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