Uproar in the Chamber before council rejects Elms plans

AFTER a heated debate and noisy contributions from the public gallery, Thame Town Council voted unanimously at a meeting last night (30/09) to recommend Refusal of a planning application for 45 homes at The Elms, and for a plan to make changes to Elms Park itself.

Speaking on behalf of the Elms Petition Group who want the site removed from the Thame Neighbourhood Plan altogether, Tom Marianczak, referring to, what he called, the council’s “orchestrated refusal” the previous week to remove The Elms from the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, agreed with the council’s objections, and accused the Developers of ‘pushing the boundaries’ in their plans to build 45 homes on the site.

He emphasised that the streets around the proposed development, Nelson Street and Southern Road particularly, would be unable to cope with the increased traffic. Mr Marianczal described the plans for the Elms Park itself as ‘deplorable’ and said that there had been no proper public consultation adding: “The people of Thame have not said that that they either need or require any changes to the park.”

He told councillors: “It is your duty as our elected representatives, to act against this development. We the Petition group, will continue to campaign for the site to be removed from the Neighbourhood Plan.” At this point the packed audience clapped loudly and the Mayor of Thame in Chair, Jeannette Matelot Green, had to bang her gavel twice to restore order.

No councillors opted to ask Mr Marianczak any questions following his presentation. The Mayor then revealed that a letter had been received from Barton Willmore, the Developers’ agent, stating that further discussions had taken place recently, and indicating that changes were being made to the plans to address the town council’s concerns. (These can be found in the report here: http://www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/images/6___Report_-_Land_at_The_Elms.pdf)

Cllr David Dodds, former Mayor of Thame, ‘regrets’ the inclusion of the The Elms in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan

Cllr David Dodds remarked on the ‘immense amount of documentation’ sent out to councillors in respect of The Elms, and declared: ” I still feel that I am not in a position to support the situation at The Elms. I am totally against it.” Again, the public gallery errupted into a hearty clap and some cheers.

Cllr Peter Lambert said: “This has been our only opportunity to speak. We have had no chance to defend ourselves. We have been baraged by email and some of us referred to as ‘traitors’. We did listen to the majority of the people of Thame when we held the referendum. There are always going to be pockets of people in Thame objecting to building behind their homes.”

Cllr Nicola Dixon said: “At the meeting on November 8, 2012, it was said that there would be around 10 units for seniors; something small and sustainable, something with very little impact. Since then it has turned into something totally unacceptable – a blight!”

Much discussion took place around traffic generation in the roads around the proposed site, Cllr Mike Welply describing the current situation as ‘a nightmare’ to which the public gallery applauded. Several councillors said that this aspect should be included in the council’s objections to the plan. Cllr David Dodds pointed out that the town council had previously objected to other planning applications in the vicinity on the grounds that increased traffic generation would have an adverse effect on people living in that part of the town.

The Town Clerk, Helen Stewart, gave an assurance that all comments from councillors, petitioners etc would be forwarded to Tibbalds, the council’s Consultants, before any future discussions with the developer or meetings about the proposed development took place. She also pointed out that although traffic and transport would be a consideration, any objections could be overridden by either Oxfordshire County Council or South Oxfordshire County Council.

“But we will press as hard as we can on transport issues,” she concluded.

The council voted unanimously to recommend rejection of the planning application for land at The Elms, based on the objections in the report referred to above. It also voted to object to the plans for changes to Elms Park (See detailed objections the report Appendix 1)

After the meeting, Cllr David Dodds clarified his position. He told Thamenews.Net: “I was unable to take part in the process of the Neighbourhood Plan because of family connections with the owners of Site C. My feeling now is that it is very regrettable that we have included The Elms in the Neighbourhood Plan. It’s there, so we have to accept that. I also regret that the council affirmed the plan in the Neighbourhood Plan at the last meeting (see LINK https://www.thame.net/archives/16866). But quite frankly I don’t think there is a ‘hope in hell’ of changing that.

“The position we find ourselves in is quite unique. My feeling is that now it’s (The Elms) is in the plan (the TNP) and has been affirmed by the town council, they have to make sure that the impact on the town is the least we can get. Let’s hope that the developers can meet the town half-way.”