25/02/13……Thame Neighbourhood Plan ? Examination in Public (Continued)

FOLLOWING the Examination meeting for the Thame Neighbourhood Plan on February 19, and to record this historic occasion in Planning history, ThameNews.Net has been publishing notes from the meeting in instalments. However, before continuing, after a communication from a member of the public who was at the meeting, I should like to point out that, due to a family commitment, I was not present at the meeting for the first three speakers and so did not take notes of their representations.

I apologise if, by this omission, a misleading impression was given, that the meeting only covered those landowners/agents/developers who wished to see more development than the numbers allocated, on site F, (203 homes).

In fact, it has been pointed out to me that during the early part of the meeting:

(A) Lucy Murfett spoke on behalf of South Oxfordshire District Council, who fully supported the Neighbourhood Plan, and confirmed that SODC were content that the Plan met the required ?Basic Conditions?.
(B) David Broadley, for Aylesbury Vale District Council spoke about his council?s view about the unsuitability of site F, to house 203, let alone the 281 dwellings allocated (if the reserve contingency happens). He cited harmful landscape and visual impact on the countryside to the North of the A418, and expressed concern that the TNP did not include an assessment of any improvements that would have to be made to the roundabout at the junction with the A418/B3011/A4129 which would be impacted by future development.
(C) A representative of Hallum Land Management Ltd spoke against the choice of sites C and D for allocated houses in preference to site B. His view was that sites C and D did not meet the ?Basic Conditions? with regard to promoting sustainable travel as they are not served by buses, and that their deliverability depended too much on the provision of infrastructure off-site from uncertain amounts of funding from Section 106 contributions.

FOR INFORMATION: All the written representations that the Examination questioning was based upon can be read in full on SODC?s website HERE

Thame Neighbourhood Plan – Agenda item 4 (V) Shopping ? The Cattlemarket

Today’s notes refer to the part of the agenda devoted to the section on Working and Shopping, and in particular, the Cattlemarket site in North Street. Mr Bob Williams, who said that he spoke on behalf of the Thame Farmers Auction Mart and those in the wider, rural community, was the next speaker.

The Examiner, Mr McGurk, asked Mr Williams why the TNP?s policy on the Cattlemarket Site did not, in his view, meet the ?Basic Conditions? and why he considered a food supermarket would. He (Mr Williams) replied that the Cattlemarket needed to relocate to the Thame show ground to preserve both the market and the show. He said that over 12 years, it had become clear (to him) that a food supermarket was the only viable solution to get the cash needed for the move. He maintained that the TNP proposal for the Cattlemarket site did not meet the ?qualitative nor the quantitative? retail needs of the town and that no proper retail assessment or retail sustainability assessment had been made.

Mr Williams said of retail work for the Core Strategy, that it ?had not been properly tested and was therefore unreliable.?

Mr McGurk then asked Lucy Murfett of SODC if any requirement before 2016 (the Core Strategy period) was envisaged for anything beyond 3,000 sq ft of retail on this site. She replied that there was not, since Woolworths had become a Sainsbury store and fulfilled some of the requirement. She added that the plan aimed to attract larger chains for ?comparison? shopping (i.e. non-food items such as clothes, books and electrical goods).

Returning to Mr Williams, the Examiner asked him: ?In your view plans for the site do not meet the ?Basic Conditions? but that a supermarket would. Is there anything else you want to point out? Mr Williams replied: ?It is strange that Sainsbury?s own survey showed 43% tended to support a supermarket on that site, and that the Thame Neighbourhood Plan suggested overwhelming support for mixed use.?

The next speaker was Sue Rowlands of Tibbalds, speaking on behalf of the town council. She was asked by the Examiner to say why it was her view that the proposal for the Cattlemarket site does meet the ?Basic Conditions? and that a supermarket on the site would not. She replied: ?The plan is required to deliver what has been identified by the Core Strategy which is for ?comparison? goods rather than convenience. Also, on the matter of sustainability of the town centre, retail provision should ?be diverse and reflect the character of the town centre?.

?Thame is a real market town which is attractive as a tourist centre so we have to identify sites for ?comparative? shopping,? she added. Ms Rowlands concluded that the Cattlemarket was a key site and said that the town council was studying the role of a community facility as part of a viable development on that site.

TOMORROW: Mr Paul Earley?s presentation on ?The Choice of the Preferred Option? for housing development ? Agenda item 5.

PHOTO: Mr Bob Williams, an advocate for a supermarket on the Cattlemarket site in Thame.