Plans for Port Royal: spending £10k on a report with 'a level of detail and analysis of the area which had been previously available' - simply to prove that redevelopment is not viable

The District and Town Councils have spent £10k on a scoping study:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> Scoping Study consultation and "independent experts"

And in the press release issued yesterday, the District Council justifies this:

"The scoping study has provided both councils with a level of detail and analysis of the area which has not been previously available and this wealth of knowledge has given both authorities, who are each landowners in the area, a clear foundation on which to decide how to move ahead."

29 January 2018 - New future for drill hall site proposed following Sidmouth Port Royal scoping study report - East Devon
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> Scoping Study consultants' "final report" published

However, to point out one or two things...

PORT ROYAL STEERING GROUP STUDY:

Back in 2010, the Vision Group and its partners were invited to set up a steering group - and in 2012 a report was presented - and then ignored:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> Scoping Study consultation > Vision Group report 2012

This was again presented at a public meeting in August last year:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: presenting the evidence

And it was this report which "provided both councils with a level of detail and analysis of the area which had not been previously available":
https://www.visionforsidmouth.org/futures/port-royal/community-engagement-brief.aspx

VIABILITY:

What is new, however, is that the report has stated very clearly that nothing will be 'viable':

What both councils have learnt from this study is that renewal of the area is important to local people but brings with it some particular challenges which include:

• The increased risk of flood to the area and the as yet to be resolved outcomes of the ongoing Beach Management Plan process 
• A lack of financial viability of large scale mixed-use  development on this location if affordable homes were included on or off-site
• An existing covenant with a boundary which creates uncertainty on parts of the potential development area

With these complexities in mind, it is recommended to the councils that they do not pursue a comprehensive mixed-use site development.

29 January 2018 - New future for drill hall site proposed following Sidmouth Port Royal scoping study report - East Devon

So, what has happened to the Local Plan's promise of 30 homes on the site - 15 of which would be 'affordable':
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> affordable housing at Eastern Town

Not that this would hamper any plans developers might have for the site:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> the 'viability' of affordable housing obligations

In the end, though, developers and planners are not going to be exactly attracted to a massive development on the site - for pretty obvious reasons...

FLOODING:

This is a crucial issue, as pointed out by District Cllr Marianne Rixson:

The Port Royal and Ham area, originally categorised as Flood Zone 2 was re-classified by the Environment Agency (EA) in 2016 as the high risk Flood Zone 3a.

Is the Port Royal ‘five-storey vision’ blind to flood risk and sewage? | Save Our Sidmouth
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> Scoping Study consultation >> "a stitch-up"

Whilst the consultants earlier 'final report' seems to have missed out on this...
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: 'further investigations in respect of flooding and covenants' needed

... if a little imagination were provided, then there are clever ways to build in areas prone to flooding:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal and the Eastern Town >>> apartments over car parks
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal and the Eastern Town: homes on stilts
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: 'Alternative ideas as to how the Port Royal area of Sidmouth could be redeveloped'

CONSERVATION AREA:

The whole site is within the town's main conservation area - in other words, it is all about protecting heritage:
Futures Forum: Local Heritage Assets: 'making better use of the available resources to identify, protect and maintain the historic buildings and places that matter to local communities.'
Futures Forum: Drill Hall and Drill Hall Rescue @ Historic Sidmouth
Futures Forum: Drill Hall latest: and Sidmouth fishermen gathering herring on Sidmouth beach during WW1

COVENANTS:

Finally, it seems inconceivable that consultants would not have consulted the basic land agreements, covenants, contracts and title deeds:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: 'further investigations in respect of flooding and covenants' needed
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >>> of covenants and land-swapping at Port Royal
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> Scoping Study consultation > an overview of the maps and the options

There has been plenty of detail in supply for some time - without the need perhaps for £10k to be spent looking for it:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: who owns what

Which brings us back to where we started:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: anticipating a Regeneration Board >> Scoping Study consultation > Vision Group report 2012

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN:

Or rather, it should be looking forward to what 1800 householders envisaged for the site:
Futures Forum: Neighbourhood Plan > interim report on Port Royal >>> >>> "A focus on community space" >>> >>> >>> >>> "Repeated narrative comments supported this approach as opposed to a development which is weighted towards commercial and housing purposes, stressing the importance of community and visitor use."
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