QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

APPROXIMATELY 250 PEOPLE ATTENDED FROM THE VILLAGES OF HERRINGSWELL, RED LODGE, KENNETT, KENTFORD, TUDDENHAM ST MARY, CHIPPENHAM, ICKLINGHAM, FORDHAM - NEWMARKET AND MILDENHALL TOWNS. PARISH COUNCILLORS FROM HERRINGSWELL, KENTFORD AND KENNETT, TOWN COUNCILLORS FROM NEWMARKET, A SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCILLOR AND ALSO THE PRESS

A summary of the questions and answers from the Presentation made by the 5VPT at the Red Lodge Millennium Centre on:

15 February 2005

Q Reference Councillor Carol Lynch, who is Chair of FHDC, is she here this evening? A No
Q Could anybody tell us whether you have heard anything from her as she happens to live between the two farms? A Trevor Tyrrell wrote to question why this site was selected for the development and particularly as her land bordered the site. Received a nice polite reply: because she is on the Council and because she was so close, she was not entering into any debate. Also because planning application had not been submitted. Officially FHDC knew nothing about it! (NB She has 14 acres of land which is not being purchased..........at the moment)
Q Why, with the Government's policy to develop brownfield sites, is this site being discussed - it is totally against Government guidelines to develop greenfield land when there is a huge area of brownfield to the west of Red Lodge. The whole purpose of developing Red Lodge was to make it a nicer place to live. FHDC completely messed up the area and now want to build on greenfields. A Agree that this sort of proposal is against Government policy. The Regional Spacial Strategy (RSS) consultation on that finishes 16 March 2005. There is time to get your send in your views. In that document there is a reference to lakes which we want them to take out!

FHDC is ahead of the game on building houses - with the development of Red Lodge, etc, they are meeting their requirements for building new homes and they do not need to building another 4,500.

. NOTE:

This is the link to the East of England Public Consultation for RSS - make your comments before 16 March 2005
Q Whose idea was this? A The developers were invited by FHDC
. NOTE: Potential £4-8 million increase in income through Council Taxes (atleast)
Q I did hear talk that part of the consideration with the council for the development was that they build a link road between the A14 and A11? A Everyone categorically says NO! The council will not build a new road until the need has been proven for one. Things have to get intollerable before they start thinking about a new road and start getting the money for it. It would cost approximately £10 million to build a link road and that is why it is not part of the proposal. This could mean that nothing would be decided for 20 years.
Q I did hear 3-4 years ago that this scheme was touted around various other Counties and was turned down by Cambridge, by Befordshire and Suffolk said OK and passed it on to Forest heath. Is that true? A We don't know, all we know is the first approach was made by placing an advert. We have heard that three sites were suggested but this was the one they had set their sites on.
Q Who are the current owners? A The Mays-Smith Trust and Kiddy Trusts. Mr Kiddy is present at the meeting and said "no comment", the Mays-Smith live in Henley-on-Thames.
Q Firstly, Suffolk is all for an increase in Tourism - there is SNOASIS sports centre outside Ipswich for example. FHDC are for it and want more tourists to come here, making Newmarket as a Tourist Centre with new sports facilities, hotels, etc. this is just the sort of development FHDC wans to increase income from tourism in this district. Secondly, to note: David Burnip or any of the District Councillors have no control whatsoever over Parish councillors and it is up to them to speak. I feel wholeheartedly that Newmarket Town Council will wish to join in. It will be put to the town council this month and to meet up with the Parish Councils as we have a lot in common. A We had a meeting yesterday in Herringswell where we invited other Parish Councillors to come and talk. Representatives from Red Lodge or Tuddenham did not come as they were too busy. Nor did MPs or District Councillors come along. We are very happy to add Newmarket Town Council - thank you. We do have good working relationships but Red Lodge and Tuddenham Councillors are saying we must see plans before we comment and said they did not know what local people felt about it. If they had been prepared to come tonight they would have found out
Q Sustainable Development - with 10% of people working on site, how can they claim it is sustainable? A Most people will have a car and most people will drive. It was also mentioned by Orion that this development is going to have high quality jobs for women. We are not sure what this means other than being very patronizing. There was also talk about children doing sports etc. A similar question was asked at the Herringswell meeting. We asked why the housing was being built before the jobs when there is no more need for local housing - they could not answer. What they are doing here is finding excuses to build houses to make a profit.
Q A rowing lake will take an awful lot of water, where is it going to come from - we are the driest part of England? A Good question - the water from this lake will probably evaporate at 30million gallons a year due to the large surface area and will need 60 million gallons to fill it up. On the Suffolk Preservation Trust presentation this area was shown as "yellow" which means there is no more water available. They have not talked to the environment agency so whether they are going to buy up licences from local farmers remains to be seen.
Q I have heard 5 times tonight about a "Lake", this is not a Lake but a canal - it is a racing canal and we should call it that and not a lake. A lake sounds more attractive. A Agreed
Statement from County Councillor Jane Andrews-Smith

"Congratulations all on a very professional presentation. We need an A14/A11 East/West link road now. It is on the agenda and something we are pushing forward. If this development goes ahead, and we hope it does not, it is very important. Your elected respresentatives at Forest Heath are the people who will decide whether this goes ahead or not, not officers, not Burnip nor County Councillors. The administration in control will decide whether it goes ahead or not. Those representatives need to be lobbied. Thank you very much for a good presentation"
Tuddenham are having a meeting tomorrow night and I am sure we will be with you. I would like to mention also that they are building a bus station that nobody wants, there is a lorry park going ahead with no planning permission.
One final note - a quote from Forest Heath. This would not need to go to a Public Enquiry and planning would pass it because there was no objection. We beg to differ - we will drive this very quickly to a public enquiry and make sure they are listening to us.

APPROXIMATELY 160 PEOPLE ATTENDED FROM THE VILLAGES OF HERRINGSWELL, RED LODGE, KENNETT, KENTFORD, TUDDENHAM ST MARY,CHIPPENHAM, WORLINGTON, CAVENHAM, HIGHAM AND LISA CHAMBERS, DISTRICT COUNCILLOR

The purpose of this 2nd Annual Meeting was to update existing and new members on the situation regarding Watermark and the proposed new town at Red Lodge (10,000 houses) and how it all fits in with the Local Development Framework (LDF) and the Examination in Public (EiP) - the results of which will not be known until approximately June 2006.

22 February 2006

Q Can you explain what EiP means? A The Inspectors of the EiP (examination in public) Panel takes evidence from various bodies on particular subjects in forming a plan for the entire region. Our matter, 8N where we attended, was particular to the Forest Heath District and, whilst this was meant to be non-site specific, as Watermarkk had been included they allowed us to be included.
Q There is a lot of sand and gravel works on the proposed site for the new town and with a probable 20 year life before finishing - does this not seem an odd place to start building houses on? A Yes - but then it is more profitable to build houses
Q Where does this all fit in with the 2020 vision that FHDC keep talking about? A 2020 vision is the LDF. It started because some councillor said 'lets provide some distraction for the youth of Mildenhall and build an ice rink' and it got out of control. They got talked into a rowing lake by a developer and so on. In their policy it is said they want a Regional Leisure Facility and it is still in there. We have to change that and we will do so through the LDF process and the 2020 vision will be what local people want and not include the regional leisure facility with houses.
Q We have only heard from people who are against the developments - are there any people here tonight who are for (apart from developers and landowners)? A No. We have had local polls, newspaper polls all overwhelmingly against these proposals and agree with what we are doing.
Q We were told at the beginning of all this that the alternative to a new town would be 300/400 more houses in every one of the villages all over the district. Is that the alternative and,if so, we would not want that. A FHDC carried out an Urban Capacity Study which looked at where new housing could go. They have to follow rules i.e. to build on brownfield first, next to towns. A huge number of these houses are now being built in Red Lodge and there is some development in Newmarket, Brandon and Mildenhall. There is a clear preservation of small villages. There will be some infill at some time and the council are quite comfortable with the 6400 houses they need to build by 2021.
Q I farm half of the proposed Watermark site and the stone curlew has been confirmed on my farm as well as the SSSI site adjacent and my farm is in the Breckland ESA scheme - we should push that. I have a meeting with DEFRA within the next few weeks where we will be discussing increasing my farm to 70 acres and I will be planting hedges etc. Also, English Heritage are excited about the 2 ancient tumuli burial sites on my land. These are in the middle of the Watermark site.

Also, regarding irrigation, they wanted to know how much water I had on my farm. The Watermark lake would need a top up of 30 million gallons of water each year which is exactly what I have. I have received a letter from the Environment Agency (as have some of my neighbours) within the last few days saying there is a serious water shortage and will be restricting irrigation this summer.

There is a water pipe to supply Kings Warren and it is now being laid between my own land and Ken Kiddy's. That should be noted as it could quite easily have been re-routed around the proposed site if they thought that this was going to work.

Do we need to look into the water quantities more? i.e. existing water around here - what new pipeline is coming from and how much more will be needed.

The same applies to electricity cables sticking out of the ground between my land and Hugo Upton's land. We should find out what that is and also green lane and how much more is going to be needed.

How do we get the questionnaire or are they picked at random?

A Not sure when the next stage of consultation will take place. Last year's questionnaire came with a copy of Forest Heath News which was distributed to every household. The Council will be discussing it at a meeting next week.
Q Is now the right time to write specific personal letters to local Councillors? A It is always good to make sure your local councillors are on board and agreeing with you - at least certainly Parish Councillors. However, I feel it would be more important to have letters in at the next consultation stage. We would not want to use up all your letter writing when we would have more need for them nearer the time. We will let you know when this is if you are signed up as a member.
Q Have you found out more about other sites in the area - i.e. middle size sites. I have heard that ASDA are sniffing around putting a supermarket on the former dairy site at Mildenhall. Is there any interest fuelled by the possibility of these developments and anybody else with other business interests - i.e. out of town shopping proposals to link to these? A Don't know
Q I understand that the brownfield site that was to be used for the school is going to be handed over to English Nature who are designated it as a SSSI because of the rare wasp - who found the wasp? A Yes
Q Can Andrew try to give us an informed opinion on both of these proposals right now? should we be as worried as we are and continue to be? A We are waiting for the results of the EiP which is crucial. If that comes out in our favour and against these developments, then they will be dead in the water. I am optimistic but we ae not resting on our laurels nor whould we be. The LDF has to be developed and written and it is tricky to write without knowing what the EiP is telling what you can write in it. We need to make sure the LDF is saying the right things. That is where our energies have to be.
Q I understand there is a housing need assessment meeting on 6 March - who has been invited? A Two District Coucillors just walked in - can one of them shed any light on this?

Lisa Chambers - The meeting is a presentation which comes from the housing needs survey carried out. There is a presentation in the afternoon, I think at 4.30 pm, plus one in the evening as well. this has been advertised to Parish Councillors as well as other interested parties across the district to highlight and identify the need for housing throughout the district.
Q Who received the questionnaires? A Lisa Chambers: 400 people were selected at random to be consulted. The district was divided into sones and a certain number were selected from each zone.
Q I am stunned that this hall is not bursting at the seams. We all have responsibility if we do not want 10,000 houses. It will be enormous and will have a long lasting effect on this area. We should all lobby our neighours and we have the responsbility to ensure this next time there is a meeting.
Q Who drew up the questions for the housing needs survey and how was it funded? A LC: Consultants carried out a survey on behalf of FHDC and it is an ongoing process funded by the Council.
Q We were promised a school and everything else and what have we got - nothing except rabbit hutches. Elderly cannot live in these houses as they are 3 stories high with no parking. All the cars are parking on the pavements and the rest of Red Lodge is a disgrace. A Lisa Chambers: There is outline planning permission for turnpike Road and light to the right has outline permission for 295 homes. Government guidelines is 1.5 parking spaces per unit and we cannot alter that. Density and parking issues are laid out by government. At the 50 unit occupation level is where the benefits to the community have to be provided. On schools - there is a 5 year statutory consultation process before a School can be built. Money will go to the county council.

Comment by Andrew: These problems are happening with a very small development. People need 2.5 vehicles particularly in rural areas - 1.5 is nonsence. Imagine these problems as they are now and multiply them by 7!
Q Can you expand on the opposition to the regional leisure facility? A A small group of councillors are keen on the development. A lot of meetings have been happening which they say were not secret but we did not know about them. some of these Councillors are still around, others have been replaced . We need to send a clear message out to them - particularly as elections are due next year (2007) - that if they do not listen then we will not vote for them. We are also considering putting up our own candidates to stand against them.
Q Delighted to see a District Councillor here. Last August we invited our councillor who was not able to turn up but said she could not come anyway on advice from the legal department for fear of compromise. A Lisa Chambers: When councillors are elected and you sign up you take on a code of conduct. We can listen but cannot pass comment or otherwise on any of these proposed developments. We would rule ourselves out of the debate which would mean two less votes on applications.
Q Could Lisa confirm the number of houses for Warren Road and 100 Acre farm? A Crest - 1250 houses, Taylor Woodrow - 295 houses.
Q If councillors are representing local people, how did a regional leisure facility get into the corporate plan. Does anyone know the answer to that? A Lisa Chambers: This was prior to my being elected. These were discussions before I was elected
Q Again I ask, if no one supports a regional leisure facility in the current electorate - why are the Council continuing to pursue it - it is a current issue? A Lisa Chambers: Members are raising the argument in Council
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