Redrow have finally submitted the outline planning!

Redrow have finally applied for outline planning permisson. You can see the application here: https://publicaccess.stroud.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=RXMQ0BPN0EU00

Stroud District Planning Office appear to be taking some time uploading the public comments as the majority of comments made on the penultimate day before the closing date, have not been added to the Planning Portal yet.

Redrow Traffic Surveys

You will probably have seen the many traffic sensors dotted around Hardwicke and Quedgeley over the past few days. Not srue why on earth thye have put one on the bend in Pound Lane  rather than on the straight bit after?

Planning Application

From Redrow: It is the intention to submit a planning application in early 2022, with determination expected in 2023. Development would therefore be expected to commence at the site in 2024, with first legal completions being achieved in 2025. Delivery of the primary school, local centre and public open space will be phased through build and will be subject to further discussion with the respective authorities.

So…..with only 125 houses being built a year (so that Redrow don’t expose themselves to any uncessary financial risk) that’s 11 years of build which would be complete by 2035!!!

Summary – Redrow Meeting

Quite a few people were trying to get into the closed Village Hall thinking the Exhibition was being held  there.  The meeting was fairly well attend considering that both ends of Green Lane had Road Closure Signs erected across half of the road combined with poor access due to roadworks. The British Legion car park was badly lit and sadly a gentleman fell over an unlit raised tarmac in the car park and was taken to hospital in an ambulance with a  suspected broken hip! There was a general acceptance that there is a need for more housing  and whilst the general consensus was acceptance of the lanes being closed to  through traffic the consistent topic being raised was traffic!! When asked what were Redrow planning to do at the end of Pound Lane and the Junction with the A38, they responded by saying that hadn’t finalised any proposal on that yet, as this was still with Gloucestershire Highways for comment. Someone pointed out that wasn’t this then a little premature to present this proposal if Highways hadn’t  agree to this yet!? Another person who lived in the  Sellars Bridge Estate also developed by Redrow, asked how many car parking spaces would be allocated for each house. Redrow said that they comply with the requirements set by Central Government – 1.5 spaces per house, although most of their houses have a garage. This was highlighted to be a significantly bad and outdated metric to use and the person from Sellars Bridge said there was already congestion in that area from not enough car parking spaces. Quite a few people raised concerns about why  a Primary School was being built and no secondary school which is badly needed in the area. Redrow implied “that would be good for them as they could build more houses on the remaining space”.

Pound Lane and Church Lane is a known regular flooding hotspot and when asked how Redrow were going to resolve this, they suggested that planting a few trees in the new Community Orchard would help. They did acknowledge the potential flooding issues for the new houses and existing properties, but didn’t provide a satisfactory answer as a few suggested balancing ponds with the water to egress to the already saturated Shawn Brook and existing water courses is just not practical!

One resident asked how many houses they were going to build per year and it was suggested by Redrow to be 125! He then pointed out that this would be a project rather than a programme that would be “strung out” for 11 years. He also added that it would devalue his house being in the middle of a “building site” for 11 years and he just didn’t want to live in Hardwicke any longer – but was trapped as wouldn’t be able to sell his house!

Currently there is no Doctors Surgery in Hardwicke and when asked why Redrow weren’t building one, they replied that the Rosebank Practice preferred to ask people to register at the new Kingsway  Health Centre – which is great if you don’t mind waiting 6 weeks for a routine appointment! Redrow said yes they could build one but didn’t see the point.

In summary our thoughts are that the meeting was poorly planned, with a paucity of information, in a poorly planned location with Redrow being unable to answer the main question which was what are you going to do about traffic!!

Redrow Exhibition today

Today is the day Redrow finally publish their outline planning permission to the public! The event is at the British Legion, Green Lane Hardwicke between 15:30 and 19:30 and Glos Highways are still saying the lane is closed so it may be better to walk if at all possible – or try and enter from the A38. It may be open by then though!

HAVE YOUR SAY – TODAY!

1350 houses at an average (in a good year) of 150 built, means 9 years of development in Hardwicke – that’s noise, mud, dirt and massive change in the vista around here. There will be no more green left!

We have stickers if people want any:

Local Focal Show

We had a great show last night (22nd November) on Severn FM with Ian Butler from HPC and Cllr David Mossman from SDC (who had literally just come from dialysis the hour before).  We learnt a lot and mainly how SDC, Redrow & Hardwicke Estate are not to blame for this but the Planning Inspectorate who suggested in 2016 that Hardwicke was a suitable place to build 1350 houses! 9 years at an average pace of 150 houses a year – that’s 9 years!!
Also, that if SDC doesn’t manage this carefully, the Planning Inspectorate is very likely to overrule any objection of SDC, HPC and at worse allow Gloucester City Council to build there under the Joint Core Strategy thus taking away ANY control from SDC and HPC. We understand that whilst Gloucester doesn’t want to expand into Hardwicke,  it is desperate for suitable development sites and therefore Stroud has ‘offered’ Gloucester “Whaddon” to help out their 6000 home shortage. We don’t know the response yet. We also understand that the preferred site for a Secondary School is Whaddon.

SevernFM Show

Tonight at 19:00 Severn FM (Local Internet Radio Station started in 2011 and based in Hardwicke)  is hosting an online radio show with Hardwicke Residents, Hardwicke Parish Council and Stroud District Councillor David Mossman, to discuss the proposed Redrow development (1350 houses). The Facebook Live event is https://fb.me/e/QngF6C5y the direct live Stream Audio is https://stream.severnfm.com:8443/128 and is also available via TuneIn Radio. We will be reading out some of the feedback from local Resident Action Group https://leavehardwickealone.com/ and there will be a local phone in as well. We will also be making the recording available as a Podcast.