Weekly digest: Feb 08

Posted on 08/02/2020 by CTTC Forum

Hello again

Another short edition as there’s not been a lot of news. But after last week’s missive I shall be a little more circumspect when using images – especially emojis! When I added the ‘winking face’ icon last week, it appeared to be of a modest size when viewed on the website. However, I don’t know what it was like in your email version, but what appeared in mine was a grossly outsized face with a grin that just seemed to mock me and my puny attempt to become a ‘graphic artist’. So, I’ll take more care next time!

1 Plan’s Progress – a further update

  • We continue to hold weekly workshops to get all the revisions incorporated into the Plan and we’ve made good progress. Changes have been made to Sections A and B and in the policies section (what was Section C) we have completed Housing, Urban Design, Leisure/Heritage/Communities, and Employment. Just Environment and Infrastructure need polishing off and we intend to get those finished in the next 2 weeks
  • The trickiest bit of work is producing a revamped Section D. Most of this section has been rewritten and given a new, clearer focus to:
    • Act as a ‘bridge’ from the vision and objectives as outlined in Section B to the policies in Section D
    • This ‘bridge’ comprises a set of guiding principles for masterplanning purposes across the Area
    • Besides these principles, the new section will also document our aspirations, such as our desire to see George Spencer Academy relocated to a new purpose-built school across Toton Lane, somewhere near the tram terminus. A criticism we had from some stakeholders was that the Plan didn’t clearly differentiate between aspirations (which we’d like to see implemented) and policies (which must be implemented).
  • We’ve produced a first draft of this section – which will become the new ‘Section C’ – but some more work is needed. This should be completed in the next couple of weeks.
  • We’re still looking to get the final version completed by the end of February, but it probably won’t be submitted to the council until the end of March, to allow time for a couple of associated documents to be produced.

2. Living with Beauty

  • I don’t know if you have heard about the ‘Living with Beauty’ report by the Building Better, Building Beautiful (BBBB) commission which has just been published. I’ve only skimmed it so far, but it clearly contains a lot of good stuff that we want to see adopted in our Area.
  • The report was picked up in last week’s Sunday Times and they highlight that the report urges the government to:
    • Engage communities early and widely in planning
    • Local ideas for beauty to be prescribed in new neighbourhood design codes
    •  “Regreen” towns […] with two million street trees.
    • Rewrite the National Planning Policy Framework to explicitly ‘ask for beauty’.
  • Robert Jenrick (SoS for Housing) is quoted as saying the report is, “…one of the most important we’ve seen for many years”.
  • This is all positive news for us as it reinforces our ambitions and aspirations to build something special here in Toton and Chilwell.
  • Here is a link to the report if you are interested in reading it. Let us know your views.

3. And finally…. (I did warn this was a ‘slow news’ week)

  • The Council is still consulting on its Leisure Centres. I posted about this a couple of weeks ago and asked for your help in pushing for a new Leisure Centre to be built in our area. So please take part in the online survey – here is the link to the website. Many thanks.
  • Last time to take part in the Stapleford Town Deal consultation (scroll down to the Survey Monkey link). The survey closes next Weds 12th February so if you are interested in adding your thoughts on what improvements you’d like to see in Stapleford, now is the time to act.
  • Phone boxes consultation. The council have also approached the Forum for views on the viability of a couple of phone boxes in our Area. BT are looking to remove the phone boxes at:
    • Woodstock Road, Toton – located next to the bus stop near the convenience store. This box has been used only 4 times in the last 12 months
    • Blenheim Drive, Chilwell – located outside Sainsbury’s Local. This box has been used 35 times over the last 12 months
  • Do you have strong views about retaining either of these boxes? If so, please get in touch. Clearly it is going to be difficult to justify keeping the one on Woodstock Road given it is only used once every 3 months. The one on Blenheim Drive is used more often however, at less than once a week, it is still going to be a battle to retain it. We need to respond back to the council within 21 days so please let me have any views you have. Alternatively, you can respond directly to the council if you wish – I’ll be happy to provide details.

And that’s all folks. Apart from the continuing work on the Plan, and planning for the AGM, we have little else on our radar screens, so it will likely be a couple of weeks before you receive the next update.

Kind regards
Graham

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll also find details of the scheme.

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Weekly digest: Feb 01

Posted on 01/02/2020 by CTTC Forum

Hello

After last week’s pretty lengthy report, I thought I’d make this edition shorter by providing an update on some statistics. It also gives me a chance to practise adding images to the digest!

1. People registered with the Forum

  • Overall, the total number of people registered with Forum – 1,096 – has remained pretty stable over the last 12 months or so. Remember…
    • ‘Members’ are those who live/work within our Area
    • ‘Friends’ live/work elsewhere but are interested in our activities
  • Around 925 people have provided email addresses although there are about 130 who share addresses with spouses/partners
  • The remaining 170 or so either don’t have an email address or have chosen to opt out (almost 50) from receiving these updates. Of course, some of the opt outs will be those who have moved completely away from our Area, so may no longer have an interest in our work. On the other hand, we have recently added as a ‘friend’ someone who used to live in Toton many years ago but who now lives in New York!
  • In addition to those registered, there are almost 200 people who ‘like’ our Facebook page. There may be some overlap between these ‘likes’ and those registered but even so I’d hazard a guess that our total ‘supporters’ must be around 1,250 – which is a fantastic total!

2. Some digest statistics

  • The digest is sent to just under 800 unique email addresses. We started sending it out automatically, from our website, back in April 2018 and records have been kept since then on a couple of key measures
  • The two graphs below illustrate:
    • the first time an edition is opened by an email address – ‘Unique Opens’. As can be expected, a considerable number are opened several times which suggests those who share addresses do get to read it for themselves
    • the % the edition is opened (the first time) compared to total recipients of the edition – ‘Open Rate’.
  • As you can see in the top graph, the number of ‘unique opens’ has grown over the last 12 months – no doubt due to the Plan being produced and published. So whilst the overall average of ‘opens’ is 365, it is clear that the number is now closer to 400’ish….
  • ….. which is reflected in 2nd graph which shows the average % open rate which, at around 50%, is simply staggering.
  • And some further numbers:
    • 63% of subscribers ‘often’ open/click the emails
    • 8% ‘sometimes’ open/click emails
    • 28% ‘rarely’ open/click emails.
      And to these 28% can I just say: “Why only ‘rarely’? Look at what you’re missing!” 😉
    • [I don’t know how ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, and ‘rarely’ are defined but even so, 71% regular/sometimes openers is, by any standard, pretty impressive.]
  • I find it difficult to believe there can be another Neighbourhood Forum community that has such a strong level of engagement with its community.

3. And finally….

  • These stats clearly demonstrate the breadth and depth of support we have for our work in the Forum. We sort of knew we had strong support having received a good number of positive comments during our consultation with you last summer.
  • Nevertheless, it is great to see those comments backed up with further hard evidence. Many thanks, again, to all of you for taking a keen interest in our work. If you know of any family, friends or neighbours who would like to receive these updates, please ask them to get in touch, I’ll be glad to add them in.
  • In the meantime, these stats will come in very handy when we produce our Consultation Statement that needs to be submitted to the Council alongside the final version of the Plan

That’s enough, I think, for this week’s shorter edition. Let me know if you like to see these sorts of graphs or images in general and I’ll try to add more in. Although I don’t think we’d want to change the format too much from the usual short, snappy, text-based updates. Or would we….?

Kind regards
Graham

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll also find details of the scheme.

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Weekly digest: Jan 25

Posted on 25/01/2020 by CTTC Forum

Hello again

I’m starting this week’s update with another ‘WOW!’ moment. Longstanding readers know I (very) occasionally let rip with a ‘wow’ at times of high drama and this is no exception. Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State (SoS) for Housing, Communities and Local Government visited Stapleford last Friday during which he made time to meet our chairman, Richard, to learn about our ambitions for our Area. When it comes to promoting our cause at the highest levels, we cannot go any higher than the Secretary of State for Housing!
In other news, we have also met with Homes England and have made great progress in improving our Plan. More on these – and much else – below.

1. Meeting #1: SoS Robert Jenrick

  • The SoS was in Stapleford last Friday primarily to meet local people concerning the new Towns Fund and how Stapleford could access investment funding up to £25m to improve the town (see ‘And finally…’ below for more).
  • During his time in Stapleford he kindly agreed to meet (albeit briefly) Richard to learn about our plans for the Area and in particular our aspirations for the Barracks. Richard explained the Forum wanted to see the site developed as a blueprint neighbourhood (Garden Village) – one that can be replicated elsewhere in the country. Richard went on to say that we wanted the chance to become a stakeholder in developing the site in order to see our ideas (some of them, at least) implemented
  • The SoS was supportive of our ambitions and agreed to consider how best to provide us with the resources we need to build our business case and become a credible participant when the time comes to develop the site.
  • The SoS took away with him a copy of our draft Neighbourhood Plan as well as a copy of our detailed thoughts for the Barracks – a condensed version of which was included in the Council’s application to the Garden Communities fund submitted over 12 months ago.
  • We want to thank our MP, Darren Henry, for arranging this meeting with Robert Jenrick on our behalf. It was extremely useful, and we look forward to working with Darren to access the resources we need, as mentioned by the SoS. So, as I am prone to say,…. Watch this space!

2. Meeting #2:  DIO and Homes England

  • The previous Friday (Jan 10th) we finally met up with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and Homes England. You don’t need reminding that we have been chasing this meeting for several months, so you won’t be surprised to learn the meeting was a little tense at times as we vented our frustrations over the delay. However, we agreed we all needed to draw a line under the last 12 months and start afresh.
  • The purpose of the meeting was for the DIO to introduce us to Homes England, their new partner in bringing the Barracks forward for development. The formal agreement between the DIO and Homes England was finalised last November. The result is that Homes England will take the lead role in the managing project with the DIO maintaining oversight and overall governance. Homes England have put together a small project team and we will be liaising with this team on an ongoing basis.
  • Homes England’s first task is to appoint consultants to undertake the detailed surveys and Masterplanning work for the site. The tender process for this appointment will take several weeks; they advised us they don’t expect to make an announcement on the outcome of the process before April. 
  • As a result, we expect our next meeting with Homes England will take place after the consultants have been appointed and their terms for reference formulated – perhaps early summer. Nevertheless, it is good to re-establish a relationship with a key landowner in our Area, and we look forward to building on this first meeting with Homes England.

3. Meeting #3:  Steering Group and AGM planning

  • The full Steering Group held its first meeting of the year and the main topic of the evening was planning our next Annual General Meeting. The key details for your diary are:
    • Date: Sunday 29th March from 2pm (AGM will start at 3pm)
    • Location: The Village Hotel – although this has to be confirmed
    • Agenda: Apart from the standard reports and appointment of the new Steering Group, there will be a report on our revised Plan which will be submitted to the Council. We intend to have display boards showing both our key maps as well as our key aspirations and ‘red lines’ for the Area.
    • We are also hoping to arrange a keynote speaker. We have thrown a couple of names in the pot, so we’ll work hard to get one of them along.
  • More details when we get things finalised, but please put the date in your diary: you know how much we appreciate your support as demonstrated over the last 2 years.

4. The Plan’s Progress – revisited

  • We have made great progress in revising the Plan and incorporating the positive changes submitted during the consultation held last summer. A subgroup of the Steering Group has met three times so far and another three are scheduled over the coming weeks. 
  • Sections A and B have been revised – this was a pretty straightforward task. It just involved some tightening up (more precision) of words and phrases used to remove (hopefully) all ambiguity.
  • Section C – the policies are mostly reviewed and redrafted where necessary. Our focus over the next couple of weeks will be completing what is the most important part of the Plan.
  • Section D has seen the most radical change to the draft version. This section caused a bit of confusion with a number of stakeholders who believed it contained specific policies relating to the Barracks. Whereas our intention was to lay down some principles we wanted to see adopted in the masterplan. Anyway, we have revamped the layout and broadened the scope to include the whole of our Area rather than just the Barracks. We’ve also agreed to reorder the sections (swapped sections C and D around) so that the Plan ‘flows’ more naturally from vision and objectives, through to broad masterplan aspirations and principles, leading finally to our detailed policies. More on this in future editions

5. And finally…..

  • Leisure Facilities consultation. The Council is consulting on the provision of its Leisure services and are asking residents to complete a short survey to gather views. Here is a link to the survey and we’d encourage you to take part and ‘have your say’!  As you know, the Forum is pushing hard to have a new Leisure Centre built in our Area, somewhere close to the Toton Lane tram stop.
  • Stapleford Town consultation. Following on from the first item this week, the Council are also asking residents to let them know what improvements they would like to see included in Stapleford’s ‘Town Investment Plan’ which will then bid for funds from the Towns Fund. There are 3 main themes involved: a) Urban Regeneration; b) Skills and enterprise infrastructure; and c) Connectivity (local transport schemes etc.). Here is a link to the Council’s consultation page ( which contains a further link to the actual survey) if you’d like to take part.
  • Forthcoming meeting. There is a Strategic Planning Group meeting being next week. You will recall this Group feeds into the main Toton Delivery Board and both Richard and Ian attend on behalf of the Forum and our CIC. The Group hasn’t met for a while so it will be interesting to learn what progress has been main with their Masterplanning work for the Toton Lane area – more on this next time

I won’t mention the review of HS2 and whether or not the government will give it the green light. Apart from reiterating the Forum’s position – we have built the Plan on the basis HS2 will come to Toton. However, we know that regardless of HS2 our Area faces significant development over the next 20 years, and we need to be prepared for it. So even if HS2 is cancelled, our Plan still has enormous value as the policies will be needed to cover whatever may replace it.

A long report this week so I’ll stop now and see you next time

Kind regards
Graham

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll also find details of the scheme.

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The (not quite) Weekly digest: Jan 11

Posted on 11/01/2020 by CTTC Forum

Hello everyone

Let me start by wishing you all a Happy New Year!  I think I can still get away with it as it’s not yet halfway through the month. A short’ish update this week to ease us back into the swing of things…

1. Getting the Plan Done – the sequel

  • A sub-set of the Steering Group (policy strand leads) held a workshop on Weds to understand the progress made so far by each of us to incorporate changes into the revised Plan. We discussed how best to collate the feedback into a standard format ready for submission to the Council alongside the revised version of the Plan.
  • We settled on a format that summarises comments/suggestions into key points and created the actions needed to improve the Plan. We are now collating our work into the new layout.
  • The subgroup has agreed to meet each Weds for the next four weeks to ensure we get all text changes completed by early Feb. ready for review and endorsement by the full Steering Group later next month.

2. Meeting updates

  • County Council/Arup.
    • We met the County Council and their consultants, Arup, shortly before Christmas for an update on the progress made with the strategic masterplan covering the land either side of Toton Lane.
    • At this stage, their work is still pretty high level – they showed us a couple of draft scenarios comprising ‘blobs’ of development – similar to stuff we have seen before in the East Midlands Strategic Plan. We were a little disappointed that they weren’t further advanced in their thinking, but this is still (relatively speaking) early days in the process. We explained that we couldn’t accept a proposal to position the prime road down to the HS2 station (assuming it goes ahead) behind George Spencer, thus effectively making the school an island surrounded by roads. Air quality at the school is already poor; this proposal can only make a bad situation even worse.
    • We will continue to make the case that the Academy needs to be relocated across Toton Lane. Arup acknowledged the issue and will assess alternative viable scenarios.
  • Broxtowe Borough Council.
    • We met with the Steffan Saunders last week to provide a regular update on where we are with our Plan. Steffan kindly offered some help (map making expertise) to revise a couple of maps in the plan to make them clearer. We will be taking up this offer in the next couple of weeks. In particular we are keen to clarify the boundaries of the new designated green spaces we’d like to see adopted.
  • DIO/Homes England.
    • At long last we met with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and Homes England to understand the new partnership that has been formed between them. You will know how frustrated we have been given the many delays since the meeting was first mooted last March.  
    • Anyway, it was a very useful session as we were introduced to the Homes England team who will be leading on the development of the Barracks. The DIO will retain ownership of the land and so will have overall governance of the site, but Homes England will manage the production of the strategic masterplan and initial planning application. The contract between the two of them was finalised in November so they are still in ‘start-up’ mode.
    • Homes England are now working to recruit consultants to undertake the detailed planning work. They expect to appoint consultants around April – there is always a lengthy tender process that government agencies need to follow – so we don’t expect to hear from them again until May. Nevertheless, it was good to meet the new team and we look forward to collaborating with them in the future.

3. And finally…

  • The Steering Group will hold its first full meeting of the year in a couple of weeks. The main item on the agenda will be to set a date and plan for our next AGM.  Last year we held it in mid-February; this year is likely to be a tad later – perhaps end of Feb or early March, to enable us to properly prepare for it. More on this in future editions.
  • Broxtowe Borough Council Leisure Centres. The Council are working on a new Leisure Strategy for the Borough and are asking for our views on what we would like to see regarding sport and leisure. The Forum, as you know, are looking to see a new South Broxtowe Leisure Centre built in our Area somewhere near the tram terminus and, ideally, next to a relocated George Spencer Academy. We also want to ensure the playing fields at the south eastern corner of the Barracks are fully protected and included as an asset for the community. So please take part in the online survey currently being undertaken – here is the link to the website – and support our ideas to improve the provision of leisure and sports facilities in our Area. Many thanks.

Apart from the subgroup workshop, we don’t have much planned for next week so unless something important emerges, I’ll provide the next update in a couple of weeks.

Kind regards
Graham

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll also find details of the scheme.

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The (almost) Weekly digest: Dec 21

Posted on 21/12/2019 by CTTC Forum

Hello again,

“So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And……”
… and it’s good to be back compiling these weekly updates for you. It’s been a while since the last digest was sent out and that’s down to me taking a brief sabbatical to recharge batteries following what was a pretty hectic period in writing the Plan and then consulting on it.  In the meantime, the rest of the team have been busy reviewing the immense amount of feedback we received. We are now looking to quickly (to adapt a phrase) Get the Plan Done!

1. Getting the Plan Done.

  • Our prime focus in the new year is to complete the Plan and submit it to the Borough Council. The groundwork has been done to incorporate feedback in the various sections and to strengthen the policies. The next task is to collate all the amendments into a final version of the Plan and then undertake a final sense check to make sure the various elements hang together
  • Two associated documents need to be produced and submitted alongside the Plan:
    • The Consultation Statement: which details the various consultation activities we have undertaken to produce the Plan. This will include our meetings with stakeholders as well as the consultation sessions and events we have held for members and friends of the Forum
    • The Basic Conditions Statement: which demonstrates how our policies align both with the Council’s newly adopted Local Plan as well as the government’s National Planning Policy Framework.
  • Timeframe? We are hesitant in setting deadlines as you can easily set yourself up to fail. However, we are looking to get these documents finished and submitted by the end of February. 

2. Meetings update

  • DIO/Homes England. In the last update (back in October) I previewed a meeting with the DIO and Homes England that was due to take place in early November. We were looking forward to being introduced to Homes England and to understand their role in taking forward the sale/development of the Barracks. However, to our intense frustration, the meeting was cancelled the day before we were due to meet. The reason cited was the election and the associated rules of ‘purdah’ which seemingly stops all government interaction with the public.  A new date has now been set for early January, so fingers crossed it finally takes place. With the advent of a new year we want to reset the relationship with this key stakeholder.
  • Nottingham CCG and Chilwell Valley/Meadows Practice. We met with members of the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) estate team and representatives of the surgeries at Chilwell Meadows and Bramcote Lane. The aim was to discuss the provision of the additional medical provision we will need in our Area given the scale of new homes being planned. It was a useful introductory meeting. We agreed that a new purpose-built medical centre is needed and that it would probably be best located in the Barracks close to our proposal for the new Plaza. We discussed the possibility of it being part of a larger shared building much like the Cotgrave Hub, which hosts a surgery, library, police and community voluntary services all in the same building. This type of community facility is becoming popular and we believe it would fit in very well with our vision and ideas for the Barracks.
  • blueprint and igloo. We’ve also recently met  blueprint and igloo – two companies who are working together in Nottingham to redevelop the riverside area at Trent Basin (at bottom of Trent Lane). Both organisations are interested in our Plan, in particular our ideas for the Barracks. They specialise in regenerating urban brownfield sites and developing sustainable homes and workspaces. Longstanding readers of the digest will remember we initially met with blueprint over a year ago as we were interested in their work at Trent Basin in using solar panels and storing the energy generated in high-tech batteries. This latest meeting allowed us to provide an update on our progress with the Plan and they’ve asked to stay in touch. We aim to meet up again, once the Plan has been submitted, to explore options on how we might work together in the longer term.

3. So, what have we done over the last year?

  • A quick summary of our activities over the last 12 months:
    • Defined our vision and the 19 core objectives that will underpin the development of our Area over the next 20 years
    • Produced over 40 policies that translate our objectives into firm directives for developers to follow.
    • Drafted a Neighbourhood Plan that incorporates our objectives and policies (along with the evidence that justifies them) and finally published it in July
    • Held a 10-week consultation session over the summer to gather feedback
    • Summarised the feedback from almost 120 responses to the Plan..
    • …and published 28 of these (almost) weekly digests.
  • These bald statements don’t adequately do justice to the sheer effort undertaken by a number of people over this last year. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Steering Group (including those members co-opted to individual policy strands) for their indefatigable energy and resilience in getting the Plan produced.
  • However, we couldn’t have got this far without the help of our residents and friends – especially for the tremendous input to the consultation. So, on behalf of the Steering Group, we’d like to say “Thank you” for your continuous support over the last year. It means a lot to us.

We hope you enjoy the festivities over the next couple of weeks and that you and your families have a peaceful, prosperous and productive New Year! The next edition will be in the new year. 

Merry Christmas!

Kind regards
Graham

PS Since the end of September around a dozen or so people have signed up to receive these updates. Welcome to you all and I trust you’ll find them useful.

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll also find details of the scheme.

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Weekly digest: Oct 26

Posted on 26/10/2019 by CTTC Forum

Hello again,

In the last couple of editions, I’ve talked about a number of meetings we’ve attended over the last couple of months.  So, this week’s update will focus on these meetings: past, present and phuture.

1. Meetings past I: Stakeholders

  • Oxalis Planning.
    • We’ve wanted to meet with Oxalis for a while and finally managed to catch up with them in mid-September. Oxalis represent the owners (Bloor Homes) of land to the east of Stapleford Lane: mostly to the north of the tram stretching up to Bramcote, but also a chunk of land south of the tram bordering Chilwell at Teesdale Court off Field Lane.
    • Oxalis recently responded to Broxtowe Council’s latest ‘call for sites’, an activity that kicks off the next Core Strategy planning process. It was good to meet them as they are looking to develop land either side of the tramline. At the moment, the north side is designated Green Belt, so they face a lengthy process to release this land for building.
    • However, given our Neighbourhood Plan stretches to 2040 (well beyond the current Local Plan end date of 2028) it is sensible to build a relationship with Oxalis and seek to work closely with them going forward.
  • Cllr Milan Radulovic MBE.
    • Milan is the leader of Broxtowe Council, following the elections in May. We met a couple of weeks ago mainly to introduce him to the Forum and our Neighbourhood Plan. Milan asked for our thoughts about the proposed new Development Corporation being set up in the Midlands (here’s a link to today’s Nott’m Post article). We explained that we hoped the Corporation will provide the ‘clout’ to deliver the overarching masterplan that is needed for our Area. We went on to share our main concern regarding the Dev Corp, which is the risk they will act as their own planning authority powers, which could result in our Plan having less ‘force’ than we expect to see.
    • We went on to explain our views on the importance of the Toton Delivery Board and the current decision-making powers they have. We said we believe the Forum should be a member of the Board. Milan agreed to look into it and see if he could arrange for us to become a member.  Overall, this was a very useful introductory meeting and we aim to meet on a regular basis to keep Milan informed of our plans.

2. Meetings past II: Council

  • Environment and Climate Change Committee.  
    • This a new committee which met for the first time earlier this month. The chair is Cllr Helen Skinner, who happens to be a founding member of the Forum and sits on our Steering Group. I attended the meeting to understand its priorities and it is welcome to see that included in its main aims is to develop an Energy Conservation Strategy along with generic energy policies. Of course, we need to be mindful of potential conflicts of interest but, with Helen in charge of the committee, it certainly helps our cause (which is embedded in our Plan) to promote leading-edge, energy positive housing built in our Area
  • Planning Committee.
    • Readers of past editions will know Peveril submitted a reserved matters application relating to their intention to build a small retail park on the west side of Stapleford Lane. We objected to the application on the basis that the layout of road access to the shops and pub/restaurant would be compromised when the tram was extended across Stapleford Lane. It was clear that the tram would severely curtail public space as well as make access to the retail units extremely difficult. I attended the meeting earlier this month and wasn’t surprised to see our objections overruled. To be honest it was a long shot expecting a different outcome. Despite this, we remain reasonably relaxed that this particular any further. This land is central to the Strategic Growth Area and so we expect to see a radically different proposal come forward in due course.

3. Meetings present

  • Steering Group.
    • We are meeting this week to review progress on updating the Plan based on consultation feedback. The more we work on the review the more we realise this is turning into an extensive piece of work that can’t be short-circuited. Our focus this week is on the Environment strand. We intend to ensure these policies underpin all development in the area, so it is critical to make them as fireproof as possible.
  • Locality: NDOs and CRtBOs.
    • NDOs (Neighbourhood Development Orders) and CRtBOs (Community Right to Build Orders) are planning tools that complement Neighbourhood Plans.  [This is not so much a meeting, more a lengthy teleconference with Locality, the organisation that supports Neighbourhood Forums.]  Neighbourhood Forums use these additional tools to help provide certainty on how development takes place on specified sites.
    • Locality are aware we have become frustrated with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO). We have been trying to meet the DIO for well over 6 months but keep getting stalled (at best) or else simply ignored. Locality suggested that if we are concerned the DIO are seeking to bypass the Forum, then the NDO option may be a route to better enforce our ambitions and aspirations for the site. Hence, we are organising this teleconference to understand the detail and pros/cons of these options. Watch this space….

4. Meetings planned

  • HS2 Ltd.
    • We are having one of our regular meetings with HS2 this week. We will, of course, be probing them for any ‘insider’ information regarding the review of the HS2 2b in general and the impact on the eastern leg in particular. I’m not sure we shall learn much about that, but we shall see. We’re are interested to find out about progress with the design of the station at Toton.
  • DIO.
    • Having said we’ve been frustrated at the lack of meetings with the DIO, they suddenly got in touch last week asking for a meeting in early November. The prime purpose of the meeting is to introduce us to their partners from Homes England who, we understand, will be taking a lead role in the development of the Barracks. We’ve not yet seen an agenda, but we are expecting this to be just a high-level introductory meeting. Nevertheless, it will be good to finally meet Homes England to both formally understand their role in the project and to establish ongoing contacts.
    • We will be asking them for an update on the Garden Communities bid that the Council (along with input from ourselves) submitted 12 months ago. It does seem as if it has disappeared into a government black hole. I also met with Anna Soubry earlier today (Saturday) at her surgery in Toton and asked for her help to resurrect the bid. Fingers crossed we can get the application reviewed and approved.  

And finally…… nope, not this week. This has turned out to be a longer report than normal (which isn’t good news) so I’ll stop now and look to prune a lot it away before publishing. See you next time.

Kind regards
Graham

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll find details of the scheme.

Posted in Latest News, Past Events, Steering Group, Toton Lane West | Leave a comment

Weekly digest: Oct 19

Posted on 19/10/2019 by CTTC Forum

Hello….and welcome back!

The 4 weeks since you last heard from us has flown by. As I said then, we all needed a short breather from the pretty intense period of firstly drafting and publishing the Plan itself and then consulting you on it. But it’s now time to get back to the task of refining it and getting it over the line. However, for this first post-consultation edition, I’ll be relatively short and snappy.

1. Final consultation statistics

  • Mark, our web maestro, has collated the figures during the 10 weeks or so of consultation and the numbers are very impressive:
    • 1,419 different people accessed our website during this period.
    • On the page containing details of the Plan itself we saw a total 1,694 views albeit this figure will include those accessing the page multiple times
    • Of the 800 or so recipients of these digests, it looks as though about 260 people (it’s difficult to be precise) directly clicked through to the Plan itself
    • The Plan document was opened and viewed a total of 772 times. Again, this will include people opening it several times.
  • Overall, we can safely say that over 800 people looked at the Plan out of approx 6,700 households in our Area.
  • Final number of people/organisations providing feedback was 119 comprising:
    • 92 residents – people who live in our Area
    • 9 ‘friends’ – people who live elsewhere but are interested enough (mostly relating to the Barracks) to let us have their views
    • 18 businesses/stakeholders – including landowners, Broxtowe Borough Council and Notts County Council
  • I know I’m repeating myself, but these are truly impressive numbers – thanks again to all of you who took the time to respond.  We will be reporting these statistics in our Consultation Statement and will certainly add weight when the Plan is assessed by the independent examiner. 

2. Plan progress

  • The Steering Group held a meeting a couple of weeks ago to decide how best to share the significant workload to review all the comments received. I think I warned you last time this review will take a little time. We appreciate the effort and time you put aside to provide feedback, and we need to give it all due consideration.
  • It is already clear some parts of the Plan will need a bit of re-work – not least Section D ‘Chetwynd Barracks’. It is clear some stakeholders misunderstood its purpose. The section doesn’t list more policies although some stakeholders seemed to think it did. So, we’ll need to spend time clarifying its purpose – which is to set a framework to be used by the master planners for the site.
  • The key thing will be not to rush this work. We are building a Plan to stand the test of time. And as someone recently said (in another context), we shouldn’t rush decisions based on a ‘spasm of impatience’.
  • You’ll hear more on this over the next few weeks as we work to refine and strengthen the final version of the Plan.

3. And finally….

  • Broxtowe Council’s Local Plan Part 2 was formally adopted at the full council held last week! This is good news as the Council’s policies are now cast in concrete. We now need to ensure our policies are fully compliant and provide the further layer of specifications we want to see developed in our Area.
  • HS2 project review. You will no doubt have heard about the review being undertaken by the government regarding the future of HS2. And you may have heard the rumours that the eastern leg of Phase 2b (Birmingham to Leeds via Toton) is being scrapped. Until we get the decision, we are continuing as if East Midlands Hub Station in Toton is still being built. But, clearly, if the eastern leg is scrapped, we will need to assess the impact on our Plan. We understand the decision is expected fairly soon, perhaps in early November. We’ll wait and see…
  • Affordable Housing We know how important it is to quickly build affordable homes and one of our members sent in this link to a scheme in Norwich that has won the prestigious Riba Stirling Prize. It is an interesting read and something for us to learn from – and perhaps try to emulate – when it comes to our Area. Let us know what you think.

And that’s enough for this week. I’ll report next time on the various meetings we’ve held over the past few weeks, which includes a meeting with the new leader of the council, Cllr Milan Radulovic.

Kind regards
Graham

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll find details of the scheme.

Posted in Chetwynd Barracks, Consultation, Latest News, Neighbourhood Plan | Leave a comment

Weekly digest: Sep 21

Posted on 21/09/2019 by CTTC Forum

Hello again,

That’s it!  No more. The end. Finito. Our consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan has finally finished and finished on a terrific high!

Thank you for being patient over these last 8 or so weeks whilst we have focussed our efforts on the consultation and the various sessions.

And a HUGE THANK YOU! to those who have taken part in this exercise and provided us with your thoughts and feedback – it’s been our most successful event yet and the results are plain to see.

1. The results – a snap summary

  • The Good….
    • At the close of play on the 20th we had received a grand total of 118 responses! And a few more stragglers (stakeholders who have asked for an extension) are expected over the next couple of days
    • I know we set a target of 100 responses, published a couple of weeks ago in a previous digest, but even so… We thought anything over 50 would be a good level of feedback and anything over 80 would be terrific.
    • But we always thought 100 was a huge stretch – and you have smashed it! The breakdown is:
      • 101 from residents and/or friends
      • 17 from stakeholders / businesses
  • ..the Very Good….
    • It’s not just the number but the depth of the responses from residents and friends that is truly impressive. The thoughtful and considered comments clearly display a detailed understanding of the Plan which is very heartening and welcome to see.
    • We expect detailed examination of our policies from stakeholders such as local authorities and landowners – and indeed we got it in spades from them.
    • But to get the same level of commitment from you demonstrates a clear ownership of the Plan that is both remarkable and humbling. This is truly your plan!
  • …and the Bad…
    • We have to hold our hands up and apologise for the missed session last Friday at Tesco Toton. We messed up the booking and for some reason our event wasn’t scheduled in their diary. And with the key managers being out of the office the remaining staff were unable to sanction our presence on their site.
    • If you came along on Friday expecting to see us… sorry!  If you’d like to get in touch, we will make sure to meet up with you if you’d like to talk things over.

2. Next Steps

  • I thought at the start of the consultation period that the Steering Group would need two or three weeks to collate, summarise and agree the amendments needed before formal submission of the Plan to the council.
  • In hindsight I can see I was being somewhat optimistic! Given the level and detail of the feedback received, we will need to spend quite a few weeks undertaking this review and then refining the Plan.
  • So, whereas we were initially thinking of submitting the Plan by the end of October, it is now looking likely to be in November. This is a tad frustrating for those of us who want to push things along, but it is sensible to make sure we take the time needed to carefully review and amend. There is no point rushing things and then slipping up at the last minute.

3. And finally…..

  • This isn’t the time to report back on a couple of meetings we’ve attended over the last couple of weeks, so I’ll make a note to report on them in the next edition
  • The next edition will be in 3 weeks’ time. I’m sure you will appreciate the rest following my non-stop haranguing over the last few weeks.  And, by the time you read this, I’ll be in a cottage in deepest Suffolk having a rest and forgetting all about Plans and planning for a while.

Postscript.  This classic Elton John song (paraphrased!) came to mind earlier this morning..

“And you can tell everybody this is Your Plan
It may be quite simple, and (actually) a bit too long,
I hope you don’t mind…..”

*gets coat and leaves for the country…

Kind regards
Graham

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll find details of the scheme.

Posted in Consultation, Latest News, Neighbourhood Plan | 2 Comments

Weekly digest: Sep 14

Posted on 14/09/2019 by CTTC Forum

Hello everyone,

You’ll be no doubt pleased to hear: the end is nigh! We are now in the last week of consulting you about the Plan. These updates have been relentless over the last few weeks with the sole focus being to get your feedback. You know the reasons for the focus, so I won’t repeat why this is the most important consultation the Forum has undertaken.
We just need one last heave to get us over the line. If you haven’t taken part yet……well this is your last chance to contribute.

Your views count! Your support matters! Many thanks.

1. Feedback past and future.

  • We have stepped smartly through the 50-response mark this week. The ‘flash news’ edition prompted a flurry of responses – which is terrific. Overall we have received 8 from Stakeholders and 45 from residents and friends. Many, many thanks to each of you who have responded.
  • However, we are looking for more…
    • This link takes you to the  https://cttcnf.org.uk/plan/ on-line form where you can document your views. 
    • On the same page, you’ll find a links to a copy of the Plan and a MS Word version of the response form if you’d prefer to download it and complete in your own time.

2. Final consultation session takes place…

  • ….next Friday Sept 20th 10-12.30 at Toton Tesco, Swiney Way. This is a change from the published venue – so please don’t go along to the Methodist Church, Stapleford Lane.
  • Come along to Tesco’s and have a chat and let us know your thoughts.
  • We’ll have paper copies of the feedback form, so if you dislike providing personal details online, then we are very happy to receive hard copy feedback as well. It all counts!

3. And finally….

  • A big shout out to Broxtowe Council for a very generous donation of £2,300.
  • We know the Council come in for a lot of stick at times but most of it – my view, anyway – is undeserved. From the Forum’s perspective the Council have always been very supportive in providing ongoing advice and encouragement. Cash support has also been provided to help cover costs that other funders always shy away from, especially core admin costs such as office rent and supplies.
  • This latest donation will see us through to the end of the project to deliver a Plan that reflects the views of our community and which will sit alongside the Council’s planning policies

We had a great turnout this week at the Scout Hall, thanks to everyone who turned up to quiz us on the Plan.  We’re hoping for similar interest and engagement next Friday at Tesco Toton. Hope to see you there.

Kind regards
Graham

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll find details of the scheme.

Posted in Consultation, Latest News, Neighbourhood Plan, Steering Group | Leave a comment

Flash digest: 7 days to go…

Posted on 12/09/2019 by CTTC Forum

Hello,

We’re now into the last 7 days of the most important consultation the Neighbourhood Forum has undertaken. We have 40 responses in the bag – which is terrific! Many thanks to each of you who have provided feedback – it is very much appreciated. But, as you know, we are hoping for a lot more.

And now we’ve reached the 7-day mark…. now is a great time to act!

1. There is an easy way to provide feedback:

  • This link takes you to the  https://cttcnf.org.uk/plan/ on-line form where you can document your views.  On the same page, you’ll find a copy of the Plan and a MS Word version of the response form if you prefer to download the form and complete it in your own time.

2. And finally…

  • Come and talk to us about the Plan tomorrow, Sat Sept 14th 10-12.30 at the Scout Hall, Attenborough Lane (opposite Haveli Indian restaurant).

Many thanks
All of us on the Steering Group

Posted in Neighbourhood Plan, Newsflash, Steering Group | Leave a comment