North Staffs Green Party are urging people living in
Newcastle-under-Lyme to respond to a council consultation on the future of
green sites in the borough while there is still time.
On 13th January 2021 the borough council
cabinet resolved to produce a new Local Plan for the local authority area,
consultation on the first stage of this, the strategic options document began
in November [1].
The strategic options document sets out plans for
housebuilding in the borough up to 2040 and has seen green spaces come under
threat of development, including the former Keele Golf Course and land in
Chesterton and Bradwell.
A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said: ‘the
council is engaged in a land grab of green sites across the borough, and we
need to make it clear to them that local people will not accept this,
responding to the consultation is one way in which we can do so.’
Newcastle resident Adri Hartveld said that all six of
the options put forward by the council would ‘lead to further
climate breakdown and a deterioration of the environment in the borough of
Newcastle-under-Lyme. This would include an increase in air pollution, a loss
of green spaces and a further dilapidation of buildings, especially in the town
centres’.
In a
detailed response to the consultation, he calls for brownfield sites to be
prioritized for development and for more affordable housing to be built. He
also calls for the council to make it easier for people to walk and cycle as
part of making the plan more environmentally friendly.
Concerns
have also been expressed about the impact of losing green spaces will have on
the wellbeing of people living in and around Newcastle. One resident who spoke
to North Staffs Green party and asked not to be named said there needed to be
more emphasis in the plan on the link between health and access to green spaces,
particularly for young people who needed open spaces ‘within easy distance of
home to kick a ball about, play basketball etc’.
Adding
that the borough council need to take ‘a more holistic approach to planning
vis-à-vis health, social interaction, pet walking, communal fruit trees, maybe
gardening/flower clubs etc. The plan should be more joined-up in terms of the
interconnectedness of these things and how well-planned space can be used to
improve life in general’.
North
Staffs Green party have questioned the quality of the consultation process, in
a letter written to council leader Simon Tagg, they suggested it fell short of
requirements set out under the Nolan rules in relation to openness,
accountability and the likelihood of insufficient data being collected to allow
the council to make an objective decision.
Questions
have also been asked about the accessibility of the consultation for people who
are not able to respond online. In response the borough council said the
consultation process was being run in line with their Statement of Community
Involvement published in September 2021 and provided a list of events at which
residents could speak to the planning team in person [2].
However,
residents have spoken to the party about these events not being advertised properly
and their concerns not being taken seriously when they do attend.
Despite
these problems North Staffs Green Party are encouraging anyone living in
Newcastle-under-Lyme and the surrounding area to respond to the consultation
before it closes later this month. Their spokesperson said ‘while the process
for doing so is far from ideal, and we will continue to highlight its many
flaws, we urge people to use this opportunity to tell the council in no uncertain
terms that they do not want to see green spaces that are valued by their
community lost to poorly thought through development plans’.
The consultation
on the options put forward for the Local Plan runs until 24th
January, details about the options and how to respond can be accessed at [3].
[1]https://www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/downloads/file/428/local-development-scheme-2021-2024
[2] Newcastle-Under-Lyme
Borough Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council (newcastle-staffs.gov.uk)
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