Hello everyone,
A shorter edition this time following a quiet’ish week where the main focus has been on the final tweaks to the Plan and the design of the leaflet to publicise the consultation we will soon be running.
1. The Plan is landing…
- We’ve now completed all text changes/amendments to the Plan. The final typo has been terminated and the last full stop has been, errrr… stopped!
- No doubt a few rogue mistakes still litter the document – in which case, the mistakes are all mine. If, when you get to read the Plan, you happen to come across any, there is no need to rush to let me know!
- Let me take a moment to thank all the very many people who have taken the time to review the various drafts and point out the corrections needed. This naturally includes all of the Steering Group and members of our subgroups – especially the Barracks team.
- However, I’d like to give a special SHOUT OUT to Christine, one of our members, who kindly took the time to review our Plan and provided an 18-page (yes, eighteen pages!) report detailing the numerous typos as well as a large number of grammatical and formatting errors as well as pointing out several inconsistencies. Which has slightly punctured my (clearly) over-inflated belief that I was someone who could put together a couple of sentences without speling mistakes! Ah well…
- Many thanks, Christine, for your time. The document is much stronger as a result of your unstinting effort and especially your sharp eye for detail.
- One of the remaining tasks is to insert the final artwork for the front/back covers and the section pages. I’ve received these pages from the printer yesterday so will add them in early next week. After that, one final read-through to make sure no gremlins have crept in following this editing phase and next week…… it will be published here to give you the chance to look at it first.
2. Local Plan Part 2 Modifications review
- I mentioned this consultation by the Council a couple of weeks ago. The Steering Group are reviewing the Modifications as we speak, and we will produce our draft response by next week. I’ll publish that draft here so you can have a look and provide us with your thoughts/ observations.
- All responses need to be submitted to the Council by Tuesday 9th July, so we don’t have a lot of time to discuss any issues arising.
- To be honest, I’ve had a decent look through the modifications and apart from a couple of minor points of clarification, I don’t believe there is anything untoward from our perspective.
- In fact, it is very heartening to report that several changes have been made to the Plan as a direct result of our representations at the hearings last winter. Which proves the Council does listen to us and demonstrates the strong partnership we have built up over these last few years….
3. Council meetings next week
- …. which leads neatly on to this next item. We are meeting with Steffan Saunders, Head of Planning, early next week to brief him on our progress and in particular to:
- agree the timelines for the consultation period and the next steps afterwards
- confirm the statutory organisations we need to consult with regarding the Plan
- understand the additional documents we need to produce before formally submitting the Plan to the Council
- We are also looking forward to welcoming leading councillors of the Jobs and Economy committee to our office in Oban House. As reported in a previous digest we are keen to develop close relationships with the new committee as it plays a key role in overseeing the implementation of the Plan and the development of our area as a whole.
4. And finally…
- No… I could briefly mention that we are pushing the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) for a catch-up meeting as it’s been a while since we met. They are proving hard to get hold of at the moment which is a little concerning – when things go quiet, we get a little nervous. So we shall keep pressing for a meeting.
- Or… I could also mention that we are looking to meet up again with HS2 to understand more about their revised thoughts and plans for the Hub Station (following on from their session at Trowell recently).
- But these are secondary issues when compared to our prime focus – the Plan – so I won’t bore you with more of this…
Look out for next week’s edition – it will be a momentous moment as we reach a significant milestone in our work. We will be asking you all to become involved – to spread the word, to encourage friends and neighbours to take part in the consultation. More on that over the next few weeks.
Kind regards
Graham
Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll find details of the scheme