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First tranche of housing approved - phase 1
First tranche of housing approved - phase 1
There is a load to talk about when it comes to this development.
Don't suppose any chance of solar panels on the proposed new housing ? No chance - it doesnt have to be provided so it wont be.
So what is our Council and Harworth Playing At?
So what is our Council and Harworth Playing At?
Well first off many of us are aware of the financial black hole that Shropshire Council are facing - not the only black hole knocking around then at the moment - and there is a link between the two - and that lies in the people that have been running both this Country and our County for the last 14 years. We are in a mess both nationally and locally and what does that mean to residents of Buildwas, Leighton and everyone who lives next to the B4380. Anything and everything that can be done to release cash out of this project will be being done from which not only can the developer benefit but so can Shropshire Council. So when it comes to the original plan of opening up the old railway bridge to get the building material off site prior to house building suddenly the plan is dropped. This would not only have helped remove off our already damaged roads the hundred or so 40 tonne wagon movements every day for the next 4 to 5 years but would have encouraged new house owners to consider not having to use cars - so helping protect our environment as well as avoiding further congestion on our already clogged roads.
This railway bridge renovation was a commitment made at the time of the planning application for the development - see extract from outline planning application below - I'm not making this up!
So now Shropshire Council are telling our Parish Council's - who are in turn telling anyone that is interested that Network Rail are the problem as they dont want to fix the bridge. WHAT? - unless I'm living in cloud cuckoo land - who was it that made the commitment to use the railway was it NR or our developer and Shropshire Council? And it is Shropshire Council who naively accepted the developers paper proposals and let the project go ahead. Or maybe the deal to avoid fixing the bridge had aleady been agreed - I don't know. What i do know is that I was at the Planning Inquiry and I had the temerity to ask the Developer when this came up whether or not they could add another sentance to section 6.3.6 vi of the outline design specification, where the Developer would not be allowed to build any houses until the rail bridge was up and running. I was very quickly told that 'oh no we couldnt do that - you cannot tie our hands'. At which point I realised that this bridge wasn't ever going to happen any time soon. It's going to cost around £3 - £4 million to put it in place and there's the rub. If the developer can save this money then that is more money that the Developer can share with Shropshire Council helping save our Council from the financial mess that they are in - whilst increasing Developer profits - So everyone is a winner - accept of course the residents of Severn Valley - who really should be the main concern of our local Council.
Its time someone started representing the local people of Buildwas and the Severn Valley - someone who is on the side of the people of the Severn Valley. A Shropshire Councillor with the peoples best interests at heart sitting at the top table, a table that our Councillor currently sits at - along with the Developer and others. Maybe a Shropshire Councillor with residents interests at the top of their agenda would be able to offer a bit more opportunity for a better deal for the very people who are going to suffer the most as this development progresses.
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