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Posts tagged South Hams

Plans for the future of Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon receive ringing endorsement

March 19, 2019 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Watts

It’s taken three years to shape, publish and consult on, but the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan has now been endorsed by independent Government Inspectors.

The ambitious plan for what Plymouth and South West Devon could be like in 2034 covering important issues like health, transport, homes, jobs and the economy, green spaces and infrastructure is now set to be formally adopted by the three councils later this week and early next week.

The Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan is being reported to the Full Council in each local authority on the following days:

South Hams – Thursday 21 March

Plymouth – Tuesday 26 March

West Devon – Tuesday 26 March

The Joint Local Plan looks at every aspect of how we want our cities, towns and villages to look and feel for years to come.

The plan area covers a population of 401,567 people who were all asked to contribute to its policies and development sites.

The councils have this week learnt that the Inspectors have endorsed the Joint Local Plan.

Councillor Graham Parker, from West Devon Borough Council, Chair of the Steering Group for the Joint Local Plan, speaking on behalf of the Joint Member Steering Group who oversaw the plan’s preparations said: “We are really pleased that the strategy set out in the plan and the supporting policies which will guide development in the next 20 years have been supported by the Inspectors.
“When this plan is adopted it will be only the 13th Joint Local Plan in the country and one of a very few that have meet the housing and employment needs for their communities in full. All three authorities are now committed to working together to deliver what we have set out in this radical plan.”

Councillor Judy Pearce, South Hams District Councillor on the Joint Member Steering Group added: “This really is an historic moment for all three councils. We came together three years ago because it just made sense to look at this entire area – all 2,126 square kilometres of it – as where people live, work and play are so interconnected. By doing this we have been able to put in place planning policies that will ensure we get the right development in the right place, and protecting the highly valued landscapes of our AONBs.”

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure at Plymouth City Council said: “The plan sets out an unashamedly ambitious agenda for what Plymouth and South West Devon could be like in 2034. The plan makes provision for 26,700 new homes, of which 6,600 will be affordable homes to rent and buy, with 86 per cent planned for brownfield sites in Plymouth. The plan also proposes 375,208 square metres of new employment floor space and along with other employment generating development will create around 20,400 jobs, with 71 per cent of the planned growth to be focussed on the Plymouth Policy Area.”

The Joint Local Plan is a big, complex document. Councillor Coker continued: “Young families will be interested in knowing what the future plans are for new schools and colleges, and how the city and surrounding area plans to build enough homes for people to live in as well as where play areas could be.

“Those passionate about the environment might be interested in the policies that protect important green spaces, parks and sports facilities and how we plan to cut carbon emissions.”

The plan gives clarity to investors about where new developments are supported, where infrastructure improvements are planned while companies looking to move to the area will have policies to support their expansion plans.

Shoppers can see how the city centre might develop or ideas to support more local shops in thriving towns and villages of South Hams and West Devon.

Neighbourhood Planning Forums will now have the strategic policy framework to take forward their own neighbourhood plans for their areas.

The Joint Local Plan in numbers:

It covers 2,126 sq.km, nearly 55 per cent in West Devon, over 40 per cent in South Hams and just four per cent in Plymouth
The plan area covers a population of 401,567 people
Plymouth has 70 per cent of the plan area’s population with 262,712 people
Plymouth’s economic output is £5.2 billion and 130,000 total jobs
The market and coastal towns of West Devon and South Hams, together with a wider network of towns, villages and hamlets provide homes for 138,855 people, 54,385 in West Devon and 84,470 in South Hams.
West Devon is one of the most sparsely populated council areas with a population density of 47people/km2 compared to 95/km2 in South Hams and 3,284/km2 in Plymouth
Over the last 10 years, Plymouth has seen 9,632 homes delivered and 90 per cent were built on previously-built land. Building is underway on a further 1,440 properties and 4,520 have permission to be built.
Since 2014, 5,826 homes have been delivered in the Joint Local Plan Area. At April 2018, there were 1,855 dwellings under construction across the three authorities and a further 13,397 with planning consent.
An initial 600 sites were put forward through the Plymouth Plan. 168 sites are allocated in the plan for mixed use, housing, retail, employment, sports, strategic greenspaces or other uses
117 sites are allocated for housing across the whole plan area.
20 sites are identified to include provision for new retail floorspace.
There are 40 sites where new employment floorspace can be provided In Plymouth’s City Centre and Waterfront Growth Area there are allocations for 3,802 homes and 82,445 sq.m. of employment.
In the Derriford and Northern Corridor Growth Area there are allocations for 4,171 homes and 100,180 sq.m. of employment.
In the Eastern Corridor Growth Area there are allocations for 7,043 homes and 326,625 sq.m. of employment.

The Thriving Towns and Villages have the following allocations:

Dartmouth – 576 homes; 10,800 sqm employment
Ivybridge – 1,078 homes; 4,600 sqm employment
Kingsbridge – 267 homes; 200 sqm employment
Okehampton – 775 homes; 77,700 sqm employment
Tavistock – 1,203 homes; 18,600 sqm employment
Totnes – 528 homes; 7,700 sqm employment
Smaller towns and key villages – 911 homes; 46,780 sqm employment.
Overall, the plan makes provision for 26,700 new homes, of which 19,000 are within the Plymouth Policy Area and 7,700 in the Thriving Towns and Villages.
Overall, the plan makes provision for 6,600 affordable homes of which 4,550 are in the Plymouth Policy Area and 2,050 in the Thriving Towns and Villages.
Overall, the plan makes provision for 375,208 sq.m. of new employment floorspace, equivalent to around 82 hectares of land

All the latest documents and the Inspectors Report together with various supporting documents have now been uploaded at http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/plymswdevonplan

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IT’S TIME FOR A RURAL STRATEGY: AN IMPORTANT POST- BREXIT INITIATIVE

March 13, 2019 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Watts

See link for details and to sign up for more information:-

Time for a Rural Strategy – Key Messages

Bigbury Parish Council, NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
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Steady as She Goes – South Hams District Council presents its budget for the next financial year.

February 28, 2019 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Watts

Steady as She Goes

South Hams District Council presents its budget for the next financial year. A budget to maintain front line services, invest in the local economy and navigate the uncharted waters of uncertain government finances.

25/02/2019

Sound financial management by South Hams District Council over the last few years has left the Council in a strong financial position. But uncertainty from central government means that there may be more turbulent times ahead.
Cllr Simon Wright, Deputy Leader of South Hams District Council, said: “Four years ago the Government told us how much money they would give us every year for four years.

“We have known since then that we would not get any more Revenue Support Grant. But the four year settlement did give us certainty that we would continue to get the Rural Services Delivery Grant, which is basically extra money because they recognise it is difficult delivering services in a rural area.

“This agreement ends next year and we have no information about what money, if any, the Government will give us after that.

“It appears that they will be basing future funding figures on the number of people living in an area, and with so many second homes in South Hams, this could prove a real problem for us. We are currently lobbying government to recognise the increase in our seasonal population.

“So without any certainty, we present this budget, a stable, steady budget that helps us to maintain the status quo, allows us to invest where we can, but keeps some money in reserve for an unpredictable future.”
South Hams District Council remains committed to doing everything it can to support residents and businesses. They recognise income generation and local investment will be key to keeping their finances healthy and their services protected.

This is reflected in the budget that they have put forward:

The Council continues to make a £3.9 m saving every year by working with West Devon Borough Council. By working together they save the taxpayer £6 million a year.

This year South Hams has secured an extra £80,604 from Government as part of its Rural Services Delivery Grant, which they have been lobbying for, but this is just for one year.
The Council wants to invest in a programme to replace play park equipment across the District, with a budget of £190,000.

This budget also continues to support the five year programme of repairs to the Council’s coastal assets, worth £300,000 per year.

By signing a contact with FCC Environmental to provide waste, recycling and cleaning services, South Hams District Council will save £286,000 this financial year.

To support the new waste contract, this budget has put money aside to make improvements at the waste depot in Ivybridge and to increase the amount of money the Council is putting away for new waste and recycling vehicles

Work will take place in the village of Ermington to provide new (and improve, existing) business units.

Money has also been put aside to provide improvements to Batson Creek car park.

Resurfacing of a number of car parks has also been included in this budget alongside honouring a commitment made to resurface the South Devon Tennis Centre’s outdoor courts, which are owned by the Council.
Alongside these investments are a programme of development opportunities which will support the local economy and provide jobs. Subject to obtaining planning permission, these include a Hotel in Kingsbridge, a Health Hub in Dartmouth, improvements to the quay and new business units in Batson and Beach Huts at Beesands. The Council also approved a new Commercial Property Strategy which will see it consider prudent commercial investment within the district in the forthcoming year.
This year, the councillors have also agreed to increase Council Tax on the proportion of money that the District Council gets. This amounts to a £5 a year increase on a Band D property or 10 pence a week. This makes the Band D Council Tax for South Hams District Council £165.42 for the year.
Sophie Hosking, South Hams District Council’s Chief Executive, said: “Our finance officers have worked really closely with councillors on this budget. Their careful management of the budget was recognised by the Peer Review team, a independent group of officers and councillors from across the country, who we invited in to observe everything we do.

“They said that sound financial management had put us in a good position. But as Cllr Wright has said, there remains some tough challenges ahead. Next financial year we are still predicting a budget gap of £0.47m and we do not know what our funding from Government will be. So there is clearly a lot of work to do.”

Visit the South Hams District Council Committee for Budget Reports
Visit the transparency pages on our website to read the Peer Review Report

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79 Bedroom Hotel to be Built on Council land in Kingsbridge.

December 19, 2018 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Watts

Investing in Kingsbridge

18/12/18

79 Bedroom Hotel to be Built on Council land in Kingsbridge.

Last week South Hams moved a step closer to building a new hotel in Kingsbridge, that could add an extra £3.9m to the local economy per year.
Cllr John Tucker, Leader of South Hams District Council explains: “The plot of land where the hotel would be built is in Rope Walk, behind the leisure centre in Kingsbridge. It is derelict at the moment, but it is the ideal spot for a hotel which is in easy walking distance of the town. We are delighted to have interest in this site in Kingsbridge from a major UK hotel operator, it demonstrates confidence in the Town and will be a boost the whole of the area.”

Executive Councillors at South Hams approved a multi-million pound investment into the project. The project will be subject to planning approval and confirmation of funding at Full Council and it would take approximately two years to be built.

The project hits the key deliverables set out in the Council’s Commercial Property Strategy of supporting regeneration and economic activity. It is an excellent example of the Council investing financially in its area, to the benefit of the District.

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Your Waste and Recycling Services – A new partnership

December 19, 2018 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Watts

18/12/18

South Hams District and West Devon Borough Councils will be working in partnership with FCC Environment to provide waste collection, recycling and street and toilet cleaning services from the 1st April 2019.

Following a competitive tendering process, South Hams and West Devon Councils have awarded the contract for your Waste Recycling and Cleaning services to FCC Environment which will save over £5 million in the next 8 years. As well as continuing to deliver the key services for each council, the new contract will offer extra services which will help to improve the local environment.

Cllr John Tucker, Leader of South Hams District Council said: “I am delighted to bring this news to our residents. It not only offers better value for money for the tax payer, but also huge environmental benefits. Big improvements are coming to the recycling service over the next two years. I am looking forward to working with FCC Environment who are bringing their industry knowledge and expertise into our services.

“We have been listening to residents and we know that you want to be able to recycle more at the kerbside, particularly glass and mixed plastics. It will take a little while to put everything in place but the good news is that you will be able to recycle more from the kerbside by the end of 2020.”

Cllr Philip Sanders, Leader of West Devon Borough Council said: “I am absolutely delighted that we have been able to make such substantial savings at a time when we are facing a huge budget gap. The bonus is that will be able to improve vital services and increase our recycling rate even more over the coming years.”

Steve Longdon, Regional Director for FCC Environment said: “We are one of the UK’s most trusted resource and waste management businesses. We hold over 100 contracts with some 60 local authorities up and down the country recycling more than 1.6 million tonnes of waste each year and so we consider ourselves to be a safe pair of hands . Ever since Blue Planet 2, residents have been more interested than ever before in re-using, reducing and recycling so it’s a great time to be rolling out new and enhanced services that will allow residents in South Hams and West Devon to do just that.”

Residents should not see any immediate changes to services and the Councils will be working closely with FCC Environment over the coming months to plan the changes to the recycling collection services. Will be provided more details on the improvements over the coming months.

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AN IMPORTANT SEASONAL MESSAGE: Recycling at Christmas – all wrapped up and nowhere to go

December 17, 2018 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Watts

This Christmas South Hams District Council is asking residents to help them handle a problem which is affecting many councils up and down the country.

This year many of the companies who process paper and card for local councils are saying that they can no longer take any wrapping paper at all. This means that wrapping paper cannot be put into your blue recycling sacks, it needs to go into your grey bin instead.

Cllr Rufus Gilbert, Executive Member for Commercial Services explains: “We know this is a bit of an issue for residents, many of whom have already bought their wrapping paper. But our hands are tied; if the processors will not take the wrapping paper there is nothing we can do.

“Unfortunately this is the same for the County Council’s recycling centres too, whose processors are also saying no wrapping paper this year.”

It is the materials that go into making some wrapping paper that cause the problem. Wrapping paper is often dyed, laminated and/or contains non-paper additives such as gold and silver coloured shapes, glitter, plastics etc. which is why it cannot be recycled.

Some wrapping paper is also very thin and contains few good quality fibres for recycling and because so many people leave sticky tape attached to wrapping paper it makes it very difficult to recycle.

These are some of the reasons why the companies who process our waste have decided not to accept wrapping paper this year.

Cllr Gilbert continued: “Residents can really help us this year by recycling as much of the recyclable materials as they can, to make room in their grey bin for the non-recyclable materials. Food waste is one of the biggest recyclables that often ends up in the grey bin. Please make an extra effort this year to recycle your food waste or freeze your left overs. Clean aluminium foil can go into your clear sacks, along with all plastic bottles, drinks and food cans, empty aerosol cans. Cardboard, ordinary paper, brown paper, envelopes, and drinks cartons can go into the blue sack. Don’t forget plastic yoghurt pots, tubs and trays can be taken to your nearest recycling centre.”

This year South Hams also wanted to remind residents that real Christmas trees shorter than 6ft, can be put it out for collection alongside their brown bin.

For more information about recycling and for great tips, advice and recipes for leftovers, please visit:

https://www.recycledevon.org/

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Community banking for the South West

December 13, 2018 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Watts

10/12/2018

Councils agree to support the creation of a local bank to support the local economy

Both South Hams District and West Devon Borough Councillors have pledged their support for the creation of a local financial institution, a local bank for local people.

The new venture, which is yet to be named, would be the first ever high street bank dedicated to Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset (Subject to regulatory approvals).

The bank, known for now as South West Mutual, would be owned by its members and would pursue only what is in the customers’ best interests. Unlike national financial institutions, the Mutual would not engage in financial speculation, or pay huge bonuses to staff for selling financial products.

Cllr John Tucker, Leader of South Hams District Council, explains why the Council is supporting this initiative: “I am really interested by this proposal and the benefits it could offer our communities. We all know that the local branches are being lost at an astonishing rate, making it more difficult for older and more vulnerable people and trading businesses to access their finance or seek support. The South Hams has lost 13 bank branches since 2015, leaving major towns such as Dartmouth without any banks at all. We understand that banks have to move with the times and more business is done online, but who will support our high streets and market towns in the future?”

“We also know that our SME businesses can find it difficult to get funding. This proposal would see a new kind of banking institution, one that is not tied to the costly overheads of the National banks, who can use the latest technology because it is starting from scratch. We welcome the commitment of South West Mutual to be a permanent presence in the region and to serve our residents and businesses by building a branch network.”

Cllr Philip Sanders, Leader of West Devon Borough Council said: “Councils do not want to get into the business of banking but it is our business to support a thriving economy in West Devon.

We recognise that South West Mutual’s mission to serve our residents and smaller businesses and its commitment to financial inclusion are closely aligned with West Devon Borough Council’s own objectives and strategy and so we are delighted to be able to support them in the early stages of their application for a banking licence.”

Both Councils agree that this is one way that they can use some of the money generated from the Business Rates pilot to support the local economy without using money that has come from Council Tax Payers.

Each council will invest £50,000 to help support the formation of the new entity. The proposal is not without risk, but without the funding, the proposed benefits to the local economy may never be realised.

South Hams and West Devon are the two first local authorities in the area to pledge their support, leading the way for others who have also expressed an interest in this venture. More information can be found at: https://southwestmutual.co.uk/

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Waste and Recycling Service – impending change

December 7, 2018 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Watts

A future partnership – Environmental benefits and better value for money

A new multi million pound contact has been approved by South Hams District Council for recycling, waste and cleansing services enabling the Council to save over £3 million pounds over the life of the contract and improving our environmental impact. The new services will be delivered to a high standard from 1st April 2019 as part of a new partnership agreement with a private company.

This is a brave new step for the South Hams who have provided these services through the Council’s own workforce for many years. The decision was made following a very intensive and thorough tendering process lasting almost two years. This included robust market testing giving full consideration to every single element of the current services to ensure best value and best quality for residents.

The staff who currently collect the waste and recycling and clean the district will transfer to the new partner company, whose name will be announced on the 18th December following the formal 10 day legal “standstill” period. South Hams District Council have ensured that their valued workforce will continue to provide services with protected terms and conditions and without the need for redundancies.

The future service will offer householders the opportunity to recycle even more of our household waste from the kerbside from September 2020.

Cllr Rufus Gilbert, Executive Member for Commercial Services said: “We have been listening to what residents wanted – more items being recycled and a continued focus on keeping our beautiful district clean and this will be delivered through the new arrangement at a better price. This new contract will enable us to continue improving recycling and street services throughout the term of the contract.”

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