Kingswear/Torpoint/Marksbury Road College/Haldon Close (bottom of Novers) Development
January 2012:
The Developers Brief due out from the Council and their partners on 5 January 2012 has been delayed.
What is the development all about
The Council and its partners - the Homes and Communities Agency and Knightstone Housing Association - wish to see the area involved (see below) developed - in terms of having a mixture of housing/community facilities and green space. Since 2009 the Council and Partners have been developing the proposals for a development brief - which will guide the next stage where a developer will design what the development will look like. Once this is complete a planning application will be made - and if agreed the development will be built.
Where is the development
The area for the development is around Haldon Close at the bottom of the Novers; the area around the current Torpoint flats; and the area of the Kingswear flats which were demolished in 2011. Then there is the current Kingswear Road and the green space uphill to Lurgan Walk - and over behind the houses in Glyn Vale - and green space downhill to Lynton Road, Marksbury Road College and behind the houses in Glyn Vale downhill from Kingswear Road.
The Developers Brief due out from the Council and their partners on 5 January 2012 has been delayed.
What is the development all about
The Council and its partners - the Homes and Communities Agency and Knightstone Housing Association - wish to see the area involved (see below) developed - in terms of having a mixture of housing/community facilities and green space. Since 2009 the Council and Partners have been developing the proposals for a development brief - which will guide the next stage where a developer will design what the development will look like. Once this is complete a planning application will be made - and if agreed the development will be built.
Where is the development
The area for the development is around Haldon Close at the bottom of the Novers; the area around the current Torpoint flats; and the area of the Kingswear flats which were demolished in 2011. Then there is the current Kingswear Road and the green space uphill to Lurgan Walk - and over behind the houses in Glyn Vale - and green space downhill to Lynton Road, Marksbury Road College and behind the houses in Glyn Vale downhill from Kingswear Road.
From 2009 to now.....
2011
BS3 Campus proposals on the front page of the Evening Post on 23 December.....
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Plan-create-green-village-Bristol/story-14218413-detail/story.html#comments
At the Cabinet meeting on 15th December we ask about what happens to the money that the Council gets from developers if land at Kingswear is sold. The reply is not clear as to what actually is going to happen. We are going to keep asking the question......
On 16 November 2011 the Homes and Communities Agency (on behalf of the City Council and Knightstone Housing Association) publishes a Prior Information notice which alerts developers to the Tender which is due to be published on the 5 January 2012.
For what the notice says see:
http://www.publictenders.net/print/node/125793
The Council write to us on behalf of the partners at the end of October 2011. After talking to our members and other community groups working with us we reply in early December. We welcome the undertaking to keep the remaining green space after the development in the City Council's management, but didnt accept the offer to get involved in the tender assessment process. This is because we wish to see some of the objectives from the Knowle West Regeneration Framework used for the brief as the proposals, even if taken forward separately, remain in the Regeneration Framework area; we are concerned about the risk that the brief will mean the loss of green space especially between Lurgan Walk houses and Kingswear Road; and we believe that without an upper limit to the number of homes on the site, too many homes with too many people will radically alter the area and affect the rest of the Slopes.
In response to questions from the NSI and others to the Cabinet on 1st Sept 2011 - the Council confirmed that the intention would be to:
publish the brief to prospective tenderers/developers - end of October 2011
appoint a developer - end of March 2012
submit a planning permission - end of 2012. For more up to date information - see above.
We took part in a survey of users of the Kingswear area in June which says - 71% of people view the Kingswear Green Space as it is now positively. There were strong views about the management of the area by Bristol City Council - or rather the lack of management. Among the comments made by users were:
"Keep it a beautiful area"
"More wildlife - not less"
"We need green open spaces"
"This area feels free and country - like"
Council, Homes and Community Agency and Knightstone Housing Association held a consultation on the draft developers brief for Kingswear/Torpoint/Marksbury Road and Haldon Close areas for 3hrs in March 2011.
The results of the consultation havent been published so far, but some small changes were made by the Partners to the brief as a response to the consultation, but we feel that they were not enough to sooth our concerns. We met with the Partners twice in March and replied to the consultation in April - and also met again with the partners in June 2011. We have clarified our proposals (now known as Community Option 6/11 - instead of Option 4). At the 30th June meeting we presented our case for adopting our option; alongside some of the objectives from Knowle West Regeneration Framework, to help both initiatives compliment each other.
The first group of people interested in developing the Kingswear site, have contacted us, and the Partners - they have also set up a website which describes what they are thinking. www.bs3campus.org.uk. Please take a look.
2010
At the Cabinet meeting on 25th March 2010 - it was revealed that the Council have proposals to take even more land from the Novers end of our sites, than we had originally understood in 2009 around the Haldon Close area. Also the number of houses/dwellings to be built has gone up to 474.
It is unfortunate that the Council claimed the results of consultation in April 2009 supported this option - when in fact the plan of the option shown in April 2009 which gained the most support shows a different area of land involved and states has c100 less dwellings. The Cabinet passed the proposals without discussion - ignoring the results of the surveys we had carried out of community opinion in which the majority of people were against development of the Slopes.
We were then invited with other community groups to take part in Consultations on the preparations for a brief for the development - those meetings stalled in September 2010.
Further information on the 25 March 2010 report at this address:
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/item/committeecontent/?ref=ua&code=ua000&year=2010&month=03&day=25&hour=18&minute=00
2009
The Council's first exhibition on the Kingswear Road, Torpoint Road, Marksbury Road and Novers Hill (Haldon Close) proposals on the 18th April 2009, following which the Council "soft marketed" the areas involved to developers.
The information which was on display on the original 18th April 2009 consultation can be found on the website below. The blog closed for comments in May 2009.
http://ktmcommunityinvolvement.blogspot.com/
2011
BS3 Campus proposals on the front page of the Evening Post on 23 December.....
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Plan-create-green-village-Bristol/story-14218413-detail/story.html#comments
At the Cabinet meeting on 15th December we ask about what happens to the money that the Council gets from developers if land at Kingswear is sold. The reply is not clear as to what actually is going to happen. We are going to keep asking the question......
On 16 November 2011 the Homes and Communities Agency (on behalf of the City Council and Knightstone Housing Association) publishes a Prior Information notice which alerts developers to the Tender which is due to be published on the 5 January 2012.
For what the notice says see:
http://www.publictenders.net/print/node/125793
The Council write to us on behalf of the partners at the end of October 2011. After talking to our members and other community groups working with us we reply in early December. We welcome the undertaking to keep the remaining green space after the development in the City Council's management, but didnt accept the offer to get involved in the tender assessment process. This is because we wish to see some of the objectives from the Knowle West Regeneration Framework used for the brief as the proposals, even if taken forward separately, remain in the Regeneration Framework area; we are concerned about the risk that the brief will mean the loss of green space especially between Lurgan Walk houses and Kingswear Road; and we believe that without an upper limit to the number of homes on the site, too many homes with too many people will radically alter the area and affect the rest of the Slopes.
In response to questions from the NSI and others to the Cabinet on 1st Sept 2011 - the Council confirmed that the intention would be to:
publish the brief to prospective tenderers/developers - end of October 2011
appoint a developer - end of March 2012
submit a planning permission - end of 2012. For more up to date information - see above.
We took part in a survey of users of the Kingswear area in June which says - 71% of people view the Kingswear Green Space as it is now positively. There were strong views about the management of the area by Bristol City Council - or rather the lack of management. Among the comments made by users were:
"Keep it a beautiful area"
"More wildlife - not less"
"We need green open spaces"
"This area feels free and country - like"
Council, Homes and Community Agency and Knightstone Housing Association held a consultation on the draft developers brief for Kingswear/Torpoint/Marksbury Road and Haldon Close areas for 3hrs in March 2011.
The results of the consultation havent been published so far, but some small changes were made by the Partners to the brief as a response to the consultation, but we feel that they were not enough to sooth our concerns. We met with the Partners twice in March and replied to the consultation in April - and also met again with the partners in June 2011. We have clarified our proposals (now known as Community Option 6/11 - instead of Option 4). At the 30th June meeting we presented our case for adopting our option; alongside some of the objectives from Knowle West Regeneration Framework, to help both initiatives compliment each other.
The first group of people interested in developing the Kingswear site, have contacted us, and the Partners - they have also set up a website which describes what they are thinking. www.bs3campus.org.uk. Please take a look.
2010
At the Cabinet meeting on 25th March 2010 - it was revealed that the Council have proposals to take even more land from the Novers end of our sites, than we had originally understood in 2009 around the Haldon Close area. Also the number of houses/dwellings to be built has gone up to 474.
It is unfortunate that the Council claimed the results of consultation in April 2009 supported this option - when in fact the plan of the option shown in April 2009 which gained the most support shows a different area of land involved and states has c100 less dwellings. The Cabinet passed the proposals without discussion - ignoring the results of the surveys we had carried out of community opinion in which the majority of people were against development of the Slopes.
We were then invited with other community groups to take part in Consultations on the preparations for a brief for the development - those meetings stalled in September 2010.
Further information on the 25 March 2010 report at this address:
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/item/committeecontent/?ref=ua&code=ua000&year=2010&month=03&day=25&hour=18&minute=00
2009
The Council's first exhibition on the Kingswear Road, Torpoint Road, Marksbury Road and Novers Hill (Haldon Close) proposals on the 18th April 2009, following which the Council "soft marketed" the areas involved to developers.
The information which was on display on the original 18th April 2009 consultation can be found on the website below. The blog closed for comments in May 2009.
http://ktmcommunityinvolvement.blogspot.com/