Agenda item

Information on public speaking is available online

Councillor Barry Rogers of Cranbrook Town Council spoke about weighing up the two propositions; delivery now with a known end delivery date, or the alternative that had no clear timescale.  He advised the committee that the local residents wanted delivery now, which would allow residents to have facilities close enough to walk to, embracing the ethos of active lives in the town.  He stated that there was no appetite for a hotel, and business units were available at the nearly Skypark, therefore not required in the town.  He felt that leisure centres were unviable.  He was not confident that the District Council could deliver and urged the committee to support the proposal from the East Devon New Community Partners (EDNCp).

Councillor Ray Bloxham, Devon County Councillor and Member of Cranbrook Strategic Delivery Board spoke about recent positive discussion between the County Council and the EDNCp that delivered additional funding to the design work; and how not moving forward now jeopardised local projects to deliver youth services.  He reminded the committee of how the fabric of high streets had changed dramatically in recent years, and they had to be mindful of the local economy and the close proximity by train to Exeter’s offer.  He made reference to a county report comparing the two options and asked that, to move forward, the proposals of the EDNCp would boost the town.  Not accepting the proposals would be detrimental to the morale of the residents.

Mr Peter Healey, a resident of Cranbrook, had submitted a statement read out on his behalf by the Democratic Services Officer, which stated:

“I strongly urge councillors and planners to take the longer-term view when deciding between the two options for the development of Cranbrook Town Centre.

To my mind, the polls undertaken by Cranbrook Town Council (CTC) and the East Devon New Community Partners (EDNCp) are invalid, because…

1.    The polls were taken before people have had a chance to see any details of the proposed Cranbrook Town Centre master plan SPD, and before the EDNCp plan was finalised. Indeed, the Cranbrook Town Centre report has only just been made publicly available.

2.    The wording of the CTC poll was heavily biased towards supporting the short-term EDNCp view. It was suggested that the alternative might be no town centre, or supermarket, for many years.

3.    We were led to believe that Morrison’s would pull out if the EDNCp proposal was not accepted, whereas it now appears that it is the EDNCp who would cause this to happen (see sections 13.2 and 15.2 of the Cranbrook Town Centre report).

4.    The polls were on-line and therefore open to abuse.

There appears to be an unhealthy rush, by some, to get the EDNCp proposal accepted before it can be properly scrutinised and before the alternative proposals by EDDC are heard. The outcome of the Cranbrook DPD examination process could also have important bearing (see section 8.4).

The EDNCp proposal is short-term, profit driven, and significantly reduces the options for future development of the town. The EDNCp’s track record shows that they cannot be trusted to deliver on their obligations (see sections 5 and 6), so why trust them now?

I find the following quote from section 13.2 incredible! – alluding to coercion...

“They would like the Council to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to agree in principle to their proposals. Without the MOU in place they assert that they will not conclude the negotiated sale with HDD (to deliver a supermarket, high street retail and nursery) and will not complete sufficient dwellings in the wider town development to trigger the need for some of the S106 obligations for the town centre.””

Lythan Nevard, Cranbrook resident and Minister for Cranbrook spoke about the strong sense of community that town had.  She referenced this decision as a tipping point, outlining the needs of the area including community space to cater to the growing community.  She felt that the social infrastructure could not currently keep pace with the growing community, including practical issues such as storage space for community groups.  The message of the town centre “coming soon” had been in place for seven years, and as a result the residents had become disillusioned, and some would be likely to leave the town as a result.  She stressed that the community needed delivery soon to become a town, not a housing estate.

Andy Richardson, a resident of Cranbrook, had submitted a statement read out on his behalf by the Democratic Services Officer, which stated:

“I have lived in Cranbrook since 2015, one of the things that drew us here to live was the idea of a new town and a new start. Since I have lived here, I have seen many changes to the landscape and what goes on. One thing I was told when buying my house, was about how the town centre was going to be built and offer us shopping, eating etc. We are now in 2020 and in the middle of a pandemic! Still no town centre is evident. As a resident of Cranbrook it is not great to know that promises are not being delivered. I'm in favour of something being done now, not on the never never. Is it wrong to actually want what has been promised by various committees and panels of so called experts. We desperately need facilities in this town, or we are in danger of becoming a suburb of Exeter and nothing more than a big housing estate! It's time for EDDC and the consortium to deliver on facilities for us. For too long this has dragged on, and I doubt a trade town centre would work. Though it seems to us as residents that nobody cares about what's going on. High council tax rates, extras put onto what we pay for, and still nothing from the consortium or EDDC. You need to deliver our facilities, facilities that have been promised. At present nobody has any faith in any of the decision makers. In fact many people think those in command are trying to get out of what they have promised to do, and see Cranbrook solely as a money making exercise for the developers. This attitude that seems to persist in delivering the facilities on a "not now, when we decide to do it" has to stop. We the residents of Cranbrook want our town centre and facilities. You need to sit down and work out how to deliver on the promises made, and stop shying away from what needs to be done. If this path carried on Cranbrook will be just a concrete jungle with little going for it! And whose hare-brained idea is it for a hotel? We got nothing to offer a hotel company, we still don't have a supermarket for crying out loud. Some of us think the consortium and developers are only interested in profits and not the people.”

East Devon New Community Partners presentation

East Devon New Community Partners – represented by Nick Duckworth, Scott Davidson and Nick Freer – gave a presentation to the committee outlining their proposals.  This covered an update since the publication of the agenda, including:

·         Amended composite layout for the Town Centre;

·         examples of elevational treatments to give a distinctive aesthetic to the town;

·         amend the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure that heating will not be delivered in the town centre by mains gas sources, but look for a viable district heating solution;

·         Diverting s106 contributions from the Bowling Green Allotments and Formal Play to the Town Council building;

·         Reminder of the results of the consultation undertaken by EDNCp.

The EDNCp representatives also outlined their proposals to the committee, and presented slides showing the site layout around the food store, a visual impression of what the street view would look like.

The representatives were keen to stress that the alternative approach by means of a Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) will lead to delay of delivery and will not lead to partnership.  They did not consider the SPD route as meeting the community vision for the town centre, and was unnecessary, as the land made available through the proposed MoU (with the inclusion of additional 0.4 hectares of land on TC4d) was capable of delivering:

·         Extra care, Health and Wellbeing Centre, Town Hall and other office or residential uses on TC2;

·         All Devon County Council requirements on TC4b; and

·         Any remaining section 106 uses on TC4c

The explained the considerable difference a delivery of a food store would make to local residents, providing them means of a full weekly shop.  The food store would also serve as a catalyst to a sustainable town centre.  The outline of product range was explained, along with the scale of job creation of approximately 60 FTE at the food store.  Concern was voiced that the operator would go elsewhere if it could not be demonstrated that the food store could be delivered.  The EDNCp were ready to submit a planning application in the New Year, looking to delivery by the summer of 2022 to local residents.

The representatives of the EDNCp reiterated the support of the County Council, Cranbrook Town Council, and local residents in their proposals.  The stated that their proposals were not supported out of frustration, but because they delivered what the Town required.