the strategy based on those comments. We will then go out for a further consultation on those changes towards the end of the year and the revised Core Strategy will then be submitted for independent examination early next year.”

It then added: “It would be fair to say it is the most responses we have received for a consultation of this scale.”

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Advertiser – Greenlight for Solar Farms

May 18, 2011 by 4 Comments

Solar panels near Dukovany Nuclear Power Station.

Image via Wikipedia

Swindon Advertiser today ran an article regarding the planning application for two Solar Farms to be sited in South Marston and Sevenhampton.

TWO new solar farms will soon bolster the town’s green credentials after they were given planning permission by Swindon Council.

The two farms, at Roves Farm in Sevenhampton, and in South Marston, both measure 32 acres in size and will produce enough electricity for 4,000 dwellings.

“This scheme will mean Swindon leads the way with one of the largest solar fields of any town in the UK.”

George Paton who acts for the landowners

Roves Farm owner Rupert Burr said he was delighted to have secured planning permission for the project, which will see a five megawatt capacity solar farm built consisting of 17,000 solar panels.

He said: “We were reasonably optimistic about this outcome but we are very pleased because we have been working towards it for a long time. Everybody I have spoken to has been very supportive of the plans, in fact I haven’t met anybody who has said they disagree with it and I presume this was shown in the letters of support that were sent to the planning committee.”

The scheme, which will stretch across about 30 acres of land in two fields immediately to the west of the Roves Farm buildings, is the largest eligible for support under the new government incentive scheme known as the “Feed-In Tariff” announced last year.

Rupert, who has run Roves Farm since 1992, said the first phase of the project must be completed by August 1.

“Obviously there are some formalities to sort out before then,” he said. “But it is early days and the first phase has to be completed by August 1 to be eligible for the government scheme. The next stage is to try to market the electricity and find companies who are interested in it, I hope there will be an interest out there so we can start pushing it a little bit more.”

George Paton who acts for the landowners said: “This is a fantastic step for Swindon in meeting the challenges set by Climate Change. This scheme will mean Swindon leads the way with one of the largest solar fields of any town in the UK.”

The developers AEE Renewables plan to start work on the site in the next four weeks. Power generated will be fed into the national grid.

For more information call Roves Farm Visitor Centre during normal working hours on 01793 763939.

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Swindon Borough Council – Core Strategy Presentation in the Village Hall

April 14, 2011 by 1 Comment

On 12 April, Swindon Borough Council held their Roadshow on the Core Strategy and gave some indications about their thoughts on the expansion of the village. The village expansion working party also put on a display of some of their work.

Over 130 villagers attended. Many were kind enough to complete a questionnaire about the proposals and raised several points of their own. Of the 100 questionnaires given out, some 60% have so far been returned.

The village expansion working party are analysing the completed questionnaires and are also trying to obtain from Swindon Borough Planners, the answers to some of the questions and concerns raised by villagers.

Once this work has been completed, it is the intention of the village expansion working party to invite villagers to another meeting to hear the results of the questionnaires and to discuss the implications of these and some of the other points raised in greater detail. It is hoped that this can be arranged during May 2011.

Because it is not always convenient for villagers to attend on an evening meeting it is hoped to run the feed back meetings at different times of the day and on different days of the week in order to allow as great a participation of villagers as possible. When these meetings have been finalised, we will deliver a leaflet through your door giving you the detailed arrangements. We hope you will all continue to attend these meeting, as your views are important.

The village expansion working party can be contacted via the Parish Clerk, Gemma Cheal on 01793 820529 or via email on Clerksmpc@Aol.Com

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What will South Marston look like in 2015?

April 9, 2011 by 1 Comment

Swindon Borough Council are holding an exhibition that sets out their vision for the Borough for the next 20 years. The draft of the “Core Strategy” covers subjects important to all of us, such as :-

  • The expansion of South Marston
  • 2000 new homes next to Nightingale Wood
  • Traffic plans and relief roads
  • A major shopping and office centre South of the A420
  • New Schools
  • Flooding issues
  • Potential sites for wind turbines.

http://www.swindon.gov.uk/corestrategy

We should comment as individuals and as a village.

Come along to the Village Hall between 5pm and 9pm on Tuesday April 12th and talk to Swindon Planners and members of the South Marston Working Party

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Village Green Application Update – April 2011

March 26, 2011 by 1 Comment

Objections to the Village Green application have been received by Swindon Borough Council and we now await the response. Having read the objections, I would like to allay the fears/concerns that some villagers have regarding usage of the recreation ground if Village Green status is granted: Read more of this post

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Parish Council News – April 2011

March 25, 2011 by 5 Comments

Village Expansion

Swindon Council Road Show – 12th April

Swindon Borough Council have published the revised draft Core Strategy that will govern the expansion of the town to 2026 and beyond. It includes an amended Eastern Development area plan and specific outline plans for the expansion of South Marston. Responses are required by 24th May.

They will be holding a Road Show in the village hall between 5 and 9 pm on the 12th April. Some issues are proving more controversial than we expected.  Read more of this post

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Advertiser: 20000 Solar Panels planned for South Marston

February 17, 2011 by 5 Comments

The Swindon Advertiser ran the following article about yesterday’s Public Viewing by AEE on the proposed Solar Farm to be sited around the village:

ONE of the men behind a new multi-million pound renewable energy plan on the outskirts of town has played down the impact it will have on local people.

Plans for a five megawatt capacity solar farm with more than 20,000 panels in a field to the north of South Marston were unveiled at a consultancy session yesterday.

The scheme proposes to build on a 30-acre plot just 600 metres away from another solar farm proposal at Roves Farm which is from the same company, AEE Renewables.

Read more of this post

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Village Green Application: School Size Planning Guidance

February 12, 2011 by 9 Comments

An application has been made to register the playing field as a Village Green, with the aim of not permitting any enclosure or development on it.

The village school sits in the corner of the field on a site of about 60meters square, which I calculate to be rather less than half a hectare. I have asked Martin Trewella, development planner at Swindon, to enquire of the likely requirements for the school if and when the proposed expansion of the village goes ahead. He replied as follows:. Read more of this post

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Village Expansion Review Meeting – 7th Feb 2011

January 25, 2011 by 2 Comments

Villagers are invited to a meeting hosted by the Parish Council in the Village Hall at 7.30 on the 7th Feb. to preview two key documents prepared by Swindon Borough Council.

  1. The first draft of the draft Core Strategy that is to be released for public consultation in March and how this impacts on the village. See the Cabinet briefing paper for the 19th Jan. at http://ww5.swindon.gov.uk/moderngov/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=285&J=1
  2. The long awaited Transport Report on the traffic impact and road plans for the Eastern Development Area, to include South Marston, expected to be available.
  3. We will also explain why we propose applying for the village expansion to become a Vanguard Scheme under the Localism agenda. See: http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningsystem/neighbourhoodplanningvanguards/

Colin McEwen

Chair South Marston Parish Council

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