Weekly Digest: 24th February 2018

Posted on 24/02/2018 by Mark T

Hello everyone

There’s a lot to report this week so I’ll skip the normal preamble and get straight to business.

1.      Consultation exercise almost over: a last chance to get involved!

  • We are nearing the end of our consultation exercise. We’ve held 3 events so far (including the AGM ‘launch’ session) with 1 more to go – this Monday 26th at the Village Hotel (1st floor mtg room) between 2.30pm and 7.00pm
  • This series of consultations are designed to gather input to our Neighbourhood Plan. They are centered around you! We need your thoughts and ideas; your concerns and issues; your dreams and aspirations. All comments captured will help shape the policies in our Plan.
  • The 2 events held last week were mixed. We didn’t attract many attendees to the session at Chilwell Community Centre, but the weather on the day was pretty awful so it wasn’t too surprising that people decided to stay warm and dry. On the other hand, the session at Toton saw almost 30 people dropping in at various times to have a chat and give us their views.
  • We’ve also been running an on-line survey and, so far, almost 90 people have taken part. If you haven’t completed your survey yet, please take a few moments to do it over the weekend. The results of these surveys will provide yet more evidence that we’ll use to justify the policies in our Plan. It is vital your views are included. Here’s the link.  Many thanks!
  • Following Monday’s session, we’ll need a couple of weeks to collate and summarise all the input. After that, we will continue to gather further data (demographics, traffic stats etc.) to help strengthen our evidence before we start to draft the Plan.

2.       Drafting a Master Plan for the Barracks

  • If you come along to Monday’s session at the Village you will (hopefully) be able to see a draft of a Master Plan for the Barracks site
  • As reported last week, we continue to work with Peter, a University graduate, who is developing a master plan for us. We’ve provided him with ideas based on the initial feedback and thoughts collated so far & Peter hopes to have a plan ready to view at the Village.
  • Based on your feedback we asked for some key elements to be included:
    1. the heritage elements and major green spaces of the site (mostly the eastern flank) must be protected
    2. position a ‘plaza’ type retail area next to the memorial garden
    3. provide a major north/south road through the site to relieve pressure on Stapleford Lane
  • We met Peter, on Monday, to provide further thoughts and he plans to incorporate them in a finished version. We are looking forward to seeing the result! Of course, whatever is presented can be further refined, but it’s still exciting to see something springing up from our ideas.

3.        Meeting #1: D2N2 (The Local Enterprise Partnership for Notts and Derbys)

  • Richard and Graham had a useful meeting with the Chairman and Chief Executive (interim) on Tuesday. We asked to meet following the disappointing outcome from the latest HS2 Strategy Board and the struggle to form a Delivery Board for East Midlands Hub Station. The Delivery Board is needed to transform the ideas contained in the Strategy into actions
  • We held a wide-ranging discussion that focused on 2 main elements:
    1. our belief that we should all work together to attract a ‘marquee signing’ to the Innovation Village that will encourage other top-notch businesses to the area.  D2N2 endorsed the idea and offered their support
    2. our ambitions to set up our CIC.  We need to access significant funding to avoid the need to continually scratch around for a grant here or a donation there (albeit they are all very welcome). Again, they were very supportive and agreed to provide suggestions of funding streams that would be appropriate for us to access.

4.     Meeting #2: HS2 Ltd

  • Richard, Norman & Graham met with Paul Mullins (HS2 Ltd Stakeholder Mgr) on Friday for a quick catch-up. Again, it was another productive meeting and Paul has kindly agreed to come along to our session at Village on Monday. So, if you have further questions relating to HS2, come along and ask him. Paul aims to be with us late afternoon – after 4.
  • We discussed a broad range of issues with Paul covering matters such as noise mitigation measures, flood plain risks, & power line considerations. These are all big topics, so we agreed to set up a workshop to discuss them in some detail. We will be inviting key stakeholders along to join us including:
    1. the Environment Agency who are responsible for Erewash Valley & associated flood plain,
    2. Western Power who own the substation at the top of Stapleford Lane and all the pylons/power lines down through Toton Fields Nature Reserve & Sidings
  • We still need to finalise the list attendees and agree the process for the workshop, but it was a positive start and reinforces the importance HS2 places on the views of the Forum. We clearly have the ability to influence the design of the site especially since we are talking to HS2, whilst there is still time, before final designs become ‘fixed’.

5.     And finally.…

Our thanks to Cllr Eric Kerry, one of our Area County Councillors, who has kindly donated £250 to the Forum to help us purchase an office printer and associated supplies. It means we no longer need to use commercial printers whenever we need a small number of documents.

Our thanks to Jenny Kirkwood, our RCAN consultant who has been undertaking additional ‘street’ consultations for us. She was at Tesco Toton on Friday and plans to be at Sainsbury’s (Blenheim Drive) and West Point shopping centre next Tuesday. So, if you see her about, please stop and have a chat and complete a survey! Here’s another link to the online version

Our thanks also to John Berry, our Independent Examiner who has completed his review of our accounts for the last year. We’ve been given a clean bill of health and as soon as we have an electronic version, we’ll upload it to the website, so you have access.

Don’t forget the Toton & Chilwell Meadows CAT mtg next Thurs 1st at 7.30 at Toton Methodist Church

 

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Weekly Digest: 17th February 2018

Posted on 19/02/2018 by katiecttcnf

Hi everyone,

 This week’s digest is a little different. As reported last week, the Steering Group planned to hold a special meeting this week to elect the new chair of the Forum. However, prior to the meeting, one of the candidates withdrew his nomination. And after a quick consultation with the other members of the Steering Group, it was unanimously decided to elect the remaining candidate.

So, it gives me great pleasure to announce that Richard Hutchinson will continue to be our Chairman for the next 12 months. Richard has been a strong Chairman over the last year forging important relationships with key stakeholders. I know he will continue to build on these relationships and ensure the Forum’s voice is heard when decisions are taken relating to major developments in our area. Richard has asked for space this week to provide a “chairman’s message”, so without further ado……

1.     Richard writes…..

“I was delighted to be proposed and subsequently elected by your 2018 Steering Group to continue as your Chairman for the next year in the Forum.

The fantastic attendance at the first AGM some 3 weeks ago really was a huge boost to everyone who has dedicated their time to the Forum over the last 12 months and a real indication to stakeholders at the meeting that our community wants to not only see what the future holds but influence and shape it.

The last 12 months have been all about building a foundation for the Forum with us identifying all of the key stakeholders: HS2 Ltd; East Midlands HS2 Strategy Board; and DIO (Defence Infrastructure Organisation) being only 3. These, along with schools and community groups, will enable us to interact and develop plans jointly for the future of the area. 

That leads me to the most important contributors. Us! The community that live and work here. It has been, and continues to be, our priority to inform you at every step what is happening and what we are learning with regards to these and other organisations thoughts and actions. Understanding their proposals enable us, the community, to not only engage and comment on information received but also to input ideas and concerns related to the future look of our community. We have, through the digest, social media channels and community events tried to communicate the best we can with you all and we will continue to do this throughout 2018. We ask you all to contribute as much as you can to enable us to get as much community input as we can into the work that needs to be done.

Moving forward, this year is all about us generating the Neighbourhood Plan and producing a document that states what we, the community, feel should (and shouldn’t) be included in the development of our area in the coming years. This is going to take an incredible amount of time and hard work for everyone involved. I encourage you all to contribute as this is our chance to influence the direction of development in our area over the next 20 years.

In conclusion I want to express my thanks to the Steering Group of 2017 for all the work they have done and to also welcome our new members for 2018. We will be looking for additional people to join us for key sub committees through 2018 so please let us know if you can spare some time to help and I look forward to talking with you all throughout 2018 at a number of events we will be holding.

Remember, this is our time to Shape the Future of our community.

Thanks, 
Richard

2.      Quick clarification from last week.

•        I’ve received a couple of emails querying a statement I made last week relating to the work of the DIO (Defence Infrastructure Organisation). I stated, “They have submitted an application to Broxtowe Borough Council with plans to build a total of 1,500 dwellings on the site (excluding the married quarters housing at the top end).”

·      It was carelessly phrased because the DIO have not submitted any sort of ‘application’ to the Council regarding the number of houses. I didn’t intend to convey the impression that a planning application has been made for the site. That will come much further down the line.

·      At this stage, the DIO “supports the allocation of part of the site, proposed by Broxtowe Borough Council, for 500 houses before 2028 […..] and has identified further capacity for 1,000 houses post 2028…..”

·       So, for the moment, the DIO (as well as us, of course,) are waiting for the completion of the Local Plan process when the housing numbers for the site will be determined.

3.     And finally, a couple of community notices….

·       Friends of Toton Fields: have asked us to let you know that the contractors are back on Toton Fields Nature Reserve finishing off the work started last year. This involves thinning out some more trees in the woodland near to the Greenwood Centre as well as creating a new bridleway through some trees to avoid the need for riders to use the footpath at the bottom of the hill. There will also be improvements to the paths around the Greenwood Centre.

·       Toton and Chilwell Meadows CAT Meeting. Cllr Lee Fletcher has asked us to remind you that a CAT meeting for the ward will be held on: 
Thursday 1 March 2018 at 7.30pm at Toton Methodist Church (Room 1), Stapleford Lane

Tune in next week for a report on a meeting we are having with the Chairman and interim Chief Executive of D2N2 LEP, the Local Enterprise Partnership, a key stakeholder in the development of the HS2 Growth Strategy Area. I’ll also provide an update on the work of the university graduate in developing a high-level masterplan for us as well as providing feedback on our current round of consultation events.

Kind regards
Graham

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Weekly Digest: 10th February 2018

Posted on 10/02/2018 by Mark T

Hello again

This week has been a time to draw a little breath between the hectic planning and promotion of the AGM and the next series of consultations taking place – starting next week!

The Steering Group held its first meeting last Thursday – a ‘get to know you’ session to welcome old and new members. The meeting was a positive and it quickly became clear we are now a stronger team and will benefit from the knowledge and wide experience of the new members. Elections were held for the main officer posts and I’m pleased to let you know that we have a new Secretary (me!); a new Treasurer (Denise Lewis); with Nicola Lamplough being re-elected as Vice-Chair. As for the Chair, we received 2 nominations for the position so, to give each candidate a chance to make a formal pitch for the role, we agreed to meet again next week to make the decision. More on this next week.

In last week’s digest, I promised more information from a couple of meetings we’ve attended over the last 2 or 3 weeks:

  1. Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) meeting: Jan 25th
  • The DIO is the organisation charged by the Ministry of Defence to sell Chetwynd Barracks.  They have submitted an application to Broxtowe Borough Council with plans to build a total of 1,500 dwellings on the site (excluding the married quarters housing at the top end).
  • As mentioned last week, they are now waiting for the Council to provide an official site allocation number.  Once they know the number, the DIO will then be able to assess the value of the land and proceed to sell the site.
  • The DIO agreed to provide us with all the analysis/assessments they undertook to arrive at their proposal. It will be good to see the rationale underpinning the 1,500 number as it will give us a chance to question/counter some of the inevitable assumptions they will have made on – for instance – projected traffic volumes.
  • We also informed the DIO that we intend to undertake our own Heritage Character assessment for the Barracks as we believe their report provided an incomplete picture. We are now in the process of engaging our own consultant to undertake this work.
  1. HS2 Strategy Board meeting: Jan 30th
  • A couple of further observations from this meeting
  • HS2 Ltd provide regular updates to the Board and this time they presented their latest thinking on the design of the station which included:
    •  The station – both HS2 and classic services – will now be set above ground level. Previously the classic lines were located at ground level.
    • Parking capacity at the station is being reviewed. Currently 1,700 has been allocated but concern was expressed this may not be enough.
  • The councillors representing Erewash Borough Council on the Board remain opposed to HS2 and the station. Of course, this is understandable given the huge disruption the construction of the line & viaduct will bring to Long Eaton
  • Nevertheless, we would like to engage (even collaborate) with Erewash councillors where we have mutual interest, such as ensuring a new road into the station is created near to Asda. [At the moment, HS2 are only planning pedestrian/bus access to the station from Long Eaton.] But, for the moment, engagement with Erewash councillors is proving to be hard work.
  1. Meeting with Broxtowe Borough Council, Planning Dept.: Feb 2nd
  • We held a useful meeting with Steffan Saunders, Head of Planning, at the Council. As reported last week, he provided an update on the latest Peveril application. Last week, I mentioned the Planning meeting was due to be held last week. In fact, it will take place this coming week on Weds 14th. Apologies for any confusion caused.
  • Steffan went on to provide a generic update on progress with Local Plan part 2. It is inevitably taking time for the Planning team to wade through the vast amount of input they received from last autumn’s consultation.  However, regarding our Area, Steffan was able to say:
    • They are exploring an option to join together the policies relating to Toton Lane and Chetwynd Barracks and treat both areas as one coherent development. If so, this will be good for the Forum as we have long argued the need to treat development of both sites holistically, so we don’t replicate development in both areas. For instance, original thoughts for the Barracks included reserving some space to build commercial properties. But given the proposed scale of the ‘Innovation Village’ at Toton Lane, do we really need further commercial development on the Barracks?
    • Assessments will shortly start on the impacts to the infrastructure (roads, utility services etc.) resulting from proposals within the Local Plan. So, expect to see more hi-viz jacketed people with poles and measuring devices looking busy around our Area.
    • Finally, he told us he thought the Forum’s response to the consultation was measured and strong. Whilst he couldn’t give firm commitments at this time, he indicated we could expect to see a number of our proposals included in the next version of the Plan. This demonstrates, to me, the growing stature of the Forum and the influence we can exert with local decision makers.
  1.     But finally……. don’t forget the….
  • …. Community consultation roadshow coming to a place near you NEXT WEEK! We are at:
    • Chilwell Community Centre (next to the Library) next Tuesday 13th between 2.30pm and 7pm. I know it’s pancake day, but it will still be good to see you there and gather your thoughts and opinions for the future of both Chilwell and Toton!
    •  Toton Methodist Church, Stapleford Lane next Thursday 15th between 2.30pm and 7pm
  • Also, don’t forget our online survey. Over 50 have responded so far, which is good; but we need a whole lot more. So, if you haven’t done so yet, please take a couple of minutesto answer 4 or 5 short questions:  CTTC Forum Online Survey

Okay, this has been another long’ish report. I try to keep them reasonably short but sometimes there is so much to tell. Anyway, more next week, including a report on further work being undertaken for us by a University graduate student. Bet you can’t wait!

Kind regards
Graham

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Weekly Digest 20th January 2018

Posted on 21/01/2018 by Mark T

Another short’ish report this week as the Steering Group are focused exclusively on our AGM – next Sunday 28th at 3pm at The Village – in case you’ve forgotten! 

I don’t apologise for the reminder: it is crucial that you, our members, as well as residents of our Area, have the chance to review our work – indeed, our performance – over the past year. 

Equally important is the appointment of  a new Steering Group to take the work forward over the next 12 months. And let me make a plea: we are looking for people to join the Steering Group. Next year will be critical; we’re aiming to produce our Neighbourhood Plan and submit it to the Council for consultation & examination by the end of the Autumn. We need people willing to provide a little time to help gather information and help produce the policies and draft the Plan.  If you are interested in helping us, please come along and let us know.

But next Sunday is much more than just an annual review.

  1. We are kicking off our consultation exercise by showcasing the best of the university work and hope you will use it to stimulate your ideas for the future of our Area.  There are approx 20 posters  illustrating our past, present along with a lot of ideas about the future.  Take time to have a look at them and let us know your thoughts. Help to shape the future.
  2. Our engagement consultant will also be on hand. She will be asking you to complete a short questionnaire to tell us what concerns you most about living in Toton and Chilwell. There is also a section for you to tell us what is needed to improve our area.
  3. If that wasn’t enough we can now confirm that HS2 Ltd will be at the meeting. It’s true we have no direct control over the station and how it is built, nevertheless we are developing a good relationship with HS2 and we know they want to hear our views.  
    • For instance, the location of the platforms are pretty well settled: the southern end will be opposite (roughly) Neighwood Close; whilst the northern end is in line (roughly) with the top of the hill at Banks Road.  
    • However, the location of the main station buildings / concourse is perhaps up for debate. Latest thinking from HS2 locates the station entrance near to the southern end of the platform ‘footprint’. 
    • But, given the development at Toton Lane, doesn’t it make more sense for the main entrance/concourse to be nearer the northern end? So it is closer to the proposed Innovation Village? Your thoughts?
    • Sunday gives you the chance to speak to HS2 directly. So you can also ask them about the recently announced plan to build & open the station and access infrastructure in the mid-2020’s to run ‘classic’ services in advance of HS2 itself.
  1. We are also pleased to confirm that senior figures within D2N2 (the Chair and/or CEO) will be attending. The organisation is coordinating the strategic ideas / plans for the development of the Toton Lane site. So you can ask them about current ideas for the Innovation Village. 
  2. Finally,  we’ve invited the DIO (Defence Infrastructure Organisation – part of the MoD) to come along to answer queries about the sale/initial development of the Barracks. They said they would get back to us by today to confirm attendance however I’ve not heard anything yet, which is a tad disappointing. When they let me know,  I’ll let you know.

Okay, I’ve rambled on more than intended (not unusual, I know!), so I’ll stop now. 

Please do all you can to attend the meeting and consultation event – you won’t regret it. 

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Annual General Meeting Sun Jan 28th 3pm at The Village

Posted on 06/01/2018 by CTTC Forum
  • We’re continuing to sift through the visions and ideas provided by the university students.
  • It will be difficult to choose the best of them to showcase at the AGM. We have ordered some display screens & we’ll aim to show 20 or so of the best
  • To whet you appetite I’ve added a couple to our website and you can link to them here:
    • These are high level maps illustrating the ‘connectivity’ of the two main areas Chetwynd Barracks and Toton Lane. It reflects the view that there needs to be joined-up development across our area.
    • We know there will be a lot of houses built at both Toton Lane and the Barracks, but lets make sure they complement each other and avoid duplication.
    • First slide illustrates the connection between the station, Toton Lane and the Barracks
    • These two slides illustrate the green corridors we expect to see linking Toton Fields with Hobgoblin Wood: this one is map-based; this one is more abstract.Come along to the AGM

      to see more like this – as well as more detailed ideas for the specific areas.

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Looking forward to 2018 & beyond

Posted on 30/12/2017 by CTTC Forum
  • Looking back, we have had a very busy year (and a bit) and we are now firmly established as a Neighbourhood Forum. But no more on that here – I’ll leave the details to the Annual Report
  • However I thought you might be interested to know the shape of the next 12 months or so. We have produced a project plan which, as you might expect, is almost continuously being reviewed and refined.
  • The end result, of course, is the production of our Neighbourhood Plan. And you may be wondering when you can expect to see it completed.
  • Given the scope of our Area contains both the HS2 Growth area and the Barracks, you can appreciate this will take time. [On average, Neighbourhood Plans take circa 2 years before they are ‘made’ i.e. adopted by the council]
  • Rough timetable from our current project plan is as follows:
    • Spring 2018:
      • Community engagement: finish gathering ideas/input
      • Complete evidence gathering e.g. traffic analysis etc
    • Summer 2018:
      • Draft policies and plan produced
    • Autumn 2018:
      • Forum consults on draft Plan: obtains feedback and refines
      • Plan submitted to Broxtowe Council
      • Independent Examiner appointed
    • Spring 2019:
      • Council’s consultation of Plan (circa 8 weeks), followed by…
      • Independent examination (circa 6 weeks)
      • Plan modified if necessary
    • Summer 2019:
      • Referendum: all residents in the Area will have a vote
      • If approved – Plan is then ‘made’.
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Follow-up Notices

Posted on 16/12/2017 by CTTC Forum
  • Toton & Chilwell Meadows CAT meeting output. 
    One of the outputs from the meeting was that Cllr Fletcher kindly provided a link an online crime database at    : http://www.ukcrimestats.com/
    I’ve had a quick delve into this site and it makes interesting reading. It is pretty easy/intuitive to follow, you just need to enter your postcode.

  • Improvements to Toton Fields Reserve paths and woodlands are continuing. It now looks as though it will run into the new year. The Friends continue to keep an eye on things and liaise with the contractors/council. Let us know if you have any concerns/issues about these improvements.

  • I promised a flavour of the students work.  Here are links from our website:
    • This one captures images from 100 years ago during WW1
    • Another one from the past, portraying a timeline of Toton Sidings
    • An interesting but unusual view of our Area – tube-style map. [No, there are no plans to build an underground network in Toton and Chilwell!]
    • Some ‘walkability’ diagrams. These show how easy it is to get around our area; i.e. how far we can walk within 5 mins (purple circle) or 10 mins (orange circle)
    • Finally, we know traffic to/from HS2 will create problems.
      Here’s a possible solution – original taken from HS2 Growth Strategy
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Annual General Meeting: Date confirmed Sunday Jan 28th

Posted on 16/12/2017 by CTTC Forum
  • Our first AGM will be held at the end of January on Sunday 28th.
    [The mtg was originally scheduled for Jan 21st but had to be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.]
  • The formal part of the meeting will take place at 3pm so please make a date in your diary and come along to hear & see what we have been up to over the last 12 months
  • We will also be showcasing the best of the ideas and visions provided by the students. Some of the ideas are outrageous and fantastical. Some are expensive and impractical. But a lot of them contain bits worth taking away and mulling over.
    We hope some of the students will come along to explain their ideas so come along and….     ‘Have a look into the future!’
  • We are also inviting a representative from HS2 Ltd to come along to explain the latest situation with the Hub station.
    We still need to speak to HS2 about this, so please treat this element as tentative at this stage. We’ll update you once we’ve spoken to them.
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Steering Group Meeting: Dec 12th

Posted on 16/12/2017 by CTTC Forum
  • Last Tuesday the Steering Group held our final meeting of the year. There were 3 main items on the agenda. Unfortunately, at the last minute, our RCAN consultant sent her apologies.  We’ve agreed to meet separately to finalise plans for consultation events next February.
  • The 2nd item was to discuss a paper on the pros & cons of Incorporation. This was prepared by Ben (a solicitor on our Steering Group) and his recommendation was that the Forum should establish a CIC (a Community Interest Company) to help raise funds and build our credibility as an organisation who intends play a part in developing our area in the long term. 
  • We will present a paper to the AGM to explain our recommendation and seek members’ endorsement. 
  • Which leads neatly to the last item discussed – planning our AGM in January
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Peveril’s Revised Plans for Toton Lane

Posted on 27/11/2017 by Mark T

We thought the publication of the HS2 Growth Strategy might have killed off the application submitted by Peveril for 250 houses on Toton Lane. But they must be wearing blinkers as they presented revised plans for Toton Lane last week. (Go to Broxtowe Council’s Website and look for Planning Application 0017/00499)

The revisions are minor modifications to the original application: a few more houses (30 or so), a few more trees, some protection for green space near the tramway etc.

But one questions why they bothered, given the radical new vision for the area contained in the HS2 Growth Strategy

However, we will respond to these revisions. We will get in touch with those who commented on the original application to gather their views. If you didn’t take part originally but would like to contribute this time, please let me know and we’ll add you in.

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