Planning application updates

AFC Bournemouth Planning Application

AFC Bournemouth have now lodged their appeal against the rejection of planning permission for their planned development to the side of the stadium. Those of you who objected originally will have received letters informing you of the Appeal. We'll be preparing letters of objection for distribution as previously and will deliver these hopefully over the weekend. I'll also ensure that they are e-mailed to everyone once they are ready.


Planning Application – 163 Harewood Avenue

Once piece of news we heard during the quite time in August and early September was that the planning application for demolition of 163 Harewood Avenue and replacement of the building with flats was finally withdrawn. The property has now been sold and we're hopeful that no further applications will be forthcoming.


Planning Application – 1 Littledown Avenue and 1 Thistlebarrow Road

We have heard this week of a new application however, this is to demolish the properties at 1 Littledown Avenue and 1 Thistlbarrow Road and build a block of 14 flats on the site with underground car parking. The situation of the site, the proposed demolition of the two properties and the size of the development are in our opinion unacceptable. The proposal is out of keeping with the other properties in the area and we will be opposing the application. As usual, we will be delivering letters explaining how residents can object and assisting those who wish to object. As usual, I'll e-mail copies of the letters to you once they are ready later this week.

Civic honour for former Bournemouth councillor

Last week I was one of the few Conservative Councillors who voted in favour of ex councillor Adrian Fudge being made an Alderman of the town. For me the situation is very simple. While I may have disagreed fundamentally with Adrian over his policies and more particularly over those issues effecting the ward for which we were both councillors, Littledown and Iford, I could not fault his commitment to the role of councillor either in terms of time or energy. I believe it’s necessary to divide the personal from the political and that is why I voted the way I did and will do so again if the matter comes before the Council.

While I was disappointed that a majority of my colleagues did not see the situation in the same way, I was more disappointed by the fact that opposition members chose to boycott the subsequent Council meeting after the vote had been taken. We are all elected to represent the residents of our wards. They expect us to carry out the role to which they elected us and for which we are paid. What more fundamental duty is there than to attend a meeting of the full Council? The vote was, after all, democratic. I may not have liked the result any more than my Lib Dem and Independent colleagues, however by choosing to leave the chamber they left their electorates disenfranchised and failed fundamentally in their duty to the people who elected them.

There are far more important issues facing the town than whether an ex councillor is made an Alderman. We politicians are left in a poor light by the affair and I would urge my colleagues of all parties to draw a line under it and move on to concentrate on the important issues they were elected to address.

Proposed Yellow Lines – Ovington Avenue

We received confirmation on Friday that our suggestion that further consultation about the installation of yellow lines in Ovington Avenue be undertaken has been accepted by the Council. The proposal was splitting opinion in the road and now a proper consultation will be carried out by the Council prior to any further proposal for yellow lines is put forward.

Telephone mast update

Old Bridge Road Telephone Mast

I'm very pleased to report that the appeal against the Council's rejection of planning permission for the mobile phone mast on the corner of Old Bridge Road, opposite the Iford Bridge pub. Thanks to everyone who wrote to object.


Castle Lane East Telephone Mast

I'm also pleased to report that finally operators trying to site the mast on Castle Lane East outside Tescos have made an application to site it behind the store, where we suggested they should site it all along!

Travellers in King's Park

The clear up has now been completed, including the area of copse which they used as a toilet! Jane has lead on this one and is pushing for a meeting between the Council and Police to understand fully how the incursion happened and more importantly why the police instructed the opening of the park to additional travellers and how we can ensure this doesn’t happen again. We’ll keep you updated on how this progresses, but suffice it to say we’re all angry about the situation, Jane in particular as it was she who was driven at by the travellers in the park when there with her baby son.

Bus petition

Michael has done a great job collecting signatures for the petition against the removal of the number 2 bus from Littledown Avenue, Harewood Avenue and Petersfield Road and asking the council to pursue replacement services with alternative operators. He’s going to present the petition this coming weekend so if you haven’t signed up but would like to then do please let him know direct: Michael.Griffiths@bournemouth.gov.uk

Parking Orders

New parking orders have been issued for the area. They are essentially a tidying up exercise, extending yellow lines in a few limited locations either at individual residents’ requests, our requests on behalf of residents or to even up parking restrictions where they were not quite properly implemented earlier this year. The list of roads with changes is as follows:

Clingan Road
Holdenhurst Avenue/St Saviours Close
Iford Lane
Newlands Road
Ovington Avenue
Petersfield Road
Southwick Road

The one that stands out is Ovington Avenue, where there are some substantial additional lines and we’ll be putting a consultation leaflet around about this.

AFC Bournemouth Housing Application

You may know by now that the application to build housing next to AFC Bournemouth has been refused by planners. Part on the ground on which the housing was to be built is landfill and there are concerns over the environmental safety of building in this location. We’re waiting to see whether the club decide to appeal and will keep you up to date.

Garden Waste Bins

We have now had confirmation that dedicated green waste bins will be introduced at the latest by next April. The new scheme will be rolled out first to those people who have been registered for the current green waste bag scheme. I know there are a number of people who have not registered for this scheme, preferring to wait for the bins. If you would like a bin then I urge you to sign up for the bags, because it will be those households registered for bags who get their bins first. The alternative may be a wait of some months before the wider roll out of the scheme.

You can order your garden waste bags by calling 451199.

Bus Route Changes

We’ve been contacted by a large number of people unhappy with the withdrawal of bus services, particularly from Littledown Avenue and Petersfield Road. Michael is working on a petition to show public opposition to the changes.

If I am honest as a consequence of a meeting our cabinet member for transport and planning, Bob Lawton, had with Transdev last week it looks very unlikely that we can get Yellow Buses to change their mind on the withdrawal of the service. We are working though to see if we can persuade one of the other bus companies to introduce a replacement service.

Zebra Crossing – Christchurch Road by the Iford Bridge Pub

Michael has been working with the Highways Department to push ahead with the upgrading of this crossing. They have now agreed to carry out this work and again this should be completed sometime in the autumn. We’re pushing for a new crossing as well by the end of the new Iford bridge where the Stour Way crosses the main road.

Road Improvements to Iford Lane

We hope to provide a wider pavement and some traffic calming around the railway bridge in Iford Lane - the plan is that this work should be carried out before the end of the financial year. Your comments would be appreciated in order that we can feed them back to the Highways Department of the Council.

As you may remember this was one of our pledges from the election and we’re pleased that the works are going to proceed in the near future, it’s important though that the proposals are approved by everyone.

Casino

I’ve been asked to update you on the Casino issue. The short answer is that we are still negotiating with the Trevor Osborne Group who are the developers with whom the Council signed the contract on election day. I honestly don’t know at what stage the negotiations stand, but I do know those involved in the negotiations are hopeful that a differently designed development with more acceptable content is achievable.

Beaches

I have been asked to give you an update on the beach clean up. This has begun, and in the next week or so the specific equipment that was ordered to deal with removing the stones should arrive which will speed up the process considerably. The target is to have all the beaches cleared of the shingle by the beginning of the school holidays.

The design of the mural to be painted on the Land Train Garage has been approved and again this will be painted, hopefully disguising it a little, by the beginning of the school holidays.

Bournemouth Post Offices

You may have seen the publicity over the last couple of days about the relocation of the main post office in the town centre. We’ve been working to persuade the Post Office to think about their plans to relocate the facility to the first floor of WH Smith.

I’ve been leading the councillor team working to persuade the Post Office that this is a completely inappropriate location because of the difficulty (indeed, impossibility) of access for disabled and elderly people and for those with push chairs or prams.

The Post Office have not listened to our concerns and indeed curtailed the consultation period. We are therefore running a petition to show public opposition to the scheme. It’s available to sign In the Square today and tomorrow between 10 and 4. I was there all day yesterday and we raised over 800 signatures during that period, despite the rain.

If you are unable to make it to The Square this weekend but would still like to sign up then do please let me know and I will get a petition form over to you.

Green Waste Bags - update!

I’m very sorry, no sooner had I emailed you to tell you that you could ring and request the additional bags are dropped off than waste and recycling decided they didn’t have the manpower to do that. Therefore you need to collect the additional bags, either during the week from Milhams or Southcote Road or alternatively you can collect them on Sunday from the King’s Park drop site.

As usual with the waste items for the Council you will need to take along proof that you are a Bournemouth Resident by way of a council tax bill.

As an aside, we are looking at these arrangements which are not user friendly and to us (the new administration) are overly bureaucratic. It requires some negotiation with Poole Borough and Dorset County however and therefore change may take a little while I’m afraid.

Councillor responsibilities

To be honest another of the reasons I’ve not been able to provide you with an update (or update the blog) is because of the amount of enquiries and requests for assistance coming my way. Jane, Michael and I have therefore decided to split our work load on an issue related basis. We realise that this list of issues is not exhaustive but it should, we hope, give you an idea of who to contact in case you need some help:

Michael:
Highways/Parking

Jane
Environment/Waste/Social Services/Housing

Nick
Planning

And, a reminder that our ward surgeries start this Saturday and will continue on the last Saturday of the month from 10 until 12 at the Littledown Centre.

Highways

We held a meeting with the Highways Department and the new cabinet member for transportation issues last week to discuss the various traffic problems in our ward, the outcome of this meeting was as follows:

Holdenhurst Road: Instructions were given to begin works to improve the Richmond Park Road junction (by the fire station) to improve traffic flow along the length of the road between Ashley Road and this point. These works will probably take around 6 – 9 months to complete.

Instructions were also given to review the bus lane and begin negotiations with the bus companies to make it part time only.

King’s Park Slip Road: Instructions were given to commence the construction of the slip road. The works may take up to two years because of some considerable work that will be required to the Wessex Way, but at last the scheme is officially under way!

Castle Lane East: Instructions were given to begin the works to improve the Riverside Avenue/Tescos and Holdenhurst Avenue junctions. Again, these may take a year or so to complete. They will include the widening of the junction to make three lanes crossing the junction heading towards Iford. Two lanes will filter to one going straight ahead while there will be a dedicated right hand turn lane for Holdenhurst Avenue.

These road improvements will mean the loss of a couple of the trees on the corner of Riverside Avenue and Castle Lane East, we feel though that this is a price work paying for a much safer junction in this location.

Right turns exiting Holdenhurst Avenue will be prohibited and a new feeder lane will be created to exit the road on to Castle Lane East heading towards Cooper Dean.

Instructions were also given to review the bus lane here too and begin negotiations with the bus companies to make it part time only.

Iford Lane: Instructions have finally been given to widen the pavement running under the railway bridge, making the lane single carriageway only under the bridge, and giving priority to traffic travelling South along the road.

Green Waste Bags

Based upon everyone’s concerns about the availability of the Green Waste Bags, we’ve been able to immediately increase this year’s allocation by 8 bags to 33 per household. To register to take part, with bags delivered to and collected from your home, call 451199. Or collect the biodegradable bags from the Council’s Depot at Southcote Road between 0800hrs and 1700hrs.

Additional bags are now going to be made available above the allocation of 33 at a cost of £1 per bag. I’m sorry we are going to have to charge for these, but budgetary constraints require that we have to do so.

Council officers have been asked to bring forward a scheme for Green Bins to be introduced on a roll out basis across the town from April next year. Jane, Michael and I will be doing all we can to ensure that Littledown and Iford is in the first wave for these bins.

Troika Development Decision

The decision of the Planning Inspector and the Public Enquiry for the Troika Development has been released today, a day earlier than we were originally told.

I’m sorry to say, from my point of view, that the Inspector backed the development and granted planning permission for both the office development at Wessex Fields and also the park and ride and new junction off the Wessex Way. This is obviously very disappointing and I would like to pay tribute to everyone who has helped in the campaign to oppose the construction of such a large office development in this location and the development of the park and ride facility on green belt land.

There are some mitigating factors in the decision in that he has decreased the square footage of the offices that can be built and increased the amount of parking that must be placed on site. However there remains a substantial gap between the amount of parking provision and the projected number of workers for the space provided.

Michael, Jane and I will now be working to ensure that there is minimum disruption to our area while the construction of the development takes place and thereafter through even more workers’ parking in our residential streets.

Thank you to everyone who has joined in the campaign over the past couple of years, either by attending the public meetings, the Public Enquiry or through writing letters in objection to the scheme and the appeal. Without your activity it is certain to my mind that we would now have a larger development with even less car parking.