Woodlands Farm planning appeal officially started

The start letter has now been published for the appeal against the Blackberry Park application for up to 215 homes on land at Woodlands Farm.

Any comments you made at the application stage will be passed on to the Planning Inspectorate. If you want to make any additional comments, you must submit 3 copies of them to the Inspector by 9 March 2018. The Planning Inspectorate will not acknowledge representations.

For more advice on taking part in an appeal you can read a 'Guide to taking part in planning appeals proceeding by an inquiry' online.

Woodlands Farm - Barratt Homes to appeal

As some eagle-eyed residents have spotted, correspondence on the web page for the Woodlands Farm "Blackberry Park" application shows that Barratt Homes are going to appeal against the council's refusal last summer.

What is on the website at the moment is pre-appeal correspondence, where they're sorting out what form the appeal will take. The Planning Inspectorate have agreed with Barratt Homes that there will be a public inquiry but Barratt Homes have not yet submitted the Appeal Start Letter. This is the official notification of the start of the appeal and is key because all the dates (for example, the deadline for comments) will flow from that. When South Glos gets the Appeal Start Letter they will then notify Claire Young as ward member, the Parish Council and so on.

For the hundreds of people who objected to the application, this will not be a welcome start to the new year. When the appeal does start, we will let you know how you can have your say.

Parking around the Manor School

After a long delay, the proposed new parking restrictions around the Manor School in Coalpit Heath have now been formally advertised.

There are actually two consultations because two Traffic Regulation Orders are needed - one for the yellow zig zag lines, which will be shortened so that they are enforceable, and one for double yellow lines. Hopefully these will help prevent the dangerous parking that local people have often suffered at school times. You have until 22nd September to have you say.

Blackberry Park application refused

After a lengthy debate, the DC (East) Planning Committee refused on a split vote the Barratt Homes "Blackberry Park" outline application for up to 215 homes on land at Woodlands Farm. Local campaigners were there to have their say and show their support for protecting the site.

Barratt Homes now have the option to appeal against the decision. We will let you know if this happens.

Woodlands Farm - decision next week

The "Blackberry Park" application for up to 215 homes at Woodlands Farm will be decided at the DC (East) planning committee meeting next Thursday. The meeting starts at 3pm in Kingswood Civic Centre and the public are very welcome to attend. There will be up to 5 minutes for objectors to speak. The case officer has recommended that the application be approved. You can read their 66 page report online.

No decision on Woodlands Farm this month

There will be no decision on the "Blackberry Park" application on Woodlands Farm this month. The next DC (East) planning committee meeting was due to take place next week. Given the issues raised by members of the committee following last week’s site visits, all the applications have been deferred to a later date.

Planning committee visits Woodlands Farm

Today members of the DC (East) planning committee visited Woodlands Farm to view the site and hear the concerns of local people and councillors. As yet, we don't know which committee meeting the decision is likely to be taken at - we'll keep you updated.

Planning committee to visit Woodlands Farm

Next Friday, 30th June, the DC (East) planning committee will be visiting Woodlands Farm, Coalpit Heath. Barratt Homes are hoping to build up to 215 houses on the site, which they call "Blackberry Park".

The committee members are expected to arrive at the site at about 10.50am. Members of the public are very welcome to attend - last time there was an application for Woodlands Farm large numbers turned up to show their opposition. There will be 10 minutes for someone from the objectors to speak, as well as 3 minute slots for South Glos and Parish Councillors. We will be meeting by the kissing gate that leads into the fields between St Saviour's Rise and Blackberry Drive - as shown by the green star on this map.

You can view the agenda for the site visit here - it includes a link to the case officer's report.

Many people will be at work or school next Friday morning but there is another way to show local opposition. This Saturday, 24th June, a photographer from the Gazette is coming to the fields at 11am. Please meet by the kissing gate that leads into the fields between St Saviour's Rise and Blackberry Drive - and encourage your friends and family to be there too.

Revised planning application for Woodlands Farm site in Coalpit Heath

Barratt Homes and and David Wilson Homes have submitted a revised proposal for the "Blackberry Park" site at Woodlands Farm, Coalpit Heath. As before it proposes 215 homes, with road access off Park Lane.

The developers say that their revised plans answer a number of issues that South Glos raised about the previous application, for example restricting the part of the site where there would be taller (2.5 to 3 storey) buildings to a small central area.

The plans and documents are visible on the South Glos planning website http://developments.southglos.gov.uk/online-applications/ - search for application number PT17/0215/O.

You can submit your comments online until the deadline of 26 May 2017.

Activity in fields east of Roundways, Coalpit Heath

Residents have been concerned about activity going on in these fields, so we asked South Glos officers to find out what is going on. It's important to note that no planning application has been submitted or decided.

We have been told that Bloor Homes, the developers who are promoting potential development through the Joint Spatial Plan, have been undertaking ground investigation works to better understand the locations of bell pits and other features related to historic mining, which is an issue that has been raised locally and will need to be fully investigated before any final decisions are made. This would have been undertaken with the land owner's permission.

Mining talk

The South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group are holding a talk, "Now we know their names", on Wednesday 1 March at about 9:00pm (after the group’s AGM) in the The Miners (Coalpit Heath Village Hall).

The talk is by DP Lindegaard, author of the book “Killed in a Coalpit – Lives of the Kingswood Colliers”. The book is a useful reference for anyone whose family were employed in the South Gloucestershire and Bristol coalfields; the index has over 2000 family names.

Walking beat surgery for Coalpit Heath

The local police beat team will be carrying out a Walking Beat Surgery in Coalpit Heath from 4pm to 6pm on Sunday 23rd October. You can find out more here.

Formal consultation on 20mph limits in Coalpit Heath

You have until 22nd September to have your say on the proposed 20mph limits on:

Burcombe Close, Coalville Road, Dormer Close, Heath Gardens, part of Henfield Road, Rathbone Close, Rose Oak Drive, Rose Oak Lane, Roundways, South View Crescent, South View Rise, Station Road, St. Annes Drive, Watters Close, Woodside Road.

This is the formal advertisement of the draft order, the next step in the legal process for changing a speed limit. You can view the proposals and comment here.

Footpath to close for railway works

The footpath that goes from the end of Broad Lane in Westerleigh past Dodmoor Farm, left along the railway and then heads off towards Frog Lane Farm will be closed in the autumn for railway works to take place. The diversion will be along the Broad Lane Restricted Byway, up the path that goes across Ha'penny Bridge to Frog Lane Farm and then back south east. The closure order will be in operation from 30 September 2016 for up to six months but the closure is only expected to last for 11 days.

Safety on the roads around the Manor School

Last year South Glos carried out an informal consultation on introducing a 20mph limit on the residential roads to the east of Badminton Road, Coalpit Heath.

Based on the results of that consultation, officers decided to go ahead with the formal advertisement. That was supposed to happen in May but it was delayed and will now run from 29th August to 22nd September.

The formal advertisement of the waiting restrictions around the school, which is a separate piece of work, has been delayed by the departure of the official dealing with it. We'll let you know when it's time to have your say.

Could you help run the Manor Hall?

The charity that runs the Manor Hall in Coalpit Heath are looking to recruit new Trustees. If you think you might have skills you can use to help this charity, you can find out more here. The deadline for applications is 15th July 2016.

Next Community Engagement Forum next Tuesday

The next Community Engagement Forum (CEF) (formerly Safer Stronger Community Group) meeting for the area covering Frampton Cotterell, Coalpit Heath and Westerleigh is on Tuesday 5th July at 7.30pm in the Greenfield Centre. There will be updates from the local fire and police services and from councillors, feedback on previous priorities and a discussion of local community issues.

Lorries outside Sainsbury's - a reminder

Back in January Claire Young asked people to send her details of any problems caused by lorries parking on Badminton Road outside the new Sainsbury's store in Coalpit Heath. Thank you to those who have sent in emails, sometimes with photos and videos attached. It's important that highways officers understand what is happening to help them decide what, if any, action is needed.

Do keep on sending Claire your reports. It would be helpful if you could say if the lorry was unloading/loading or just parked so the driver could buy things from the store, but the most important thing is to know when it is happening.

Hiring a hall in Coalpit Heath

The Manor Hall trustees have announced new reduced charges for Westerleigh Parishioners and organisations based in Westerleigh Parish - you can find out details on their hire fees page. Much, but not all, of Coalpit Heath is in Westerleigh Parish. If you vote at the Manor Hall, you're in the Parish. The reduced rate is of course also available to people living in other parts of the Parish - Henfield, Ram Hill, Kendleshire, Westerleigh, Nibley and the Stover Road area on the edge of Yate.

Coalpit Heath is lucky to have a choice of community halls with different facilities so whatever the type of event you're trying to hold there is likely to be a hall suitable. As well as the Manor Hall, you can hire St Saviour's Church Hall and Coalpit Heath Village Hall (The Miners).

Parking problems outside Sainsbury's

Before Christmas residents reported a lorry parked on Badminton Road outside Sainsbury's unloading, instead of in the designated lorry bay. This made it difficult to exit the car park safely because of reduced visibility.

Claire Young raised this with both the council and the local beat manager. PC Simmons talked to the store manager, who in turn made the drivers aware of the problem. He trusts there will be no further problems from his side, however he has expressed a concern that drivers who may be customers rather than suppliers may park in the same location.

Council officers confirmed that they secured a commitment from the Sainsbury’s developer to fund a permanent TRO if parking issues developed on Badminton Road as a result of the development. However, the original expectation was that the problem would be with customers parking on Badminton Road either for convenience or because the car park was full, which could be addressed by the introduction of double yellow lines. The incident reported involved a vehicle unloading, which yellow lines would not legally prevent. That could only be done by introducing a loading/unloading ban during the store opening hours. The council could promote such a ban but it could impact on local residents.

The first step is to see whether this is a regular occurrence or a rarity. To help with that, if you see an incident, please report it to Claire so she can put together an incident log for the council. It would be helpful if you could also say if the lorry was unloading/loading or just parked, but the most important thing is to know when lorries are parking on Badminton Road near the store.