After what we thought was a productive meeting at the Planning Committee meeting in November (for which the minutes have not been published) we were a bit surprised to see that they had sent a letter in to B&NES Planning supporting the Curo application, basically on the grounds that Curo already have planning for the precious application, and that this new one was better than the old one.

The following comments were made by councillors:

•  The design of this application is far less impacting on the local area than the permission already granted for 89 houses.
•  All the objections that have been raised are not going to be any different if 89 or 51 dwellings are built on the site.
  
• Concerns about parking on Greenlands Road, particularly with the new properties parking on the road in front of their house
•  The Highways report stated that the proposals within the site are not acceptable for pedestrian safety. These issues will need to be addressed prior to any permission being granted
• The focus should be on this planning application and as to whether the Parish Council supports or not. If this application is not granted permission, it does not necessarily mean that the site will be built on event if there is permission for 89 dwellings already granted.
• The ecological report and the water report as statutory consultees for this application has not yet responded and so were unable to be considered at this time.

It was noted that the Parish Council request this application is referred to the B&NES Council Planning Committee rather than be determined at Case Office level. Considering this application over the other application for the site, that already has planning permission granted, it was resolved to support the application with reservations regarding the Cinder Path being upgraded and for the required necessary improvements within the site, as specified on the report from Highways.

So basically they are saying sort out the cinder path and we are happy with it. Thanks.

Its no great surprise that no firm decision has been made either way yet on the Curo proposal. It is a very complicated matter. The fact that it's delayed could mean good news as it might mean that the committee is actually lookin through all the issues that have been raised..

It could also mean that like everything else " they are dealing with an unexpected volume of enquiries" So far the Portal says a date of 20th January, which has now passed. 

The Planning Department has now closed its deadline for comments by the general public. However we feel that there are some key issues that need to be put before the Bath Councillors and that they may carry some weight and warrant further enquiries into the Curo application.

Tom Cliifford has helped with his expertise on these matters and has submitted a letter to Councillor David Wood about drainage and flooding. 

This can be seen here

He also wrote to Councillor Warren concerning the carbon footprint of the project:

This can be seen here

James Loudon and Lindsey Drage have written to Counciillor Tim Ball and Simon Martin, Director of Regeneration & Housing with concerns about the groundworks and possible landslide issues, highlighting the fact that Curo have not done a proper geological survey, as required by the the National Planning Policy Framework..

This can be seen here

There seemed to be some confusion about whether Curo had made a start to the development. 

There was a document that appeared on the council planning site that looked like a refusal to discharge a condition.

The original planning application was won when they appealed. They then had two years in which to make a start. They did so by digging a concrete trench which they say is the end wall foundation of one of the houses. They then wrote to B&NES enclosing a photo and a description of what they had done, saying that "a material start in delivering the approved development has been made at the site"

I wrote to the planning office to ask them if, as far as they were concerned if this was all actually correct. I got a reply today, from Sam Mason, the senior planning officer.

She stated:

I can confirm that a satisfactory start to the development on site has commenced and as such the application 12/05477/OUT
is considered extant.
The applicant attempted to discharge 3 of the outline application under application 20/01322/COND however compliance conditions cannot be discharged. As such while the Council were satisfied that development had commenced, the Council were technically unable to formally discharge the condition through the applied process, hence why the application 20/01322/COND refers to ‘Refusal’.

So as far as the council are concerned, Curo can still go ahead with the old proposed 89 house development. Questions remain though. They were given planning permission in April 2018. Why did they not start building that year? One plausible theory is that once they had the go ahead, they started trying to get contractors. They were unable to do so, possibly due to the extreme difficulty of the slope and geography of the site. Or maybe everyone was just busy?

They then realised that unless they made a start, then the application would lapse so they snuck in and poured some concrete. Then its all quiet until they pop up with a brand new application, for 51 homes. We think that there was a good reason that they never started tthe 89 home scheme: it was not doable after they tried to get contractors in to build it. Or at least not doable within their budget. So they started again. 

It seems highly unlikely that the new application will be flat out turned down. Itt may ask for modifications though and request further investigation into drainage and other matters.

We are glad to see people commenting on this proposed Curo development at the B&NES website.

Most comments are objections and people are pointing out that there are issues which are not fully addressed on the Curo proposal plans.

• Drainage
• Geological issues with earthworks
• Site access
• Parking for those in Greenlands Road

Please do visit the planning site, look at the documents and plans, and have your say. Even if the plan is nott actually turned down, local comments could force Curo to make changes to the plan in order to make it more reasonable and less dangerous and intrusive.