Archives
Welcome to the archive page. Entries to date:
i) Town Council Election results May 2007 for the three Patchway wards Stoke Lodge, Callicroft and Coniston. Number of elected councillors 15.
ii) My submission to the Government Inspector January 2004.
Patchway Town Council Election results May 2007 for the three Wards. Total councillors elected 15
1) Stoke Lodge Ward elected: 3 Conservative
2) Callicroft Ward elected: 1 Labour, 1 Northfield Information Website, 5 Liberal Democrat
3) ConistonWard elected 1 Liberal, 4 Labour
RESULTS BY WARD
STOKE LODGE WARD (elected councillors in bold)
| Graupner Kenneth | Liberal Democrat | 212 |
| Graupner Margorie | Liberal Democrat | 207 |
| Hopkinson Brian H | Conservative | 391 |
| Phipps Audrey L | Conservative | 306 |
| Pomfret Sarah | Conservative | 368 |
| Rossall Mary | Liberal Democrat | 203 |
| Scott David J | British Nationist Party | 87 |
| Strong Rebecca | Independent | 167 |
CALLICROFT WARD: (elected councillors in bold)
| Cottrell Patrick | Labour | 353 |
| Cross Ian | Labour | 339 |
| Dando Carole | Liberal Democrat | 522 |
| Dando Kenneth | Liberal Democrat | 523 |
| Harvey Kelvin | Labour | 312 |
| Hodder Linda | Liberal Democrat | 470 |
| Howells Wayne | Labour | 322 |
| Orpen Eve | Labour | 351 |
| Richardson Martin | Northfield Planning Watchdog Information Website | 369 |
| Woodley Geoff | Liberal Democrat | 519 |
| Woodley Jan | Liberal Democrat | 555 |
CONISTON WARD: (elected councillors in bold)
| Gordon Eric | Labour | 408 |
| Gray Lew | Labour | 443 |
| Grotzke Michael | Labour | 409 |
| Jones Ivor | Independent | 364 |
| Martin Elaine | Labour | 387 |
| Thorndyke Stephen | Liberal Democrat | 466 |
THE INFORMATION BELOW IS NOT CURRENT AND IS FOR REFERENCE ONLY
South Gloucestershire Local Plan Inquiry - objection submitted to Govenment Inspector. 20th Jan 2004
Northfield Round Table Discussion (20th January 2004)
Position Statement submitted to The Government Inspector
by Mr Martin Richardson
I consider the 14 ha of land allocated to industry insufficient to meet local employment needs. It is also my view that insufficient consideration has been given to the strategic regional importance of the Filton aerodrome Northfield site and its role in promoting the prosperity of the local, regional and national economies. This airfield serves the major British Aerospace and Rolls Royce Aero engine manufacturing facilities.
The decision to build a large mixed housing /industrial on the airfield will lead to the permanent loss of aircraft parking space and ideally located hangerage space so vital to any airfields functioning. Future business diversification into activities such as aircraft servicing or the operation of a Flying Training School will be greatly impeded.
Airbus a corporation since 1999, must now show a positive balance sheet as a stand alone operation. The commercial viability of the airfield is crucially important. In 1993 running costs of the airfield stood at one million pounds per annum, (Airport Information, in-house British Aerospace magazine February 1993). Bae Airbus Managing Director, Mr Chris Geoghegen and Arlington Securities clearly indicated aircraft servicing contracts as key to meeting these costs. (Bristol Evening Post 5/2/93) (Bristol Evening Post 19/10/92)
The decision to allocate reserved employment land on the Northside of Filton Aerodrome for housing represents a major revision of the South Glos Local Plan Deposit Draft. Nov 1997. It is a change which may have regional economic conseqeunces.
Understanding the context of this revision is important. It coincided with new housing requirements for the period (1996- 2011) based on 1996 household growth projection. This called for 11,300 additional dwellings above the Joint Replacement Structure Plan 1998 provision. At the same time PPG3 (housing March 2000) proposed reallocating to housing, land previously reserved for employment use and also sought to maximize the contribution of previously developed land for housing. The Northfield, an ex RAF station fell into both categories.
Local Authorities entered the year 2000 urgently reviewing land allocations. Scientific sounding, "Urban Housing Capacity Studies" quickly identified the new housing land on previously developed urban sites. This frenetic search for available land was not helped locally in South Gloucestershire by the loss of 25 hectares housing land at Severnside, due to flood risk.
In terms of locational strategy, the Filton Northfield seems to fulfill all major criteria of Policy 2, (Joint Replacement Structure Plan Sept 2002). It is indeed located on previously developed land in the urban area (an ex RAF Station). The Northfield housing development would also fit those regional structure policies which prioritize job creation elsewhere in central Bristol, inner and south Bristol and Weston Super Mare.
However, the Filton Northfield site equally fulfills all the criteria for the selection of employment sites, set out in Regional Planning Guidance for the South West. Sept 2001 (see Policy EC 3 Employment sites). In the regional context, a vigorous aircraft industry to the north of Bristol underpins investment and regeneration elsewhere.
The question now arises whether housing considerations have unfairly gained precedence over those of industry.
Here in the North Fringe, the locational policy adopted in the Local Plan avoids regional industrial considerations and focuses instead on housing and local concerns such as road traffic reduction and transport improvements that are said to accompany thedevelopment.
In contrast to the above local housing emphasis, I draw attention to policy EC 1 which advocates Local Authorities support the sustainable development of the regional economy by accommodating continued economic development in sustainable locations in the more prosperous North and East of the region - the exact location of Filton aerodrome. This guidance also stresses developing the skills and abilities of the region's people through improved access to training, education and employment opportunities. The Filton aircraft industry is surely an industrial hub for such training.
I believe central government's call for more housing has placed local authorities under too much pressure to find building land. Sites such as the Northfield quickly fell prey to the housing need and lost reserved employment land status. The Northfield is not however, a routine brownfield site. It forms part of an active aerodrome adjacent to major aerospace and civil aeroengine manufacturing facilities of regional importance.
Here in Patchway it is vitally important to consider the longer-term effects on already established industry. The Local Plan does not. It also fails to provide sufficient local employment for such a large housing development.
This objection makes the case for a more sustainable mix of housing and employment on the Northfield Development. My submission proposes doubling the allocation of land for employment purposes to 28 hectares which accords in terms of land allocation with policy E3 employment sites and policy EC1 economic development policy ( regional planning guidance for the South West 2001)
This is the view I now represent to the Government Inspector.
Yours sincerely, Martin Richardson