CAVANNA CONFIRM NEW PLANS

"DEVELOPERS have unveiled new plans for homes at the gateway to Torquay.

But while Cavanna Homes say they now have the balance between homes and open space right, campaigners fighting the scheme say they are still unacceptable.

Under the project, 200 homes would be built at Scotts Meadow, beside the main road at Edginswell, with public open space also included.

The plans have been revised in the past six months, and they will be handed to council planners next month."

See the Herald Express today for confirmation of Cavanna's Plans to submit a planning application before Christmas.


http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/new-plans-scotts-meadow/article-2943903-detail/article.html?cacheBust=VHf0GC6qsmtu&success=true#community

Cavanna reveal new plans

Cavanna Homes have revealed in a private meeting that they plan to submit an application before Christmas for some 200 homes. We will be lobbying to preserve the meadows for wildlife and the community.

Support from Marcus Wood, Torbay Conservative candidate

I have always made it clear that I believe the Government target of 15,000 new homes for Torbay is unneccessary, unwanted interference by Government and against the interests and wishes of local residents.

A Government target of this nature puts undue pressure on local planning committees to find new sites for development which in turn encourages town planning officers to consider permitting urban creep onto remaining green space. These are areas that would otherwise almost certainly never get planning permission for development; and which, once developed are lost for ever.

I support Conservative Party policy to return control of these issues entirely back to local people and because if elected next week we intend to abolish targets as a matter of priority, I have urged Torbay Council to wait until after the election before making any long-term decisions on housing numbers.I successfully lobbied them not to write the 15,000 homes into the ten year structure plan proposals.

Local planning decisions must remain the preserve of locally elected politicians that residents can hold to account. As a local resident I also believe that good quality open green spaces, of which Scotts Meadow is a prime example, are already at a huge premium in Torbay and what space we have left should be preserved at all costs.

Kind regards

Marcus Wood.
Parliamentary Candidate Torbay Conservatives.

PLANNING APPLICATION FOR SCOTTS MEADOWS: CAVANNA HOMES CONSULTATION

CAVANNA Homes are holding a consultation event on TUESDAY MAY 4 at SAINSBURY'S car park, Torquay between 3pm and 7.30pm.

Their project team will be there to discuss their proposed planning application.

They say: "The site has been identified by Torbay council as a potential location for future housing growth. Cavanna will soon be submitting a planning application for a residential scheme that includes: 

• High quality housing in a range of sizes and styles
• A substantial provision of high quality public open sapce
• A new entrance feature to welcome people to Torquay"

Before the application is submitted they would like to hear your views.

If you cannot make it and would like to know more you can write to 

AREA 4 SOUTH

CAVANNA HOMES

RIVIERA PARK

NICHOLSON ROAD

TORQUAY

TQ2 7TD

The Scotts Meadow Project Group is keen for as many people to attend as possible.

Please let your friends and neighbours know about this exhibition.

Thank you

Support from David Pedrick-Friend Torbay Labour Party candidate

I support the Scotts Meadow Project Group and your campaign to preserve Scotts Meadow for future generations.
 There is a need for affordable housing in Torbay, but I feel that the vast majority should be built on brown field sites, not green-field sites.
 Good luck with your campaign, please keep me updated with all developments.
 Kind regards
 David Pedrick- Friend

Support from Julien Parrott Torbay UKIP candidate

THERE is very little space for housing development in Torbay, without taking away what little green space we have, but the EU has demanded that the government force us in Torbay to build 15,000 (yes, fifteen thousand) new homes here. 

   Small wonder, given that the EU rules mean that we are currently allowing 5,000 more people to settle in the UK each week. That is the equivalent to a new city the size of Southampton every year. This is a simple issue of space and economics, and Torbay does not have the room or the money to support such madness.

    We are not talking here about illegal immigrants, but those allowed in through the open door policy of the EU, where anyone in any EU state (we no longer are a country) has the absolute right to settle in any other EU state.

  Some 40 per cent of all new homes in the UK are for immigrant families. UKIP says enough is enough: we have to leave the EU to get back control of our own borders.

   It is only policies such as UKIP's that will have any prospect of saving such beautiful sites as Scott's Meadow.

 All best wishes,

 Julien Parrott

Parliamentary Candidate for the UK Independence Party, Torbay

Fenced off!

LAST DECEMBER fences were erected around Scotts Meadow prompting fears that they are about to be developed. The Herald Express carried the following story:
FENCING PROMPTS MEADOW DEVELOPMENT FEARS

DECEMBER 12 2009

RESIDENTS have sounded alarm bells after mesh fencing and concrete posts were installed at an unspoilt wildflower meadow in Torbay.

There have been fears in recent years about the future of Scotts Meadow, with site owner Cavanna Homes not ruling out development of the beauty spot.

The site, which is at the gateway to Torquay, could be among those earmarked for housing as part of the Government's call for 15,000 homes to be built in Torbay.

Cavanna workers have been at Scotts Meadow in recent days, installing restrictive fencing around the perimeter and flaying the site.

Jim Prowse, chairman of Scotts Meadow Project Group, said: "These meadows still have Urban Landscape Protection Area status in the local plan, which runs until 2011.

"Increasingly rare wildflower meadows like Scotts Meadow should be the last to be developed.

"Scotts Meadow was not identified in the proposed core strategy as a specific housing site for approval, but as one of a number in a range of growth options on which the council was consulting.

"In any case, Torbay Council has sensibly said it will delay publication of the draft core strategy following the public consultation because of the prospect of a General Election next spring.

"We would urge the council to reject any application for this site, and to at least defer any application until the new core strategy has been finalised and adopted by the council."

Ian Pugsley, Cavanna's head of the planning and technical department, said there were no plans to build on the site — yet.

He added: "Depending on the General Election outcome, we may want to put in an outline planning application, but that's in the future.

"We currently maintain Scotts Meadow on an annual basis, as we have for five or six years, on advice from our ecology expert.

"To keep it up to scratch, from an ecology point of view, we flay it twice a year. We've put a more secure fence there because we were getting trespassers."

A Torbay Council spokesman said there are allowances for fencing on private land, subject to height restrictions.

He added: "We will look into reports that fencing is being put up at this location, to check that it does not require planning permission.

"We have not had a planning application recently to develop Scotts Meadow.

"The site is not currently allocated for housing, but is an Urban Landscape Protection Area where the policy in general terms is that landscape considerations take priority in considering development proposals.

"In making any decision, however, the council would have to weigh up this issue as a 'material planning consideration', together with others such as the need to provide housing to meet the requirements of the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy."
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Fencing-prompts-meadow-development-fears/article-1600142-detail/article.html

Herald Express December 12 2009

RESIDENTS have sounded alarm bells after mesh fencing and concrete posts were installed at an unspoilt wildflower meadow in Torbay.
  There have been fears in recent years about the future of Scotts Meadow, with site owner Cavanna Homes not ruling out development of the beauty spot.
  The site, which is at the gateway to Torquay, could be among those earmarked for housing as part of the Government's call for 15,000 homes to be built in Torbay.
  Cavanna workers have been at Scotts Meadow in recent days, installing restrictive fencing around the perimeter and flaying the site.
  Jim Prowse, chairman of Scotts Meadow Project Group, said: "These meadows still have Urban Landscape Protection Area status in the local plan, which runs until 2011.
"Increasingly rare wildflower meadows like Scotts Meadow should be the last to be developed.
"Scotts Meadow was not identified in the proposed core strategy as a specific housing site for approval, but as one of a number in a range of growth options on which the council was consulting.
"In any case, Torbay Council has sensibly said it will delay publication of the draft core strategy following the public consultation because of the prospect of a General Election next spring.
"We would urge the council to reject any application for this site, and to at least defer any application until the new core strategy has been finalised and adopted by the council."
   Ian Pugsley, Cavanna's head of the planning and technical department, said there were no plans to build on the site — yet.
He added: "Depending on the General Election outcome, we may want to put in an outline planning application, but that's in the future.
"We currently maintain Scotts Meadow on an annual basis, as we have for five or six years, on advice from our ecology expert.
"To keep it up to scratch, from an ecology point of view, we flay it twice a year. We've put a more secure fence there because we were getting trespassers."
   A Torbay Council spokesman said there are allowances for fencing on private land, subject to height restrictions.
He added: "We will look into reports that fencing is being put up at this location, to check that it does not require planning permission.
"We have not had a planning application recently to develop Scotts Meadow.
"The site is not currently allocated for housing, but is an Urban Landscape Protection Area where the policy in general terms is that landscape considerations take priority in considering development proposals.
"In making any decision, however, the council would have to weigh up this issue as a 'material planning consideration', together with others such as the need to provide housing to meet the requirements of the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy."