Yesterday's article in the EDP highlighted the fact that the Department of Transport has written to Mike Jackson, Director of Environment, Transport and Development advising him that " the department can give no assurances on its intention to fund any schemes that were awarded programme entry by the previous government. This includes the Norwich Northern Distributor Road. We would therefore strongly advise you to minimise further development activity on this scheme and would emphasise that any preparatory and development spend is entirely at your own risk.”
Leader of Broadland District Council, Simon Woodbridge has recently said that the long term prospects for the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) are questionable as it is "predicated on central government investment in infrastructure" (ie the NDR).
Let us hope that the Greater Norwich Development Partnership and Norfolk County Council cease ALL spending on projects associated with the JCS. Thereby saving the county and country further expenditure on projects that were questionable from the start and now seem the work of over-ambitious individuals who had no intention of really consulting let alone listening to local people.
Let that process now begin....
Meanwhile be aware that the GNDP have now launched a six week consultation on focussed changes to the JCS for Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk concentrating on 'Housing Delivery' in the Old Catton, Sprowston, Rackheath and Thorpe St Andrew Growth Triangle. The notice on their website is easily missed and doesn't exactly say much but the consultation starts on 19th July and ends on 30th August 2010 - for further information visit www.gdnp.org.uk (if you are feeling brave enough to attempt to find anything) or ring your local planning team:
Broadland District Council 01603 431133
Norwich City Council 0344 980 3333
South Norfolk District Council 0808 168 3000
Andrew Proctor is saying that BDC have been told to continue working on their Joint Core Strategy (has anyone told Simon Woodbridge?)and that development has not gone away ..... somehow it never sounds like consultation and listening are part of their process. Do they actually talk to one another?
ReplyDeleteThe Councils are using the urgency of this process; which incidentally is theirs not the Planning Inspectors, to bring forward this nasty sleight of hand.
ReplyDeleteYou will have noticed that Broadland has just pulled the plug on a consultation about where housing growth is to take place. WHY?
Well this post tells us all we need to know.
They are using the summer months when people are away and organisations do not meet to put out a "consultation" to answer questions raised by the Planning Inspectors at their Exploratory meeting.
The consultation ends right at the end of August and by the time the results are put into the public domain there will be no time for anyone to consider the consequences.
Why do we have to put up with this? The manipulate everything for their own benefit.. call it democracy.
The EDP headline confirms that we have all been conned. We were promised No NDR No Ecotown and also if strong local objections NO Ecotown. Now the Council and the Developers have shown their true hand. They are going ahead regardless. Roll on next year when we can get rid of them.
ReplyDeleteNo mention in the EDP today of all the massive infrastructure that should be in place before any Ecotown is started. We have been totally misled and as we feared, this is just all about the Developers profit and Planners Ego. When will they ever learn
ReplyDelete