Save Clyst St Mary > "Village Life -vs- Future Development"

We have the GESP gradually making its way into the broader consciousness of the East Devon electorate:
Futures Forum: How much housing and industrial development will happen in East Devon under the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan? >>> We will only know after the upcoming District Council elections in May
Futures Forum: What's wrong with the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan > "Huge housing growth does not appear to correlate with very modest job growth."

One way or another:
Futures Forum: How to sell the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan and its 2,661 new homes a year > offer a 20,000-capacity sports stadium

Meanwhile, in a corner of the District lies Clyst St Mary...

This village has been battling against over-development for some time now:
Futures Forum: Save Clyst St Mary: of neighbourhood plans and over-development: next public meeting: Thurs 19th February

And it will face more over-development under the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan:
Futures Forum: District Council considers government's latest forecast for minimum number of new homes to be built in East Devon > "alarm bells ringing" over proposals for 'a second Cranbrook new town or more new villages'

With an update on where they are on the East Devon Watch blog: 

SAVE CLYST ST MARY – UPDATE

12 FEB 2019

“Following the message that we received asking us to remove our banner from the fence backing onto A3052, I thought that I should write to you to let you know we are still here and continuing the fight for sustainable development in Clyst St Mary. There has been numerous items in the press regarding development in and around Exeter known as the ‘Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (G.E.S.P)’ and I have attached a copy of our latest press release which might help to explain matters a little more.

Over five years ago when we formed the Save Clyst St Mary Campaign we never expected to have received so much overwhelming support, for so many years. It really goes to show how uniting the different areas of the village can lead to a continued great outcome for everyone.

If you know someone who wants to get involved either just as a member or actively helping please let me know.”

PRESS RELEASE

“Village Life -v- Future Development

Many people favour living in a picturesque, rural village nestled in surrounding countryside with only the amenities of a village shop, post office, school, pub, hall and church. Clyst St Mary is a village where some historic areas have barely changed since late-medieval times but the settlement has expanded and progressed to incorporate the demands of the 21st century.

It is often described as a rural idyll, offering a different lifestyle than that experienced in the nearby urban City of Exeter. The old village is portrayed as charming and rustic but new contemporary designs show a progressive quality that coexists with the more traditional standards of the settlement. It remains unpretentious but with a modern, caring and vibrant neighbourhood.

This community has recently embraced considerable, sustainable housing development with the building of almost 100 new residences (a substantial quantity for a modest-sized village) to support East Devon Local Plan growth policies to 2031. However, the Local Plan also includes a further 150 dwellings allocated on brownfield land at Winslade Park awaiting planning approval, which totals approximately 250 new homes. Although it is appreciated that people need somewhere to live, such high numbers in one village go beyond growth recommendations in the Local, Villages and Neighbourhood Plans.

Crucially, there are also fears that proposals in the Draft Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP) for substantial future development along the A3052 around Westpoint at Clyst St Mary will sound the death knell for this historic Devon village, with the creation of, perhaps, another new town similar to Cranbrook or building a large suburb of Exeter or a sizeable extension to the existing settlement, all of which could result in the destruction of the village identity.

The entire GESP area incorporates Exeter City, Teignbridge, Mid Devon and East Devon with a vision for the provision of new homes, jobs and infrastructure for existing and future generations while protecting and enhancing the environment. Ideally, each area would share growth, avoiding one locality being burdened by substantial, unsustainable over-development.

However, concerns are not alleviated by recent comments made by East Devon planners declaring that some communities will be detrimentally impacted by proposed GESP large scale growth recommendations, e.g. ‘…in most cases growth would have to be quite substantial to make it viable to deliver the required services and facilities to make the settlement suitably sustainable for growth and in the process could harm the character of the village and the existing community.’

http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/2581497/040918strategicplanningcombinedagenda.pdf – (Strategic Planning Committee report – 4th September 2018, page 24, Item 9.1).

Furthermore, at the full Council meeting in October 2018 in answer to a question as to why East Devon is taking a disproportionate share of development (58% more than Exeter, 53% more than Teignbridge and nearly three times that of Mid Devon according to independent analysis conducted by CPRE), a local politician replied: “Because we have the land and we are good at it.”

Exeter City Council has just unveiled their 20-year vision for the city, which includes 12,000 new homes, cultural centres, ‘a garden bridge’ across the Exe and the creation of a comprehensive cycle and pedestrian network to tackle traffic congestion.

However, with a target of 53,200 homes proposed for the Greater Exeter areas and the propulsion for substantial business growth, surely the communities within East Devon should equally have sight of the development proposals for their localities? For example, the present Exeter Sowton Park and Ride site appears to show future development – so where will the new replacement Park and Ride facilities be located to serve Exeter?

To date, representatives from East Devon local authority, business communities and growth partnerships have maintained exclusivity regarding the proposals for the GESP large allocation sites offered by landowners for future major development. Will there be a general release to the public of this restricted information before the Local Elections in May 2019? The electorate may be reluctant to vote for expansive commercial and housing proposals that would destroy or detrimentally alter their community.

Consequently, it might be thought unwise to acquaint the populace at this time with extensive GESP growth recommendations for fear that they would be judged undesirable. Although, there will, of course, be statutory public consultation on such vast development proposals under GESP but not until after the Local Elections!

In reality, Clyst St Mary’s portrayal as an idealised village is not entirely accurate and the images below bear testimony to the daily traffic congestion which reaches unacceptable levels, where the A376 and A3052 converge at the bottleneck that is the Clyst St Mary roundabout.

At present, large volumes of HGVs serving the extensive business expansions at Hill Barton and Greendale Industrial Estates, together with huge tractors and trailers importing and exporting to an ever-increasing sized anaerobic digester, thunder through the village! Coupled with significant large levels of commuter and tourist traffic they create safety issues for residents (especially young children) accessing the village primary school, shop, village hall and play park via the toucan crossing on the A3052. Regrettably, the pedestrian footbridge is unsuitable for many users and is generally in a state of disrepair!

Only last year a resident sustained serious injuries crossing the A3052 in the village after being knocked down by a speeding car during daylight hours! Fortunately, there appears to be current medium-sized road improvements planned around the Clyst St Mary roundabout and Junction 30 of the M5 in the near future.

However, it is considered that the crucial, major road network advancement necessary in this area at present and for any future development expansion may not be forthcoming in the current uncertain and fragile financial climate. It is unacceptable for developers to build sizeable residential and business developments that access a substandard, mediocre road network. There is gridlock with the present peak time traffic let alone any future requirements. Planning cycle tracks and park and ride facilities are positive approaches but may be inadequate ‘band-aid solutions’ that will not sufficiently tackle the root causes.”

Save Clyst St Mary – update | East Devon Watch
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A Celebration of Trees > photos and thanks

A great time was had by all at last week's Arboretum event:
Futures Forum: A Celebration of Trees > Friday 30th November > stalls, songs, talks, quiz, snacks, bar...

Or so it seems:

Story-telling from Jon Freeman

Mousey display from the National Trust

Intent attention from attendees

Prize-giving from quiz-master Ed Dolphin

Song and movement from Sid Vale Folk

Sidmouth Arboretum - Home | Facebook

With a thank-you in today's letters pages of the Herald:

“The Sidmouth Arboretum would like to thank all those who generously gave their time to enlighten and entertain us all at last Friday’s Celebration of Trees.

Firstly, we are very grateful to Nikki and her team at Kennaway House for their as-ever professional preparation of the Cellar Bar for the occasion.

The evening was kicked off by the joyous melodies of Tess Bisson and the Sid Vale Folk, all in good voice and filling the space with songs celebrating trees.

A big thanks too to our speakers – to John Wilding MBE, head of Forestry and Environment at Clinton Devon Estates; to Tracey West of Word Forest, based in Lyme Regis but doing fantastic work with reforestation projects in Kenya; and to Jon Freeman of the Clyst Valley Ancient Trees project who gave us a wonderfully lively rendition of a folk tale from the wilds of old Scandinavia.

The fantastic array of stalls from other tree-minded groups added to the variety of the evening, including: Devon Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Byes, Forestry Commission, National Trust, Sid Vale Association, Sid Valley Bat Research Project and Sidmouth Rotary Club.

Not forgetting our thanks to local woodturners Diana and Martin Russell and to local artist Cherry Ferris and her beautiful pyrography work – who brought in craft as seasonal gifts to take away.

And thank you to all the members of the public who turned up to join in the fun.

We at the Sidmouth Arboretum look forward to seeing everyone again next year at our Celebration of Trees.”

Sidmouth and Ottery breaking news and sport - Sidmouth Herald
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District Council considers government's latest forecast for minimum number of new homes to be built in East Devon > "alarm bells ringing" over proposals for 'a second Cranbrook new town or more new villages'

Greater Exeter - which includes East Devon - will have to build a lot of new housing:
Futures Forum: The Greater Exeter Strategic Plan and 57,000 new houses

This will impact on plans for Cranbrook:
Futures Forum: Thousands of new housing at Cranbrook - and still the District Council says "it is a it is a difficult and uncertain time to be planning a new town centre"

The District Council met up to consider all of this:
Futures Forum: District Council to consider government's latest forecast for minimum number of new homes to be built in East Devon > "A second Cranbrook new town or more new villages"

As reported by Devon Live: 

Alarm bells ringing over new town and villages planned on Devon green land

Questions were raised about whether quadrant earmarked for development included 'the dark side' of East Devon

Daniel Clark Local Democracy Reporter
10 SEP 2018

Large swathes of green land between Exmouth and Cranbrook could be concreted over to build new housing, it is feared.

Government calculations mean a minimum of 844 new homes need to be built in East Devon each year. But because a large part of the district is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) it cannot be redeveloped leaving what councillors called an 'arbitrary' and 'vague' north-west quadrant for all of the new builds.

Many existing villages fear over-development turning them into dead dormitory towns for urban workers.

And one councillor called the area north of Cowick in Exeter the ‘dark side’.

Ideas so far include: a SECOND Cranbrook new town, a number of new villages, or expanding existing villages were among the ideas suggested to ensure enough new homes in East Devon are being built.

East Devon District Council’s Strategic Planning Committee, by seven votes to four, with two abstentions, voted to endorse these principles for growth detailed in the report as a basis for future discussion, debate and consultation. But serious concerns were raised about where new housing could be built, the amount of extra traffic it would add to the roads, and how viable and deliverable any new housing schemes were.



A report to the meeting said there was only limited space for any additional development as two-thirds of East Devon is included in the AONB of the Pebblebed Heaths or the Blackdown Hills, and existing towns can only accommodate minimal growth.

The north-west quadrant of the district, between the north of Exmouth and west of Ottery St Mary, was the least constrained part of the district for accommodating growth and would be the ‘logical’ location for any growth to take place.

But Cllr Roger Giles said the ‘arbitrary drawn quadrant’ was causing alarm, while Cllr Geoff Jung said that the description of the north-west quadrant was ‘a bit vague’.

READ MORE
A SECOND Cranbrook new town or more new villages could be built in East Devon

He said: “We don’t really know where that covers. Does it include the ‘dark side’ (the area north of Cowick in Exeter) and does it include areas north of Ottery? It doesn’t seem there are many options, but the people in the villages in that area at the moment are very concerned.”

Cllr Jill Elson added: “We may end up with a conurbation from Exmouth to Cranbrook, and then only a small gap between Exeter and Topsham and Exeter and Cranbrook. The public are already up in arms about this and I cannot see the residents accepting this.”

Cllr Mike Howe said that many of the rural villages in East Devon are struggling to stay alive and they want some small scale development, but this doesn’t do a thing to help them and is the most frustrating thing.

READ MORE
There could be 57,000 new homes in the Exeter area by 2040

He added: “The document says the north-west quadrant is well served by main roads with good vehicle access via the M5, A30, A3052 and A376, but commuters sit on those roads for hours each day already, so putting more traffic onto those roads is not acceptable.

“It says we should focus development around main transport corridors where possible, but the only transport corridor that should be mentioned is around trains or trams as we cannot put more transport around junction 30 of the M5 as it is unsustainable.

“If anything is done for a new village or town then it has to be served by off-road routes, like trains or trams, as it cannot be done on the highway.”

In blue, where development could go

Cllr Geoff Pook said that rather than establish a new villages, development should take place in the existing villages as if they aren’t made more sustainable then they will die. He said: “People want to see vibrant villages and not dormitories.”

Cllr Philip Skinner backed his comments, but said he was getting a feeling of déjà vu about this. He said: “We start by talking about getting a few more homes to stimulate growth in the villages but as we get closer to anything happening, they don’t want any development, so we end up having to build a new town, which is what happened last time and I can see that happening again.”

He proposed accepting the recommendation, and Cllr Mike Allen backed seconded him, but said at a later stage we need to be as clear as possible as to what we want.

Cllr Allen said: “We are at the first stage and trying to sort out the principles. We do not want the green wedge between Exeter and Cranbrook to disappear, or indeed any green wedges that we have established, but the bigger problem that we have if the government wants us to deliver the homes, then they have to give us the infrastructure or it won’t be physically possible to do it.

“We want villages to be sustainable, but for a sustainable shop, then it needs access to around 2,000 people or else it won’t be viable.”

The principles in the report are proposed as a baseline position to inform strategy development and to start the debate on an appropriate response to where housing could go.

Once constraints of the AONB, the coastline, and towns were significant development is already taking place, the north-west quadrant of the district, between the north of Exmouth and west of Ottery St Mary, would be the least constrained part of the district for accommodating growth.

No decision as to whether a new town, a series of new villages, or expanding existing villages would be the preferred option for development has yet been taken.

The villages of Poltimore, Huxham, Clyst St Mary, Clyst St George, Ebford, West Hill, Woodbury​, Woodbury Salterton, Exton and Farringdon would be most likely to be included as ones that could be expanded further, based on them being in the quadrant and close to existing infrastructure.

Future discussion, debate and consultation both through the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan, for which a vision document that was due to go to consultation was rejected by the committee later in the meeting, and a review of the East Devon Local Plan will follow.

Alarm bells ringing over new town and villages planned on Devon green land - Devon Live
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Great Trees of the Clyst Valley

As part of the Tree Week from the Arboretum...
Sidmouth Arboretum

... there will be a guided walk through Woodbury Castle and the Great Trees of the Clyst Valley:
http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/2407962/s0252_countryside-events-guide-ss18_for-web.pdf 

Our guided walk at Woodbury on 19th April is now fully booked! Let us know if you would like to be on a reserve list. Or check out our other #ClystValley spring and summer walks in the @wildeastdevon event guide http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/2407962/s0252_countryside-events-guide-ss18_for-web.pdf … @WoodlandTrust @HLFSouthWest

Clyst Great Trees (@ClystGreatTrees) | Twitter

The Project has been part of the Arboretum's annual celebration of trees in November:
Futures Forum: Great Trees in the Clyst Valley @ Celebrating Trees with the Sidmouth Arboretum > Friday 24th Novemeber

All sorts of things are going on as part of the Project: 

Cranbrook pupils plant pine tree in Great Trees project

PUBLISHED: 06:55 12 March 2018

PAUL STRANGE

Cllr Tom Wright (centre) with St Martin's school children as they plant the Monterey Pine. Picture: Contributed.

Cranbrook’s St Martin’s Primary School pupils have planted a Monterey Pine at the school to mark the start of their involvement in the Great Trees in the Clyst Valley project.

A gift from Clyst Honiton (the school’s old site), the pine was planted by students and East Devon District Council’s environment portfolio holder, Councillor Tom Wright.

“It’s important to get young people involved in projects like this to teach them about the vital role trees play in our environment,” said Cllr Wright. “Later this year, children will be able to gather, plant and nurture seeds from local trees, and in a further two years, plant out those saplings to create a really great woodland heritage around Cranbrook for themselves and their children.”

The Great Trees project aims to increase the number of trees in Cranbrook and the surrounding parishes of the Clyst Valley. The goal is to plant a new orchard, a new wood, restore 10 ha of parkland and protect 1,000 hedgerow saplings.

“As our climate is predicted to be hotter and drier in summer, we decided to put the tree in the corner of the sports field,” said Tania Beard, headteacher of St Martins C of E Primary School. “That’s because parents have raised the fact that there is little natural shade on the school site. This means there will eventually be more shade when the children are playing on the field in the summer months.”

Cranbrook pupils plant pine tree in Great Trees project | Breaking news & sport in Cranbrook | Cranbrook Herald

Great Trees in the Clyst Valley

March 22 at 10:45am · 

How big will the tree be at St Martin's C of E Primary School planted by their students? Here's Jon explaining to Cllr Tom Wright
East Devon District Councill Wild East Devon

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Great Trees in the Clyst Valley - Home | Facebook
Great Trees in the Clyst Valley - Home | Facebook
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Great Trees in the Clyst Valley @ Celebrating Trees with the Sidmouth Arboretum > Friday 24th Novemeber

Tonight, Jon Freeman of the Clyst Valley Great Trees project will be telling us something at the Sidmouth Arboretum's annual event:
Futures Forum: Celebrating Trees with the Sidmouth Arboretum >>> talks, songs, stalls, gifts, food >>> Cellar Bar, Kennaway House: this Friday 24th November > more info

The project has just been set up:
Devon Communities Together | Great Trees in the Clyst Valley

Here's the news from earlier in the year:

Great Trees in the Clyst Valley - New Project Puts Down Roots!

When this content has been created

11 August 2017

Jon Freeman, Great Trees Project Officer

An exciting new outdoor programme designed to encourage local people to explore, record and restore the heritage landscape of trees in fields, hedges, parks and orchards across East Devon’s Clyst Valley is now underway following the appointment of a project officer

Following a successful bid for a £52,100 National Lottery grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the Exeter and East Devon Growth Point has recruited Jon Freeman to lead a 2 year ‘programme of discovery’ with volunteers which will include walks, workshops, research and events leading to the creation of tree nurseries and wider tree planting in the valley.  

The Clyst Valley is on the doorstep of a rapidly growing population east of Exeter. Whilst some parts of it are well known, for example the National Trust's Killerton Estate, others are less accessible and await discovery.

The project is also being financially supported by East Devon District Council, Devon County Council, Devon Gardens Trust, Environment Agency, E.ON, National Trust, Parishes Together Fund and Woodland Trust.

Having trained at Cannington College in Somerset, Jon Freeman had a first career in horticulture, woodland and countryside work. He then studied Archaeology and Medieval studies at the University of Exeter, before embarking on fifteen years of archaeological fieldwork, largely in the South West. More recently, Jon has enjoyed communicating a passion for the stories of places, working as a professional storyteller and actor at heritage events and sites as diverse as Tintagel Castle, Blenheim Palace and Blists Hill Victorian town.

Talking about the project, Jon Freeman said:

I’m really very excited to have started work on the Great Trees project, which brings together many strands of my past work. I’m passionate about the historic environment, the natural history of the Devon countryside plus the stories of people and their places. I can’t wait to get started.

Nerys Watts, Head of HLF South West, added:

The natural world is an incredibly important part of our heritage – from the wildlife who call it home to the stories it can reveal of people and communities. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we’re delighted to support this project which will enable people of all ages in Devon to discover more about the Clyst Valley and the heritage on their doorstep. It’s fantastic to welcome Jon and we look forward to seeing what the project will achieve.

For more information contact Jon on  jon.freeman@eastdevon.gov.uk or 07875 285 539.

11 August 2017 - Great Trees in the Clyst Valley - New Project Puts Down Roots! - East Devon

See also:
Sustainable Growth - Exeter and East Devon Growth Point

And:
Sidmouth Arboretum’s annual ‘A Celebration of Trees’ THIS EVENING (Fri 24 Nov) at Kennaway House | Save Our Sidmouth
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Protecting parkland is not a priority for government:
Futures Forum: State of Nature ... and paving paradise
Futures Forum: Of 'urban wildlife' and 'brownfield sites'...
Futures Forum: "The future of parks is in the hands of partnerships"... and... "People in the South West need to be prepared to fight to preserve their parks and green areas, to save them from the threat of sell-offs or neglect."

There are threats to the District's public open spaces:
Local councils need to be proactive in saving their open spaces | Open Spaces Society

In Clyst St Mary:
Save Clyst St Mary | Campaign Against Inappropriate Development

In Seaton:
CAMPAIGNERS have expressed disappointment as one of the last open spaces in an East Devon resort is to be developed. | Plymouth Herald

In Sidmouth:
Sidmouth’s need for open spaces: New study challenges crucial part of EDDC’s planning application for Knowle | Save Our Sidmouth

Indeed, things don't look too good:
Further evidence for the Local Plan and EDDC tries to pass the buck to the National Trust and Woodland Trust for required open spaces | East Devon Watch

The Woodland Trust campaigns for trees and their spaces - and earlier in the year they were very supportive of a Parliamentary committee looking at these issues:

Shaping the future of public open spaces

By Richard Barnes , 8 September 2016

We’re delighted that the Communities and Local Government Select Committee has announced an inquiry into the future of open spaces.

We’re especially pleased to hear that the committee want a wide response to their survey, because you can make a real impact on the recommendations they will make to the Government.

‘Public parks’ in the UK are the country parks, smaller ‘pocket’ parks, woodland areas and open green spaces which are cared for by the local authority. Having dedicated space for parks is very important for trees, especially in urban areas where vital tree cover is low.

Cuts mean parks can suffer first

Due to changes in the way local authorities are funded, they have to find new sources of revenue and cut existing costs of their services. Sadly this appears to be having a disproportionate effect on parks, as they are a “non-statutory” service of local authorities. This is not a new phenomenon – when I worked for a local authority in the 1990s, the Parks Manager was often faced with making a £100,000 reduction in his maintenance budget. However, there is a limit to how often a parks maintenance budget can take such “salami-slicing” before maintenance stops.

In fact I’ve already seen one London borough announce a proposal to sell-off of 27 small local parks, to provide much needed capital and retain budget for maintenance of its strategic parks. So far four of those parks have been sold – a huge loss of amenity and breathing space for the local residents.

The potential for sales of public parks is not only a threat to ancient woodland, but to the many veteran and ancient trees which are in parks, too. These trees make a massive contribution, in biodiversity and amenity - and often culturally - to that open space.

Are there other solutions?

It was only a matter of time before woodland was considered as an asset for sale. Perhaps the sale of woodland by the Lake District National Park has generated the most publicity, but on the flip side this has stimulated an interest in community woodland management and asset transfer. The Trust is running a pilot project in the north of England, offering grants to help with community woodland management in: Cumbria, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, GTR Manchester, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Teeside.

However, it is unrealistic to suggest that all parks and woodland can be managed by the community, so what else should be done? The Rethinking Parks project looked at new ways to fund public parks, and came up with several useful key findings, but noted that none of the ideas tested is forecast to completely replace local authority funding.

Our own ‘Trees or Turf?’ report shows that is often cheaper to create and manage woodland on amenity grassland; with proper consultation and consent of the park users, and not at the expense of formal recreation such as sports pitches, this can be a very positive option.

The ideal solution would be to make providing well-managed public open spaces a statutory service. This would put parks on the same footing as other essential local authority services. This is not to say that other vital community services should then be cut; we see the retention and management of public parks and woodland as part of a holistic service for the local community, as they are used by all sectors of the community and offer many benefits.

A statutory footing for parks management is a long-held ambition of the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces. It’s not yet clear if the government has the appetite to take this step forward. So the first step is to convince the committee of the merits of this suggestion, and others.

Shaping the future of public open spaces - Woodland Trust

The consultation is now closed - but the issues are still very much with us:
Young people urged for park-life views - BBC News
The crisis in Britain’s parks is a social justice issue | Graham Duxbury | Opinion | The Guardian
Cherish our public spaces – among the glories of the democratic age | Rowan Moore | Opinion | The Guardian
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