Burntwood Action Group

Following the very large number of responses to the public consultation on Lichfield District Council’s revised draft Core Strategy the Council is considering commissioning further work on the projected population growth in the District. The outcome of this research may provide evidence for a change in the number of new dwellings required from the 8000 currently proposed.

This may be a step forward as many responses suggested that 8000 new homes was far greater than will be required and could dramatically change the nature of the area. We have sympathy with this view but accept that up to 1000 new homes, over the next 15 years, for Burntwood and Hammerwich, as proposed in the draft proposals, could be justified if sited on previously developed land and not encroaching on green belt.

We asked residents, and received their overwhelming backing, to respond to the consultation on the revised draft proposals by supporting those aspects which proposed development within the Burntwood area on brownfield sites. We were keen to see an early adoption of the revised Core Strategy as one of our major fears was that, whilst the District has no housing development strategy in place, there was a high probability that developers would try to push through plans, by appeal against Council rejection if ncessary, for development on sites outside those proposed in the revised Draft Core Strategy.

It now appears that the fear is well founded:

We have been informed that Miller Homes Ltd are undertaking a public consultation exercise regarding proposals for a development of 850 homes on a 26 hectare site in Streethay with associated community facilities, shops, primary school, leisure centre and public open space. The site had been identified as one with potential for development but was not chosen for inclusion in the draft Core Strategy. The Company has indicated that they will be making a planning application shortly. Should the Council decide to refuse the application on the grounds that it is premature the developer may seek to secure permission by way of a planning appeal in advance of the Council finalising the housing numbers required and the preferred locations.

This situation reinforces our view that there is an urgent need for an up-to-date approved Core Strategy to be in place to ensure that site selection is part of the formal planning process and not decided ad hoc on appeal. We appeal to Council members and officials to conduct a speedy review of the projected number of new homes required and move with all haste towards adoption of a Core Strategy which is acceptable to the majority of the District’s residents.

If you have read our November Newsletter you will be aware that the finalisation of this plan has been deferred pending the agreement between Lichfield District Council and the Regional Assembly on the number of new homes to be allocated to the District. You may have gleaned from the press that Lichfield District Council is resisting the increase of the allocation from the 8000, stated in the original plan, to 10,000. This number is important for Burntwood & Hammerwich, because it could increase the number of new homes allocated to our area beyond the 750 suggested in the draft plans. If the number remains at 750 we are fairly confidant that they can be accommodated on brownfield sites without further erosion of our much loved greenbelt.

Lichfield District Council has informed us that, since 2006, the recorded number of new homes built in Burntwood & Hammerwich is 107. At April 2009 66 Homes were under construction and 56 homes had received planning permission. This gives a total of 229 new houses in our area over the past 3 years.

Lichfield District Council has also identified locations for approximately 300 new dwellings on brownfield sites in Burntwood and Hammerwich. However, this figure is subject to further investigation and will be confirmed in the updated Strategic Housing Land Assessment which is due to be published in mid December 2009.

All of these figures exclude London & Cambridge Properties site on the Chasewater Industrial Estate opposite and beyond Morrisons Supermarket. We understand that negotiations between London & Cambridge Properties and Lichfield District Council could result in excess of 300 homes being built on this site. It is most important for the preservation of our greenbelt that these negotiations result in the land being allocated for housing and included in the final LDF Core Strategy.

We will endeavour to monitor all developments and continue a dialogue with the Lichfield District Council, at all levels, to ensure that Burntwood and Hammerwich are allocated sensible, realistic new housing targets to 2026 without the use of any of our greenbelt.

Burntwood Action Group was pleased to assist with ensuring that the local community was aware of the Heath Centre Consultation and was given the opportunity to express its views. We will endeavour to keep residents informed of any further developments of the consultation that might affect them.

Burntwood Action Group organised a poster competition for schoolchildren within the Burntwood area to promote the preservation of their surrounding green space and wildlife. On Tuesday, during the closing assemblies of the two Schools, £10 gift vouchers were presented to the two winners and certificates were awarded to five other children for producing posters judged to be “highly commended”. All of those who took part were congratulated on producing excellent, thought provoking posters.

The winners were Frayer Webster-Mayhew from Highfields and Emily Poxon from Fulfen. Highly Commended were Will Gould, Naomi Wragg, Harry Barker, Madie Fox and Georgia Bailey from Fulfen. Unfortunately Emily Poxon, Will Gould and Georgia Bailey were not present to receive their prizes.

In the first photo below Frayer Webster-Mayhew receives her award. In the second Madie Fox (left), Harry Barker (centre) and Naomi Wragg (right) receive their certificates at Fulfen. Click each image to see them individually, then once again for the full size.

Well done to everyone and thanks for taking part!

Emily Poxon , Will Gould and Georgia Bailey were not present to receive their prizes.

Attached are photographs of Frayer Webster-Mayhew at Highfields and Madie Fox (left), Harry Barker (centre) and Naomi Wragg (right) at Fulfen.

Many thanks to everyone who attended the Burntwood Action Group Open Evening on April 29th. The event detailed our achievements so far and future directions. The night was attended by approximately 60 residents and was a great success, although it would have been nice to share the evening with more local people.

The first part of the evening was in the form of a Powerpoint presentation by the Groups spokesman Michael Bate, who outlined what the group had achieved to date and thanking all the residents for their continued help and support. Burntwood Action Group is a residents group and its adherents to date in fighting development on our Local Green Belt land had been very significant. We take this opportunity to thank you all again. Although the fight is far from over and continued vigilance is required. Your committee will continue to monitor the position on your behalf and keep you informed.

We were entertained during the second part of the evening by local Historian Ron Bradbury who gave us a wonderful insight into the history of Burntwood.

As promised 6 members of the BAG Committee attended the meeting along with representative from other sections of our Alliance Group. We are please to report it was reiterated at this meeting that there were no proposals to develop any “greenbelt” land to the east of Burntwood. However the fight is far from over – LDC have decided that the revised Local Development Core Strategy Plan will be issued for further consolation. The Authorities have agreed to forward this documentation directly to us. On receipt of this information we will keep you all informed as what will be required of us. It may be that we can respond as a group or we may have to repeat our successful petition campaign.

The Burntwood Action Group are a dedicated group of individuals who have given their time and energy to campaigning for local issues. As you’ve seen we’re currently attending council meetings, printing and delivering newsletters, updating the local community and also designing, producing and displaying banners as part of our campaign.

Your kind donations are always welcome and will go towards ongoing and future costs of running our campaign and ensuring that Burntwood is a pleasant, safe, friendly and green place to live.

If you’d like to donate, just use the link on the right. Thank-you.

Last night the Environment and Development Oversight and Scrutiny Committee meeting was held in Lichfield. Firstly we would like to thank all members for their support by attending the meeting.The Farewell Lane and other areas to the East of Burntwood were specifically ruled out for development at this stage of the report, in accordance with documents already in our possesion.

Following our joint strategy we would like to publish a summary of the meeting by Paul Chapman – Chairman of the Burntwood & Hammerwich Action Group.

Dear Colleagues,

It is with pleasure that I report (on behalf of BHAG) that the recommendations made at tonights meeting with Council members (from LDC Planning Officers) is to use brownfield sites to accomodate the 750 new homes where possible.

As described last Friday there are still issues surrounding this – is there enough available land – environmental factors – etc, but the ‘bottom line’ is that LDC has listened to our representations and has changed their opinions and proposals.

The next stage is that the Exec Committee will consider the new options that will be submitted to the Sec of State.

Things could still change, There was a suggestion that homes could still be built on Hospital Rd/ Norton Lane if there is not enough brownfield available – but this would be a reduced number after brownfield as been allocated.

I was very pleased to witness a good turnout from BHAG members at Frog Lane - our attendance sends out a strong message that we are not going to ‘go away’. It was disappointing however that many people do not make that extra effort to change things - it is no use venting frustration towards the wrong people.

It is no use complaining after the event………

I make no apologies for this comment – if we are going to influence things that we are unhappy about the process will hurt at times – time/cost/effort.

We still need to fight hard – although we have made amazing progress we need to monitor future meetings and make our views heard.

Order a sign from Steve if you haven’t got one – 01543 674303. Write to Michael Fabricant – tell your neighbours about this potential blight. Attend local Council meetings.

Compared to our starting point I would suggest (on behalf of BHAG) that we are half way there – a great start.

Our local councillors ‘did us proud’ – made strong and constructive points that justified their positions in local government – good for them )

As ever if you have any comments to make about our progress please mail.

Kind Regards – Paul Chapman (Chairman)

On 24th February representatives of the following seven groups met to discuss the possibility of a joint strategy for opposing plans for development on greenfield sites in the Lichfield-Burntwood area:

Beacon Street Area Residents Association Borrowcop & District Residents Association Burntwood & Hammerwich Action Group Burntwood Action Group Leomansley Area Residents Association South Lichfield Residents Group Woodhouses Action Group.

Burntwood Action Group hosted the inaugural meeting and its representative Cyril Wilson outlined its vision of an alliance of local Groups opposing Lichfield District’s plans in its Core Strategy to build 8000 homes, mainly on green belt.

Whilst the main focus of some of the Groups was on other issues, all agreed that protection of our surrounding greenbelt was an issue that was worth joining forces to fight for.

A letter approved by all those attending has been sent to Lichfield District Council to inform them of the formation of this alliance and to ask its officers to provide a representative of each Group with the following:

· Dates, times and venues of all meetings relevant to the Core Strategy.
· Permission to attend appropriate meetings as observers.
· Minutes of each of those meetings.
· Agreement that any votes be on a “named vote” basis so that individual councillor’s votes are recorded in the minutes.
· Lists of councillors names on relevant sub-committees.

Copies of the letter were sent to the Chief Executive of Lichfield District Council, all its councillors and the Member of Parliament.

The formation of the alliance was agreed by all those present and the following joint strategy was adopted:

· A full exchange of information between groups.
· Combined pressure on councillors.
· Joint approach to Lichfield District Council to make them aware that we are concerned about protecting all our surrounding green belt and are not just NIMBIES.
· Future meetings to be on a rolling basis with the next one to be hosted by South Lichfield Residents Group.

Readers of the Burntwood Mercury may have seen an article on page 2 about our campaign. Unfortunately the second to last paragraph completely misrepresents our position.

The land northwards towards Gentleshaw and Chorley was identified by Lichfield District Council as a possible area for development prior to publication of the Preferred Option. We drew attention to this so that residents would be ready to resist any proposals to develop on that land if the Preferred Option to develop southwards was rejected.

We are opposed to development on any green belt land around Burntwood!