Campaign to Keep Wimborne Green

The Planning Application for 61 dwellings on Green Belt adjacent to 5 Heath Close has been rejected by the Planning Department of East Dorset District Council.

Please refer to the article in Stour and Avon Magazine for more details.

Volunteers required for Leaflet Distribution

Please would you and your neighbours consider helping us in our fight to save Greenbelt from development by distributing leaflets in your area? These leaflets will advertise a Public Meeting in Colehill when the Secretary of State responds to the Panel Report on the government's plans to build 1000's of new dwellings on Greenbelt around us.

If you can give up a little of your time (probably in the summer) please email us at info@keepwimbornegreen.co.uk with details of your name, address and contact number.

Colehill Parish Council Rejects Application to Build on Green Belt

The Colehill Parish Council met at the Colehill Memorial Hall on Tuesday 11/3 to consider the Planning application to build 61 new dwellings on land adjacent to 5 Heath Close. A packed hall heard the Parish Council vote to recommend the application be rejected by EDDC. The application will be considered by the EDDC Planning and Resources committee at a meeting in April, date and time to be advised.

Leader of EDDC Expresses Concern

The Leader of the East Dorset District Council Derek Burt has written to Hazel Blears to express the Council’s concern over the EIP Panel’s recommendations.

Link to Council Website

Newspaper Report (40 KB)

Text of Letter (7 KB PDF)

EDDC Respond to EIP Report

The East Dorset District Council Policy and Resources Committee met on the 30^th January to discuss their response to the Examination In Public Panel’s report on the Draft Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West. The detailed response can be found below.

EDDC Response (246 KB)

Minutes of Meeting (70 KB)

Examination In Public Reports

The Enquiry in Public Panel’s report on the Draft Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West was published on 10^th January and does not make good reading. If you wish to read it in full it is on the SWRA website and runs to hundreds of pages.

Draft South West RSS Examination in Public Panel Report

Basically, the Panel does not accept the democratically taken decision by East Dorset District Council NOT to build on greenbelt areas around Wimborne and has decided that the areas of search should be taken OUT of greenbelt to allow building.

Further than that, the panel toured the area and concluded that there was scope to build outside the areas previously identified and have also asked for a further 1000 houses to be built in the East Dorset area! Obviously this will cause great concern and uncertainty amongst the public because who knows which other fields around us will fall prey to the developers.

The Panel seems to have taken no account of the constraints of the area (roads, schools, health facilities etc.) and have suggested road charging and increases in parking fees to dissuade motorists from car travel. How else can workers travel to employment centres if not by car? Bus services are abysmal and we have no rail link.

Some Good Publicity

We have received some welcome publicity, highlighting both our local campaign and the general cause of protecting Green Belt throughout Dorset (Daily Echo 31/8).

Bill Bryson’s (CPRE President) recent visit to Bournemouth has also created some additional publicity (Daily Echo 7/9).

Refer to the Media page for full articles.

Examination In Public In Progress

The Examination in Public (EIP) began on the 17^th April and will finish on the 6^th July, with the Panel due to report to the Secretary of State in October. The EIP is taking place in Exeter so is extremely difficult for local people to attend. The matters concerning the Urban Extensions in and around Wimborne will be discussed on the 7^th, 8^th and 12^th June. See pages 31/32 of Final Programme for details of questions being placed before the Panel and organisations making statements before the Panel. Full details of the EIP can be found on their website at http://www.southwesteip.co.uk.

Consultation on the Sustainable Community Strategy for Dorset

On the Dorset County Council website - http://www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=360865 you will find “Shaping Our Future - Consultation on The Sustainable Community Strategy for Dorset".

Dorset County Council would like as many people as possible to complete the questionnaire, sending their answer by mail or email to Bournemouth University, who will analyse the results for them. No names or addresses needed; all replies are anonymous. The DCC paper is long and jargon ridden, soft on facts and strong on hopes, and promises all things to all men. BUT.......the serious part of it is its drive to build a lot more affordable high density houses in Dorset, many in green belt sites.

MAY I URGE EVERYONE TO FILL IN THE CONSULTATION FORM AND SEND IT IN.

The easiest way to do it is to print out the consultation form, and fill it in while reading the 62 page(!) paper on the computer. The other way is to ring Zoe Rumney at DCC at 01305 224409 and ask for the document and the questionnaire to be sent to you by post. We have until 11 March to reply. The main thing to hammer home in your own words is that their TOP priority should be the preservation of Dorset's environment, which is the reason we all came here, and what makes Dorset what it is. Subject to that, and as far as fits in with it, and where the local public agrees, they can build some houses. BUT THEY HAVE TO PUT INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDING IN PARALLEL WITH HOUSE BUILDING , OR THEY DESTROY THE ENVIRONMENT. A lot more houses without roads, parks, schools, shops and leisure facilities turn the area into a sink. Look what has happened in Verwood.

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Barker Review Proposes Changes Planning Legislation

The Treasury has decided that the planning system is a barrier to business. They want to remove what they see as obstacles – including you and your community getting involved.

Our town and country planning system plays a crucial role in protecting our environment and communities. We believe that involvement from local people improves the decisions made and is the key to successful developments. We work to safeguard your rights and to protect your environment.

The Treasury has carried out a series of reviews, including the Barker review, on land-use planning. They have recommended major changes to the planning system – cutting you out of the picture.

If the recommendations from these reviews are implemented, it could mean:

Reducing public involvement in inquiries to speed up major projects
Increased domination of supermarkets in town centres at the expense of local shops
Reducing your right to have a say in plans
Wildlife, habitats and green belts under threat from development

The land use planning system is the powerful and effective form of environmental and social regulation ever introduced in the UK. We need to protect our rights to be involved in local decision-making – but we need your help.

Take action

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Water Voles May Help Fight Development

To help us save the greenbelt fields around our homes we are asking you to pay particular attention to any sightings of water vole in or around the fields and streams of this area. They are a protected species and it is known that they have been seen in the fields to the west of “By the Way “.

For your information and to assist identification, the water vole is about the same size as a brown rat but differs in as much as it has a chubby face with a blunt nose and short furry ears almost hidden in its dark brown fur. Its eyes are situated near the top of its head to assist the animal when swimming. Unlike the rat, it is completely harmless.

If you should see any water vole, please take note of the place, time and date of the sighting and let us know immediately at info@keepwimbornegreen.co.uk in order that the sighting can be recorded by the Dorset Environmental Records Centre in Dorchester.

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Coffee Morning

The recent coffee morning held to raise funds was a great success with a total of £117 being raised.

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Public Meeting to discuss Parish Plan

Colehill residents are being given the chance to have a say in the future of their community. Councillors are encouraging everyone to come along to a public meeting to discuss the possibility of drawing up a Parish Plan for the village. The meeting will be at 7.00 pm at the Memorial Hall on Wednesday 18^th October. Representatives of the parish council and Dorset Community Action will be present.

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Council Shelves Playing Field Development

At a recent meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee (27/9/2006) it was decided to postpone indefinitely any plans to develop the land off Leigh Road as playing fields. An alternate proposal by the consultancy firm PMP was accepted which was a scaled down version of the more recent proposal but as the 2.5 million capital cost of the project is unavailable, at least for the foreseeable future, the project has been shelved. Details of the meeting and associated documents can be found at http://www.eastdorset.gov.uk/democracy/cme/details.asp?ID=1179.

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Electorate Let Down by County Council

The Dorset County Council approved their submission to the RSS, favouring the massive housing developments outlined in the Draft RSS, in a Cabinet meeting (12/7) prior to the extraordinary meetings held by both Christchurch and East Dorset District Councils (14/8). There were no extraordinary meetings as in East Dorset and Christchurch and there was no public debate in the full council.

CPRE are urging the County Council to meet to consider the RSS. It is important that the County Council recognises the depth of feeling held by the residents of East Dorset as they are likely to be one of the authorities called before the Examination in Public held in the spring. Up to the present time both the Leader and Chief Executive of the council have refused to hold any further meetings to discuss their representations to the RSS and state that if called to the Examination in Public will continue to propose the use of urban extensions for housing development.

Please contact your County Councillor and remind them that they represent your views on the County Council.

Who is your County Councillor?

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EDDC Objects to Urban Extensions in Draft RSS

The East Dorset District Council Policy and Resources Committee met on Wednesday 9/8/2006 at The Queen Elizabeth School in Wimborne to consider their recommendations to the Council concerning the Council’s submission to the Independent Panel of Inspectors. The meeting was held at the School rather than the normal committee rooms in Furzehill as there was a large number of people expected to attend. There were a number of presentations to the committee from local action groups, including Keep Wimborne Green, Keep Corfe Mullen Green and Keep Parley Cross Green. There were also presentations from the CPRE and from a number of local councillors. All of the presentations except one from a consortium of landowners were asking the council to object to the inclusion of greenbelt for use as “urban extensions” in the Regional Spatial Strategy.

There were a total of 35 recommendations (compiled by the Planning Department) being made to the Independent Panel of Inspectors which were either supporting or objecting to various parts of the Draft SS. The committee was being asked to approve these recommendations.

Recommendations to the Panel on the Draft RSS (147K PDF)

Items 22, 23 and 24 in Appendix 1 deal with the urban extensions at Corfe Mullen, Wimborne and Parley Cross respectively. The committee was recommended to continue to support the inclusion of these search areas in the RSS. However, the committee voted unanimously to object to the inclusion of the urban extension at Corfe Mullen and there was a majority vote to object to the inclusion of the area South of Ferndown (Parley Cross). The debate on item 23 (Wimborne) was a little more extended with the Councillors representing the Colehill wards wanting a distinction between the area North of Wimborne i.e. Colehill and that to the West of Wimborne. In the end a form of words was agreed which meant that the urban extension at Burts Hill was objected to but that on the allotments at The Cuthbury was supported (sorry allotment holders but your time may be limited).

The full council met at Furzehill on Monday (14/9/2006) to consider the recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee meeting of the 9^th August 2006 as described above. The document attached below is the revised schedule which also shows voting behaviour.

Revised Submission Document (90K PDF)

All the recommendations made by the P&R Committee were approved. There was a small number of councillors who bravely argued for the exclusion of the allotments as well on the basis that all greenbelt land should be preserved but were unable to persuade a large enough portion of their fellow councillors to carry the vote.

We at Keep Wimborne Green are very pleased that our councillors have recognised the need and the wish of the majority of residents to preserve the greenbelt in East Dorset and that developments on the scale proposed in the RSS are completely unsustainable. We would like to thank all those councillors who voted to object to the inclusion of the “urban extensions” in the RSS, it is a pity they were ever included in the first place.

Looking on the black side it is quite possible that the Panel of Inspectors will reject EDDC’s objections and continue to press for large housing development in the greenbelt. The fight is a long way from over.

Minutes of P&R Committee Meeting 9/8 (15K PDF)

Minutes of the Full Council Meeting (14/8) (18K PDF)

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Parish Council Objects to
Playing Field Proposal

We are extremely happy to hear that Colehill Parish Council have voiced their objections to the proposals to develop the greenbelt land north of Leigh Road as playing fields. Refer to details of proposal below.

The objections were reported in the Avon Advertiser. News story (293K PDF).

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Parish Council Against Greenbelt Development

The Colehill Parish Council have sent a letter (15/4) to the Chief Executive of the South West Regional Assembly registering their “strong opposition” to development of greenbelt land within the Parish of Colehill.

The text of the letter is as follows:

“Colehill Parish Council has considered the recommendations contained in the Regional Spatial Strategy with particular reference to recommendations for future housing development in the Wimborne/Colehill area.

It is understood that public consultation on the strategy will commence shortly. The purpose of this letter is to register the Parish Council’s strong opposition to any development on Green Belt land within this Parish.”

We should like to congratulate our council on this letter and we ask everyone to continue to press the Parish Councillors to actively support this campaign and to produce a Parish Plan to ensure that this development does not happen.

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New Conservation Area Agreed

At a recent (20/4) meeting of the East Dorset District Council Policy and Resources Committee a resolution was passed to accept proposals for a new conservation area in Colehill to the North of Wimborne. This area’s northern boundary runs just north/West of Burt’s Hill and extends eastward in a triangle to include Smugglers Lane and Merrifield with a southern boundary at Cobb’s Road.

The reason for this new area is to preserve a unique area of historic interest and historic landscape and to give some degree of control over any changes to or demolition of houses, trees etc..

Consultations will take place with:

· Holt and Colehill Parish Councillors

· Individual Householders and interested parties

· Dorset County Council

· Wimborne Civic Society

· Wimborne Town Council

We understand that the new conservation area will in no way affect the plans for housing development as referred to in the Regional Spatial Strategy.

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