Response from the Leader of Swindon Borough Council to Oakhurst and Rodbourne Cheney Residents' Associations S.106 letter

Dear Mr Exell

Lack of Community Engagement S.106

Thank you for the letter dated 12 September 2011 to Cllr Bluh regarding the above, from yourself and Mr Hunt, an acknowledgement will be sent to Mr Hunt separately as requested.

Response from the Swindon Lib Dem Group to Oakhurst and Rodbourne Cheney Residents' Associations S.106 letter

Dear Mr. Exell and Mr. Hunt,

Lack of Community Engagement (S.106 money)

Thank you for your letter regarding this very important issue.  In response I have raised a councillor question for this Thursday's Council meeting.  Interestingly on the same day I received your letter I received one from the Haydon Wick Parish Council in the same vein.  My question is as follows:

Response from the Swindon Labour Group to Oakhurst and Rodbourne Cheney Residents' Associations S.106 letter

Dear all

Please find below a response from the Labour Group Leader regarding your correspondence with him to do with the way S106 is being allocated by Swindon Borough Council.

Kind regards

Matt Bradley (mbradley@swindon.gov.uk)

Swindon Labour Group Political Assistant

Swindon Borough Council

Tel: 01793 463800

Web: www.swindon.gov.uk

Priory Vale Developer Money - Have the Ward Councillors offered Oakhurst a Crumb of Comfort?

Oakhurst Residents’ Association & Rodbourne Cheney Residents’ Association

(Please reply to: Mr P M Exell, Chair – ORA and to Mr T Hunt, Chairman – RCRA

Cllr Rod Bluh

Leader of Swindon Borough Council,

Civic Offices,

Euclid Street,

Swindon.

SN1 2JH                                                                                            12^th September 2011

Dear Cllr Bluh, 

Lack of Community Engagement (S.106):- 

ORA publishes it's previously submitted response to SBC's Core Strategy

After a reasonable delay, ORA is able to fully publish it's detailed response to Swindon Borough Council's Core Strategy.  You can see the full document here.

Is the Northern Development bypass dead?

It has come to ORA's attention that the proposed £10 million+ improvements to the Bruce Street bridges will be part funded from the Haydon 3 developer money (this money was the Priory Vale part of the Northern Development Area).  The legal agreement originally had, ORA believe, about £17 million to be shared between the Bruce Street bridges and the Purton/Iffley Road link.  However, the legal agreement was renegotiated in 2008, when our North Swindon MP was on cabinet (and would have needed to have had his approval as an Abbey Meads ward councillor on cabinet), and several million pounds was, ORA understand, signed away.

This has meant that unless substantial monies are made available to this area again through large-scale development that the northern bypass is, effectively, dead.  This will mean that any development on the North Western border of Swindon will have to use local roads, including Oakhurst Way.  The local community programme at Swindon Borough Council called OneSwindon has said that residents should 'like where they live'.  With the traffic increase from Tadpole Farm and other developments in the area the question might be, "Are the Council supporting communities liking where they live?"

Rodbourne Cheney S.106 money finds its' way to the Community Forest

It has come to light that S.106 money (this is the financial contribution that a developer makes to offset the impact of lots of new houses in an area) from Moredon and Rodbourne Cheney ward may be winging its' way over to the Community Forest and Wiltshire Fire before anyone has had opportunity to put in a local view.  This may sound all to familiar to Oakhurst residents with so much of the Haydon 3 money having been spent by SBC's cabinet members outside of the Priory Vale area (where the developer money was originally destined for).

In discussions between the developers and a local Residents' Association information became available that some of the S.106 money from the new frozen food outlet in Rodbourne Cheney village has already been diverted elsewhere before the application has even been decided.
ORA are concerned that the same thing might happen to the Tadpole Farm legal agreement with money been taken out of the S.106 pot before there has been any discussion with the local community.  We might find that road improvements are being carried out in another part of Swindon whilst we are suffering the impact of the additional traffic from the 1,700 houses and a waste-to-energy facility. Once the money is gone there might not be another chance to get it back!!

What is happening to the incinerator at Tadpole Farm/Chapel Farm?

Confusion reigns in North Swindon about what the plans are for a CHP (combined heat and power) plant.  The developers say that there are plans for waste to be disposed of at the new, proposed Tadpole Farm/Chapel Farm waste site.  This waste will be processed at Waterside and transported to Tadpole Farm/Chapel Farm.  The traffic figures for this 'waste' disposal have not been calculated into the overall transport assessment for the development at Tadpole Farm, but it is estimated that