Copy of the email I received after Wednesday meeting.take note of the answer over allocation proof that they will adjust the rules to suit. Hi Guys, Just a quick update on yesterdays meeting between Blackrod council, Bolton at Home and ourselves. It was quite obvious that Bolton at Home came to the meeting fully aware of the major points Blackrod council and ourselves were about to bring up. People present. Councillor Monaghan, Councillor Winward , Councillor Hollick and Councillor Laycock plus the Town Clerk. Dominic Conway and Paul Fielding from Bolton ‘ Home and Bolton council. Eric Rowlandson and John Price representing residents. The meeting was chaired by the council who I must say came down very firmly on the side of the residents and their concerns. Dominic Conway from Bolton at Home stated to the meeting that not all residents on the perimeter of this proposed build were in objection to this proposal in fact quote “ some people from the surrounding houses have made request for properties on the site” unquote. This may well be true. He also answered the question of how they could guarantee 75% of the build would be given to people from Blackrod. His answer was that they will introduce a new allocation policy that will give priority to people with connection to Blackrod and not use the current allocation policy. When questioned it was confirmed that this new policy was to be for this new development only and not for Blackrod in general if and when other properties become available for rent. The meeting was very thorough and the Blackrod councillors present expressed real concerns on subjects we also have discussed. Things like privacy issues, parking, loss of a play area etc etc. They also expressed, very strongly, their disappointment that neither Bolton at Home nor Bolton council had notified the council of these plans. They were told that all discussions regarding this development had gone through the “ward” councillors who sadly were not at the meeting. The points we agreed on, see my e.mail from Tuesday, were brought up by Eric and myself with very little or no joy. They were not prepared to concede on any points we had. We asked for more bungalows, we asked for dormer bungalows in stead of houses, we asked for a better spread on the development. They gave every reason why our ideas would not work. I have to say though that this comes as no surprise as the current plan has not been submitted for planning permission. It is at that point that concessions may be given to get the application through planning. I would not get to upset at this stage. The planning application is likely to be submitted late November or early December 2014. If passed then building could start next spring and will take less than twelve months to complete. We still have time to bring things to a more acceptable conclusion and I am sure we will all keep trying. In conclusion I have to say, without embarrassing the man, that Eric represented the residents in a very strong yet very controlled manner. John
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 15:32:53 +0000
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