Tuesday, 20 October 2015

Proposals for Mill Street - Port Royal - Neighbourhood Plan

It seems that the immediate issue of 'what to do with Mill Street'
Futures Forum: Mill St and “making political capital out of the vital issue of providing homes for Sidmouth’s young families”

 ... is being seen as part of the larger picture of 'what to do with the Eastern Town'
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board

 ... which would in turn be considered as part of any Neighbourhood Planning process:
Futures Forum: Vision Group report from Town Council committee on neighbourhood plan

 As with all planning, the most important aspect is indeed PROCESS. 
In other words: How are we going to get to solutions satisfactory to all?

Looking at the original Vision Group report of 2006:
A Vision for Sidmouth 2006 

> There were nine Conversation Cafés and a similar number of meetings of local organisations;

> Plus Commerce, Accommodation, Visitor and Residents Surveys

The more recent Port Royal Steering Group report from 2012 also proceeded with ‘maximum consultation’:
Community Engagement Brief for Regenerating the Port Royal and Ham area,Sidmouth Eastern Town. Spring 2012
Community Engagement Brief for the Regeneration of Sidmouth Eastern Town. Spring 2012: APPENDICES

> Considerable pro bono expert advice was provided from within the town;

> The Group spent time collating factual information about the site with technical support from the authorities;

> Public engagement was thorough, including a display at the library, a site visit and public meetings.

Finally, there is a lot of DESCRIPTIVE MATERIAL in both reports which is highly relevant to the current scenario, simply because very little action has been taken on these key issues.

We have not come very far, as this Vision Group piece from March 2013 indicates:
Vision Group for Sidmouth - Notes on Port Royal Developments

Meanwhile, recent correspondence has brought forward several proposals for where to go with the Eastern Town.

PARK OUT OF TOWN & RIDE ON THE HOPPER BUS INTO TOWN:

> Larger towns with thriving shopping centres would not contemplate having car-parking and circulating cars in the centre of the town. In the longer term residents of densely populated areas such as the Eastern Town will accept that their cars (if they have one) will be parked or garaged out of town and a pedestrian friendly zone will predominate - with a very local hopper bus provided for those who are too infirm to walk or cycle. This is one option for a thought out traffic plan for the Eastern Town.

BUILD FLATS ON TOP OF A ROOFED MILL STREET CAR PARK:

> What about a roofed car park with flats or houses on top at Mill Street? These could be modern lightweight houses/flats for rent or leasehold for sale only to key workers, etc.

> What about the new bridge coming straight in from the elbow of the sloping path on the Salcombe Hill side over to a roofed in car park by the swimming pool- either more houses or more cars on a second level, rather than a long pathway down to Esplanade level?

WE NEED A TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN:
Futures Forum: 'Inclusive Design' in Sidmouth...

WE NOW HAVE CONSIDERABLY FEWER PARKING SPACES:

Futures Forum: Sidmouth parking issues @ Streetlife

WE NEED A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN:

> The NP is now the key to it everything in Sidmouth.

> Some of our successful neighbours are worth looking at. Both Newton Poppleford and Ottery St Mary Town Councils have given part of their website over to local community endeavours. Among these, in both cases, is their Neighbourhood Plan work. Both of them are very inspiring.

> Newton Poppleford here Parish Council - Newton Poppleford & Harpford PC They have their Neighbourhood Plan under the Council tag but the Community tag is also worth a good look

> Here is OSM - also very inspiring Community Information & Events - Ottery St Mary TC

> The key message is that work on the Neighbourhood Plan should be absolutely open to everyone to view. That is one of the ways that community engagement is achieved. To do things without keeping them public is a sure way to achieve public disengagement, as EDDC must surely learn soon.

> We must be aware of a piecemeal approach and Mill St is part of a hidden larger scheme. Building homes there may clear the developers of any affordable obligations at Port Royal. Learning from EDDC’s approach to planning in Exmouth, it would make sense to commence the transport study and Eastern town consultation soon.

> The attached paper based on the DCC Task Group report may be helpful when considering the NP. See link Futures Forum: A commentary on the Cranbrook Task Group final report

EASTERN TOWN HAS BEEN A THRIVING COMMUNITY:

· By the way Eastern Town hasn't always been a giant car park. Until the 60s it was a thriving community as per attached map in which dear Gerald Counter lived his entire life.

THE HAM IS NOT A GOOD PLACE FOR A MULTI-STOREY CAR PARK:

Futures Forum: An alternative to councils simply making money out of parking charges: "mixed development"

BUT MANOR ROAD IS A GOOD PLACE FOR A MULTI-STOREY CAR PARK:

> Best place for a two storey car park is of course Manor Road, which already has the potential for two levels of access direct from the road, with no need for a space-wasting circular ramp. Ham Car Park layout is currently very confusing and wasteful and could be rationalised making space for affordable housing, as detailed in 2010 PRSG discussion suggestions.

> As the Manor Road car park is on a slope, the ground could be dug level and a second floor added without too much impact on the gardens. It could be a light weight steel structure with the spoils used for landscaping. A hopper bus would then run between the Manor Road car park via the triangle to the Knowle (or new Park and Ride!).

> Manor Road is bigger, ‘squarer’ and has uncomplicated road frontage. By ‘digging in’, the visual impact would be pretty small. It would need a ‘hopper’ but we know the cost of one and it is not prohibitive.

See also:

And:

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