Okay back in the room

So any one have any news, whats happening?

• Going ahead?
• Not going ahead?
• HS2 in the field?
• HS2 somewhere else?
• Ridge and Furrow real or not?

Cant find out dick

Measham Wharf - Important Meeting

We need to attend this meeting with a better attendance than last time

Measham Wharf - Survey Results

Development Survey Results:

I would like to thank the Measham Parish Council for taking time and putting in the effort to find the views of the Measham Parishioners. However there is now another chance to discuss your views at a Parish Council Meeting on the 14th May at the Church Village Hall

Are you in favour of this proposal?

YES 20 NO 66
Measham needs to be regenerated, however a small stretch of canal is unsatisfactory
YES 17 NO 66
Do you think the village will benefit from the proposed Wharf and Canal? :
YES 42 NO 39
Do you think that 1.1km of canal is enough of a benefit for having 450 houses built? :
YES 12 No 65

So, who will take notice and where do we go from here?
The final decision on this application will be made by NWLDC. The Planning Officer is Sarah Worrell who can be contacted on 01530 454545.

Selection of the comments

Is inappropriate number of houses for the village
Increase in traffic
Decreasing countryside
Stretching of resources: Schools, medical centre, local transport
Blight of HS2, foolish to build until route finalised, no one would buy, houses would be demolished
Not enough amenities
Spoilt countryside
Already enough houses in the village
Don't want to lose dog walking fields
Damage to environment
Want to retain village size and atmosphere
Loss of wildlife
Lack of parking in village
Too many houses for space
Destruction of ancient Ridge and Furrow, removal of hedges trees affecting wildlife, birds and birds of
prey
Possibility of large supermarkets following the development
Depreciation of value of current properties
Poor access to main development
Remove one of remaining open spaces
Area could be better used as National Forest
Canal is dangerous to children and will be full of litter, cleaning will be at tax payers expense
Parish Council will sell Measham residents down the river (canal)
Should be gateway to the National Forest Plan
Over development of open space
Lack of employment
Concerns over the impact the HS2 may have
Messy suburb without extra facilities
If the development is allowed, the village is condemned to loss of character
Resources we have now cannot cope
High maintenance for the future
Don't think the village can support a residential development of this size
This is another mad idea that hopefully the council will see sense and oppose it
Why has the Canal Association joined forces with the developer
What about flooding, who is going to pay executive prices
Duped into thinking a bit of Canal will make us agree to this eyesore
Far too many people in Measham without building more houses
Concerned due to the lack of demand, construction will be a blight on Measham and will be for years to
come
Improve the existing amenities but not by swallowing up the conservation area that is left
Do not need anymore people in the village, it is a village after all
Taking away 3 footpaths that are used by many people, the town has little provision
In their own paperwork they state Measham is devoid of open space
They have not taken into account correct ecology finding, small pockets of infill are insufficient
It should not be in the centre of the village
Clearly visible that High Street is what should be maintained, the council just hear cash registers ring
In favour of some development, too many properties for a small area
Development of canal a good thing
Most appropriate site to be developed for new build
bring new facilities to the village
It is best for future prosperity of the village
Restore and revitalise the Heritage of the village
Economic boost to the village
Good use of redundant land to provide additional amenities to the village
The development is good for Measham, it will make Measham a place to live, visit and do business
Housing and canal project go well together
Contribution to the canal will benefit the area and mitigate against the effects
On the basis that a large number of houses need to be built at least it has the added bonus of a section
of canal
Measham needs to be regenerated, however a small stretch of canal is unsatisfactory
Do not need more housing, should remain as a village
Its another step along the way
The canal project needs impetuous to keep going
Anything that brings forward the canal development is of great benefit
countryside disruption
would agree if whole of canal was put in
1km is nothing in the scheme of things and only benefits those living in the new houses
Far too many houses and people
Would rather not canal than another 450 homes
Save our fields
Not worth the compromise
Too high price for a bit of water
Infrastructure
Loss of village spirit
Needs to be more than 1.1km, rejoin to Moira
Canal in housing estate not appealing
Water safety issues with young children living on the estate
Not a canal
Timescale to join up, already taken 25 years
Stagnant water
Not enough benefit for downside of extra vehicles and overcrowding of local facilities.
More canal more visitors
The houses are in the core plan
Would be better if houses reduced to 250
As long as the Wharf is built
Could create social places for people to interact, positive for recreation activity
Significant length from Snarestone would be more desirable
Difficult to see the benefits of the Wharf
A definite no
1k of stagnant water, 1000's extra people, no extra infrastructure
Its a con for greedy property builders to gain more
Spoiling a lovely heritage walk, better off to build a swimming pool
The canal is said to be built 3 yrs ago and still no canal started (empty promises)
It was never agreed to build houses to get the canal
Sprat to catch mackerel
Peter to pay Paul
Increased danger of unsupervised open water
At what point did the council jump into bed with the developer
Local site of great historic interest will be destroyed
Not enough canal, too many houses, development will make it feel like a town
Loose village community and feel
Its just a sweetener for overdevelopment
Meeting is a complete waste of time, should have been a Q&A session, not telling us we have no say
what happens in our village
1.1k of canal or should it be called a pond will not compensate for the affect the development will have on
the majority of people in Measham
Its a bribe for speculators to make money, they don't care about the problems this will make
Nature Trail is already used by walkers
If it comes down to houses to get the canal, then skip the canal
Open space is the most important thing for people and that cannot be replaced
Measham will have no privacy and recreation land left
Killing our greenfields, wildlife and access to National Forest walking fields
Its a trench not a canal, why not concentrate on bringing the railway into the village
Would be nicer if the canal development was more entwined with the housing development as a whole
The general overview as published about Measham appearance and facilities is grossly inaccurate and
should be addressed
Always thought funding was in place for the canal without Measham having to be blackmailed into having
a new housing development
Its a small sweetener to a poor deal for the village as a whole
1k of canal costs around £3mil where else is the money coming from
1k of canal is too much if this is to be counted as a planning gain
Small village cant cope with extra traffic
Roads already too busy
No access from High Street, too narrow and too busy
Congestion for current residents at peak times
Too much traffic on the High Street
Only a village High Street
spoil the village
Poor visability on High Street access and near to school bus stop
Impact of HS2 and aqueduct
Too great a concentration of houses will cause bottlenecks
Roadworks, emergencies could cause significant problems
Roundabout will slow traffic on Burton Road
Two single access for amount of housing insufficient
Current lack of enforced speeding restrictions
Burton Road for all development
Design and efficiency of Burton Road roundabout concerns
Access routes insufficient
Inadequate for 500+ cars for both accesses
Highway concerns
Parking problems and dangers to school children
Already struggling to police illegally parked cars at cash point on Chapel Street
Will create more danger to road users and pedestrians, Chapel Street is on the plans for access
and is partly unadopted
Do not want extra traffic or to live in a city, keep our village green
High Street access is on the brow of a hill
the A42 and speed humps were put in place as the High Street was not suitable for the volume of traffic
Will make Burton Road traffic slower

Measham Wharf - Local Elections

The local elections seem to me to be about immigration and HS2, so I'm going to read what these people are all about and give my opinion and then, name them and get them to give us a statement on the Measham Wharf Development?
You might have one as well, so let me know, in the meantime here's a train

Measham Developments - Parish Council Meeting

I will put the full report here over the weekend
All a bit tricky at the minute, I want to see the Parish Council Minutes

Gone for ever?

The Parish Council Chair Jason, did say the Meeting on the Tuesday was never going to be an open questions meeting.
Opportunity missed, but then we should be able to organise another

So this is meant only as a bit of an update for now

The Parish Council unanimously passed NOT to accept the Accesses onto the new development from the High Street and Burton Road and any closure of the footpaths

Only two Parishioners were there, one gave an emotional and passionate address, as detailed in my previous blog post.

I want to give an accurate report on this Post, so I need to think about what I saw and heard

A special thank you to all that attended the Tuesday meeting, but unfortunately this is only the beginning of a Measham fight back

Also for the messages of support.

I did not talk to Geoff Pursglove, so has anyone got any feed back on his position and reasoning for deviating away from the core objective for bring the Canal back to Measham?

Stay tuned, Im trying to understand the 550 house in Measham statement?

Other stuff

Tom Neilson was there and confirmed he was calling in the application
Geraint Jones arrived after the open Parishioner discussions


Still mystified how many people I meet with know clue about this housing development, perhaps we need to redistribute the Measham Messenger, I don't know the answer to this problem
Is it me? I have talked to folk who are telling me how they would enjoy a cycle ride from the Wharf down the Towpath all the way to Snarestone, well it's a nice idea, but these people are in their 70's so not going to happen any time soon, and it's NOT a canal in Measham it's a trench
I am also going to have a rumours page, not as a tribute to Fleetwood Mac, but some of the most obscure ones going about - £50k each to the residents of Chapel Street for the new access - come on.

Measham Wharf and Waterside Development - Shambles

Well that went well - did you complete the questionnaire?

More people than at the Consultation?

Well the meeting took place

Tuesday 9th April, 7pm at St Laurence's Church Hall

Meeting had been set up by the Parish Council to allow Parishioners to see the plans and the proposals for the Measham Wharf and Waterside Developments

The meeting was addressed by Jason Summerfield the Chair for Measham Parish Council

He said that no one from NWLDC Planners would be in attendance, and this meeting was to discuss, or comment upon the Development application shown in bold in the Application description, this was not well received.

Development of up to 450 residential dwellings and re-instatement of 1.1km of associated canal, provision of public open space and vehicular, emergency and footpath access (outline application all matters reserved except access, at Measham Waterside, Burton Road.)

He was asked by a Parishioner:-

Whether the Parish Council would support the views of the majority of the Measham People and even if everyone including the Parish Council objected to the development, would it still go ahead a 'Fait accompli' by the planners and developers any way?

Jason commented back that the Parish council had not yet discussed the matter, and had prepared a questionnaire to gauge and record the views of the Parish.

This was slightly strange as they have discussed it a least 3 Parish meetings and looking at the minutes they are all in favour of it?

Another question was why was the no one else in attendance, the reply was, that some Parish Council members were there as were 2 District Councillors and 1 District Councillor, they never took the opportunity to introduce the meeting or introduce themselves. I saw:-

Sean Sheahan

Tom Neilson

Geraint Jones

In attendance was also Geoff Pursglove fro the Ashby Restoration Group, he could have addressed the Risk Assessment question of a trench of water surrounded by housing and children

Most people were taking the opportunity to see the plans for the first time and understand the planning proposal

They were then given the opportunity to complete a questionnaire that didn't address the core difficulties of the development and the access's

The next Measham Parish Council meeting will be held at The Boardroom, Bosworth Road, on Thursday 11th April 2013 at 7.00pm

At the last meeting 1 Parish and 1 District Councillor had to leave due to conflict of interest?

There are still lots of question unanswered and a move was made to try to organise a public meeting to discuss more of the issues around the development.

A further Parishioners letter will be read out at the Parish Council Meeting, to get some of the objections minuted

Measham in the heart of the National Forest, the proud holder of the Heart of the Forest Festival. The legacy of the present members of North West Leicestershire District Council will be to destroy the few remaining green open spaces available to the parishioners of Measham all for the sake of 1000 metres of water going nowhere except through the middle of a housing estate. Thus destroying any hope of the Measham Wharf becoming a tourist attraction capable of sustaining the maintenance of the canal. The village is being held to ransom over this canal.

The damage this proposed development will do to our village will be irreparable, we will lose a medieval ridge and furrow field, we will lose part of the Ashby Wolds trail, we will lose the old established footpaths leaving our village to Oakthorpe and Moira, all of which are used by the people of this village. We will also lose the diverse animal, insect and plant species that inhabit the proposed development site. 

Take no notice of the ecological and archaeological reports submitted by the developers. These have tactical omissions in their favour and are flawed on many levels.

It is the responsibility of the members of the Parish Council to represent the views of the people of Measham, Those views were made plainly obvious at last night’s public meeting. It is the councils duty to protect the past, present and future history of Measham for our enjoyment and for the enjoyment of  future generations of this village.

We urge members of the Parish Council to actually go out into the village, take a walk around the footpaths on the proposed development site to see for themselves the striking natural beauty the village will lose, that same striking beauty you see as you come into the village from Birds Hill. You will realise how important it is that we keep as much green space as possible for use by the people of this village.

If you allow this development to go ahead un-objected you are condemning our village to a loss of its character. It will never recover . This development will completely overwhelm the village, a village which is already stretched to capacity.

We implore you to reach the right decision and put forward the villages objections to this opportunistic and inappropriate planning application.

Measham Wharf Development - Public Meeting

Will you be there?

Tuesday 9th April, 7pm at St Laurence's Church Hall

What will be your choice, full objection to the project?

Object to the Housing Development now called Measham Waterside Development, but not to the Wharf Development or can you want one with out the other?

Most of this stretch of the Ashby Wolds trail will be gone as will the fields know locally as the Ridge and Furrow and Paine's Field or Skylark Fields

 Will will lose all the footpaths leaving the village to get to Oakthorpe and to the walks at Moira

 We will lose the trees in the brook as well as the brook and part of the leisure centre grounds, we will gain an access for over 500 cars onto the High Street at the Wharf Bridge

Proposed Wharf and Housing Development Meeting

Development of up to 450 residential dwellings and re-instatement of 1.1km of associated canal, provision of public open space and vehicular, emergency and footpath access (outline application all matters reserved except access, at Measham Waterside, Burton Road.)

The Parish Council ask that residents and businesses in the village complete a short questionnaire so that members can take the communities views into consideration when making their response to North West Leicestershire District Council about the planning application.

The plans and questionnaire will also be available at the open meeting the Parish Council are hosting on Tuesday 9th April, 7pm at St Laurence's Church Hall, where everyone is welcome to come along.

The closing date for this is the close of office hours on Wednesday 10th April, discussions on the application will take place at the parish council meeting on Thursday 11th April starting at 7pm, at The Boardroom, Bosworth Road. Everyone is welcome to come along where there will be a chance at the beginning of the meeting to speak about this matter.

The final decision on this application will be made by NWLDC. The Planning Officer is Sarah Worrell who can be contacted on 01530 454545.

Policy CS15 of the North West Leicestershire Local Plan Core Strategy states that

550 dwellings over the period 2006 – 2031 are to be built to the West of the village centre where there are opportunities to incorporate the restoration of the Ashby Canal.

With this in mind we ask that you answer the following questions about the outline planning application for up to 450 residential dwellings and re-instatement of 1.1km of canal, provision of open space and vehicular, emergency and footpath access.  Measham Parish Council can then take into consideration responses before they make their observations to the planning authority (NWLDC) who will make the final decision.

Are you in favour of this application? Yes or No

Do you think the village will benefit from the proposed development?

Houses? Yes or No

Wharf and Canal? Yes or No

Do you agree with the proposed vehicle access routes, (Burton Road for main development & High Street for the smaller development)?

Yes or No

Do you think that 1.1km of canal (Trench may or may not have water in it)  is enough of a benefit for having 450 houses built?

Yes or No

Do you understand this bit?
Development of up to 450 residential dwellings and re-instatement of 1.1km of associated canal, provision of public open space and vehicular, emergency and footpath access (outline application all matters reserved except access, at Measham Waterside, Burton Road.)


Measham Parish Council Web Site where you can complete a form

View the Application

Measham Wharf Plans

Read the previous post to see where you need to go to object

It is important that if you have received a letter about the development you must read and object to it as an individual, you have this letter because something may directly effect you.

Your main objections could be aimed at the emergency access roads and how they effect you?
For example you may be asked not to park on the road in Chapel Street or York Close, where the emergency vehicles require access to the new development.

I am still getting messages about objections you may have re Schools and the Doctors, these issues are dealt with by the County and District Councils, it is their job to make sure the developers pay into a scheme to provide the extra monies via the 106 schemes, then it needs to be allocated to the relevant authority or body to provide the extra resource. If you feel that this may not happen then bring this concern to the meeting.

If you have a letter deal with it, talk to your neighbours, formulate your objections.

If you want to save the ancient open spaces then find a petition and sign it, but again come to the meeting, you may also have concerns with the access roads around the development with an access onto the High Street, again you would hope that planning and transport would deal with this?

7pm on Tuesday 9^th April at St Laurence's Church Hall.

Proposed Wharf and Housing Development Meeting

An open meeting to view the plans for the proposed wharf and housing development has been arranged for
7pm on Tuesday 9^th April at St Laurence's Church Hall.

We need to form our objections, we need more that 1000 people to turn up

The Parish Council will try to formulate a plan for exactly what you can object to

So first because of the way the Planning Website is set up you cant follow my links or type their links direct into your browser easily

Start Here this will take you direct to the Planning Portal then Tick the Agree Terms Box

Then type 13/00141/OUTM in the Reference

So what can you object to?

This is tricky because it's just an Illustrative Plan looking for Planning Permission with Reserved matters

You could say you want the planning application split into 3/4 separate Applications

1. The Canal or Cut of 1000m, object Yes or No
2. The Measham Wharf Development no Housing Development, object Yes or No
3. Measham Waterside Development 450 Dwellings, Yes or No object 
4. Canal back into Measham, object Yes or No

Why would you object, what can you object against, this is where you need guidance from the NWLDC Planning Teams

You could come along to the meeting with a photo-copy of your notification of planning letter, then write your objections on it, sign it, hand it to the Parish Council

You might want some sort of committee set up to follow the money from the Developers to the NWLDC and LCC, back into Measham, given to the Schools, Medical Centre, Services and Community, asking how much and where is it going to be spent?

You could ask to see the Transparency of the money coming in from UK Coal.

You could ask about the impact on the development that comes from HS2

You could ask what is the likelihood of the Canal ever coming back to Measham, 25 years and counting so far.

You could ask to see the proposed shops plans, Measham really needs more hairdressers and cafes

More to come.