Post by Sherford on Jul 6, 2006 22:21:17 GMT
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SHERFORD'S FUTURE IS MAPPED OUT
11:50 - 29 June 2006
Council chiefs today unveiled the final, environmentally-friendly, version of a new community on Plymouth's doorstep.
Four years ago, the prospect of green farming land at Sherford, in the heart of the western South Hams, being dug over for a new town provoked more than 3,000 protests.
Now, after prolonged consultation with community groups, the latest plans for the 'three-village' town just south of the A38 are going on public show tomorrow, with a media launch today.
The plan is South Hams District Council's final version of the Sherford project.
The only way it will be changed is by an inspector at a public inquiry - and large-scale corrections are extremely unlikely.
The difference between the scheme tentatively released into the community four years ago and the one made public today is vast.
Top-ranking officials from South Hams District Council proposed a four-village settlement, which was described by green protesters as a 'sea of concrete' from the A38 in the north to the A379 near Brixton in the south.
After the original plan sparked a protest campaign, spearheaded by environment pressure group South Hams Against Rural Destruction, district council chiefs recruited the Prince's Foundation, the group behind Prince Charles' model settlement at Poundbury, Dorset.
Members of the pressure group, along with other community organisations, were invited to planning sessions to help redesign the Sherford proposal.
The result is a plan, which discourages the excessive use of cars, will include a "high-quality" public transport system based on a park-and-ride system on the A38 at Deep Lane and where 80 per cent of Sherford's homes will be within a five-minute walk of the three centres.
Wind turbines, hidden in sheltered areas, will provide sustainable energy to the new town.
And a large protected green swathe will be left to the east of Sherford to prevent the settlement expanding back into the South Hams.
Instead, Sherford will be encouraged to grow westward, towards Plymouth.
Sherford was originally dreamed up as an answer to a Government demand that thousands more homes should be built in Devon.
It is seen as a development to cope with the "overspill" of residents from Plymouth who are looking for new homes.
The district council put up a fight against having to plan thousands of new homes, but eventually accepted that they would have to be built.
District council planning chief Lee Bray said: "We've come a long way in the past four years.
"We didn't want to build a large number of homes in the South Hams, but since we had to do it, we mind up our minds to do the best job we could.
"The result, we think, is an exemplar of how this sort of thing should be done. We would hope that it becomes a blueprint for other local authorities - we hope that they come to see what has been done.
"It is exciting and we think it's going to be a flagship development. We wanted to do something we were proud up and I think we have achieved that."
The Sherford scheme had caused upset in the Plympton area, where residents are worried that they will have to bear the brunt of the extra traffic generated by the proposal.
South Hams Against Rural Destruction spokesman Paddy Ryder said the pressure group felt that they had achieved a lot by joining in the design of 'Sherford Mark Two'.
He said: "We're not crowing about it, because we know that people in Plympton are unhappy.
"But we worked hard on it and I think we did a lot in persuading the district council to take Sherford away from the villages of Brixton and Chittleburn and put it closer to the A38.
"That helped to distance it from Brixton, and Elburton, who were upset at the amount of traffic which was going to go up the A379.
"We felt that if it was going to go ahead - and there seemed to be no choice about that - then we would have to make the best of a bad situation."
The Devon Structure Plan requires that Sherford provides for at least 4,000 homes with associated employment land and a range of community and other associated facilities by 2016, and that it be capable of accommodating further development beyond that time.
Sherford could be allowed to have another 1,500 houses by 2026.
It is thought building on 'Sherford phase one' will start by 2008, with around 300 homes being built in the first year.
After that, the number will rise to 500 per year by 2011, according to council experts.
Officials are aiming for 50 per cent of the homes at Sherford to be affordable housing.
Council chiefs say the area is facing a deepening crisis over the rising price of the average family home. Local people are being forced out of the market - and some may never get a foot on the housing ladder - after average house prices topped £250,000 mark.
Average wages in the South Hams, which is said to have pockets of poverty, are around £15,000 per year. The scheme also includes a health and social care centre, incorporating a minor injuries unit, three primary schools capable of taking more than 400 pupils each and a secondary school with capacity for more than 800 pupils.
Employment units are also planned for the project, say council chiefs.
SHERFORD'S FUTURE IS MAPPED OUT
11:50 - 29 June 2006
Council chiefs today unveiled the final, environmentally-friendly, version of a new community on Plymouth's doorstep.
Four years ago, the prospect of green farming land at Sherford, in the heart of the western South Hams, being dug over for a new town provoked more than 3,000 protests.
Now, after prolonged consultation with community groups, the latest plans for the 'three-village' town just south of the A38 are going on public show tomorrow, with a media launch today.
The plan is South Hams District Council's final version of the Sherford project.
The only way it will be changed is by an inspector at a public inquiry - and large-scale corrections are extremely unlikely.
The difference between the scheme tentatively released into the community four years ago and the one made public today is vast.
Top-ranking officials from South Hams District Council proposed a four-village settlement, which was described by green protesters as a 'sea of concrete' from the A38 in the north to the A379 near Brixton in the south.
After the original plan sparked a protest campaign, spearheaded by environment pressure group South Hams Against Rural Destruction, district council chiefs recruited the Prince's Foundation, the group behind Prince Charles' model settlement at Poundbury, Dorset.
Members of the pressure group, along with other community organisations, were invited to planning sessions to help redesign the Sherford proposal.
The result is a plan, which discourages the excessive use of cars, will include a "high-quality" public transport system based on a park-and-ride system on the A38 at Deep Lane and where 80 per cent of Sherford's homes will be within a five-minute walk of the three centres.
Wind turbines, hidden in sheltered areas, will provide sustainable energy to the new town.
And a large protected green swathe will be left to the east of Sherford to prevent the settlement expanding back into the South Hams.
Instead, Sherford will be encouraged to grow westward, towards Plymouth.
Sherford was originally dreamed up as an answer to a Government demand that thousands more homes should be built in Devon.
It is seen as a development to cope with the "overspill" of residents from Plymouth who are looking for new homes.
The district council put up a fight against having to plan thousands of new homes, but eventually accepted that they would have to be built.
District council planning chief Lee Bray said: "We've come a long way in the past four years.
"We didn't want to build a large number of homes in the South Hams, but since we had to do it, we mind up our minds to do the best job we could.
"The result, we think, is an exemplar of how this sort of thing should be done. We would hope that it becomes a blueprint for other local authorities - we hope that they come to see what has been done.
"It is exciting and we think it's going to be a flagship development. We wanted to do something we were proud up and I think we have achieved that."
The Sherford scheme had caused upset in the Plympton area, where residents are worried that they will have to bear the brunt of the extra traffic generated by the proposal.
South Hams Against Rural Destruction spokesman Paddy Ryder said the pressure group felt that they had achieved a lot by joining in the design of 'Sherford Mark Two'.
He said: "We're not crowing about it, because we know that people in Plympton are unhappy.
"But we worked hard on it and I think we did a lot in persuading the district council to take Sherford away from the villages of Brixton and Chittleburn and put it closer to the A38.
"That helped to distance it from Brixton, and Elburton, who were upset at the amount of traffic which was going to go up the A379.
"We felt that if it was going to go ahead - and there seemed to be no choice about that - then we would have to make the best of a bad situation."
The Devon Structure Plan requires that Sherford provides for at least 4,000 homes with associated employment land and a range of community and other associated facilities by 2016, and that it be capable of accommodating further development beyond that time.
Sherford could be allowed to have another 1,500 houses by 2026.
It is thought building on 'Sherford phase one' will start by 2008, with around 300 homes being built in the first year.
After that, the number will rise to 500 per year by 2011, according to council experts.
Officials are aiming for 50 per cent of the homes at Sherford to be affordable housing.
Council chiefs say the area is facing a deepening crisis over the rising price of the average family home. Local people are being forced out of the market - and some may never get a foot on the housing ladder - after average house prices topped £250,000 mark.
Average wages in the South Hams, which is said to have pockets of poverty, are around £15,000 per year. The scheme also includes a health and social care centre, incorporating a minor injuries unit, three primary schools capable of taking more than 400 pupils each and a secondary school with capacity for more than 800 pupils.
Employment units are also planned for the project, say council chiefs.