Futures Forum: Cranbrook: 'healthy town'?
Futures Forum: Cranbrook: welcome to dismaland
Futures Forum: Cranbrook: where's the 'good design'?
There have been several stories of late which point to serious issues around the Cranbrook project:
CRANBROOK: IS THE CURRENT TOWN CENTRE ACTUALLY ONE OF ITS PROJECTED SUBURBS?
22nd September 2015
intriguing post on a Cranbrook forum:
” … have been through phase 3 a couple of times lately and am getting very confused about where the “town centre” and “high street” are going to be. As we are going to be the size of Honiton I was anticipating that number of shops, restaurants, pubs and other services. Am going to chat to the growth point people next week, but in the meantime, I checked out the Growth Point’s website. Should I be worried that the page for the town centre no longer exists?!…..http://www.exeterandeastdevon.gov.uk/cranbrook-town-centre/ “
Cranbrook: is the current town centre actually one of its projected suburbs? | East Devon Watch
MORE ON THAT ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN CRANBROOK. .. IT’S ADULTS AS WELL AS CHILDREN
. .. as referred to in the recent DCC report. Yet another example of why appropriate infrastructure and social support MUST be built into new communities from the start:
“Anti-Social Behaviour, Cranbrook Park
On Monday 13th July PCSO Stannard held a Police surgery at St Martin’s Primary School with Mrs Beard (Head of the school) to listen to parents concerns about the level of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the play park in Cranbrook.
Around a dozen parents showed up to discuss with me some of the issues that they have witnessed and had reported to them from their children. Some of these issues include bullying, intimidation and damage being caused to some of the play equipment. Many children now feel too scared to use the park in case they encounter any of this bullying.
The ASB is not just being caused by the children, with some adults causing problems too. There have been occasions when parents have been encouraging their child’s unruly behaviour, arguments between parents and also reports of adults smoking in the park.
This is all totally unacceptable.
PCSO Stannard has been given a list of names of some of the people acting inappropriately and we will be going to speak to them all over the next week about their behaviour.
If you witness anti-social behaviour in and around the park area, please report it to the police so we are fully aware of all of the problems and can take action to stop it, after all, the park is there to be enjoyed by all. Extra patrols will be undertaken in the area and anybody acting inappropriately will be dealt with in an appropriate manner.
release date: 14 Jul 2015”
https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/teams/Ottery-Rural/News/8b8d33aa-9f8c-4444-92c4-5b853d7354b6
More on that anti-social behaviour in Cranbrook. .. it’s adults as well as children | East Devon Watch
DID CLAIRE WRIGHT HAVE A CRYSTAL BALL WHEN SPEAKING ABOUT CRANBROOK AND THE ‘GROWTH POINT’ IN 2012?
18th September 2015
Here are a few comments she made at that time when she and other councillors visited the Growth Point on 11 May 2012:
“I asked how many companies had bought space at Skypark.
Answer: None.
And Skypark has been marketed for well over a year.
I remembered the stark warning given by consultants, Roger Tym, who state on page 75 of their Housing and Employment Study 2011, that marketing for a 1.4m sq ft scheme at Langage Business Park in Plymouth has progressed over the last five years without success of obtaining a single occupier.
It is the challenge of dealing with large strategic allocations, they say.
Hopefully, Skypark will achieve full occupation in time. But it does rather put the challenge of filling the many and large industrial allocations for the rest of East Devon, into perspective.
If Skypark, in a hugely convenient location is not proving a goer (so far), what hope is there for almost 50 acres of industrial land allocated for Honiton?”
Recall that Asda pulled out of Heathpark and now EDDC is plugging the gap by moving there itself at enormous cost. Skypark is still mostly empty with its owners having gone on record to say it could take many, many years to rent it all out.
And, having just returned from a visit to Cranbrook on the same day, she wrote:
“When I got home I couldn’t help wondering whether:
– the Skypark would ever get off the ground, or instead would mirror the non-progress of Langage Business Park in Plymouth
– the Science Park would ever consist of any more than Exeter University’s Innovation Centre
– If the inhabitants of Rockbeare would be swallowed up by Cranbrook, following a highly dubious decision, backed by the majority of the Local Plan Panel (not me) and Development Management Committee, to allocate south of the A30 for future expansion, despite a promise that this would not happen
– the public would ever consider the millions of pounds of public money ploughed into ‘growth point’ and Cranbrook, as money well spent.
– What sort of town Cranbrook would become. How big would it grow? Would I enjoy visiting it?
I have no answers to these questions yet. No one does. Only time will tell.
I have to say I am already rather tired of the pictures in local papers of grinning councillor and developer faces at turf cuts, of the continual talk of ‘great excitement’ and the oft heard promises of thousands of jobs and creation of wealth, none of which has materialised yet… and may not ever do so.
That said, I genuinely hope that ‘growth point’ and Cranbrook are huge successes.
Mainly because any other outcome would be a staggering waste of public funding, not to mention an irreplaceable loss of beautiful countryside.”
http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/an_honest_look_at_cranbrook_and_growth_point
Related
Anyone notice something about this press release for Exeter Science Park? In "Cranbrook"
EDDC's Skypark move is off! In "EDDC"
The West's "free spirits" challenge the "old order" at WestminsterI n "Claire Wright"
← More on that “East Devon Design Panel”
Those “too small” Cranbrook garages: complaints fall on builders’ deaf ears →
One thought on “Did Claire Wright have a crystal ball when speaking about Cranbrook and the ‘Growth Point’ in 2012?”
Newman says:18 Sep 2015 at 10:54am
I think it is great credit to Claire that she isn’t wandering around shouting “I told you so” from the rooftops. Claire was one voice among many who could see the futility of EDDC’s development plans. I fear the worst that the Sky Park and the Science Park will both be another spectacular waste of public money. I’m with Claire…sick of seeing out of touch Councillors beaming at another self promoting photo opportunity, created by the local media outlets, fawning over local authorities and their potential advertising revenues. Why wont the local papers challenge holders of public office, take on the developers and give potential readers a reason to buy their titles…maybe then they would see their readership figures stop tumbling as they become meaningful products again.
Did Claire Wright have a crystal ball when speaking about Cranbrook and the ‘Growth Point’ in 2012? | East Devon Watch
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