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CPRE Rutland News Update – July 2020
Update on our activities from our Branch Chairman, Malcolm Touchin
Dear Member
Since the News Update in April, we have continued our business in the face of continuing restrictions on meetings, and the requirements of social distancing. The spread of the coronavirus is hopefully reducing and we are looking forward to a resumption of normality, if partial, for the time being. Online meetings are beneficial to communicate and get business done, but are sometimes fraught with technical difficulties and inconsistencies. Some of us have learned a great deal during this exercise in video-conferencing.
Looking to the Future
It is clear to many of us that the ‘normal’ we yearn to return to will not be the ‘normal’ we were used to. There will be a need to make changes in many areas but this will include opportunities to do some things rather better than in the past.
National CPRE is busily grasping these opportunities; you may have noted the launch last week of the Regeneration Manifesto. You can read more about this on the national web-site, at https://www.cpre.org.uk/news/responding-to-new-deal-we-share-our-manifesto/. The manifesto builds on the growing realisation of the importance of green spaces in our lives and identifies three key strands of action needed as we go forward from the restrictions of Covid-19: Regenerating our Green Spaces, Regenerating Ourselves, and Regenerating our Rural Economies. The initiative will be supported by a film and a series of TV Adverts, to be shown on Channel 4, planned to start on 20th July. Related to this, we have been asked to create at least one Regeneration Walk in our countryside, and John Williams is currently looking at this for us. I hope to be able to provide more details soon.
This week has seen the launch of CPRE’s report ‘Greener, better, faster’; again, you may have seen this in the press. This report builds on the CPRE Climate Emergency policy developed at the end of last year, and urges government action in four key areas: Food and Farming, Building and Planning, Transport and Energy. Details are on the national web-site, at https://www.cpre.org.uk/about-us/cpre-media/greener-better-faster/.
There is talk of reform to the planning system. The Secretary of State, Rt Hon Robert Jenrick, has emphasised the importance of community-led plans, and is considering other changes to help get the economy moving again. While we welcome some of these measures, CPRE still has questions over the real housing needs and the population projections on which they should be based. A government white paper is expected soon, but probably not until next year.
With these significant issues in mind, I wrote some weeks ago to Rutland County Council (RCC), alerting them to the wider CPRE initiatives, but also urging a deferment of the Local Plan consultation to allow for a reevaluation of the underlying assumptions and other evidence. Unfortunately, the council has decided to forge ahead as if nothing much either had changed or is likely to change.
Local Plan
As you know, the Local Plan Consultation has been placed on hold during the pandemic; however, RCC has just begun a review of its Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). This is an important precursor to the Local Plan consultation itself, but also deals with Neighbourhood plans and Planning Applications. Generally, the aim now is to manage the whole process online as far as possible but updates are also needed to reflect changes in related legislation and also to set out temporary arrangements to accommodate the restrictions of the current pandemic. One of the consequences will be that copies of the draft documents will not necessarily be available in libraries, but should continue to be available at the council offices, and can still be provided directly to individuals on payment to the council.
The draft SCI and instructions for responding can be found on the RCC web-site at: https://www.rutland.gov.uk/my-services/planning-and-building-control/planning/planning-policy/statement-of-community-involvement/. Some of you may have been notified separately of this consultation, which closes on 17th July. It is likely that the formal consultation on the Local Plan will take place after that, probably starting in early August, and lasting until mid-September. If you have any views you feel we should be representing in response to these documents, please let us know. We are considering arranging some sort of forum, perhaps in late August, by which members can engage more actively in supporting our response to the Local Plan documents; it would help us to know if you are likely to want to join us for that so that we can properly plan for it.
We continue to collaborate with the Parish Council Liaison Group (PCLG); two of our committee members are also members of that group, and one of our consultants is also working with them. The PCLG has established a campaign group to oppose the plans for St George’s Barracks, with the name of Fight4Rutland. You may have seen the launch announcement; it is reproduced below for your information. CPRE Rutland’s position is that we support the initiative and its alignment with the position regarding St George’s, but we will continue to represent the wider issues for the countryside as we go forward with Rutland 2036.
Rutland 2036 Project
We are pressing ahead with our project. Developing our response to the Local Plan Consultation must, of course, be aligned with the Council’s timetable, but a draft of the housing needs survey is currently under review, as is the proposed approach to consultation on our vision for the county. In the light of the developments above, these items are assuming even greater significance in setting out a viable future for Rutland. We are, of course, interested to hear views from members to help us in developing the vision statement; please get in touch if you feel you have something to offer in this regard.
AGM
As I said last time, we have had to delay our AGM this year, and we are currently looking at the evening of Friday 9th October, in the hope that we will by then be able to meet in person. If not, we have the option of a further postponement as the situation becomes clearer or we may choose to hold it online instead. The venue is still to be decided.
New Appointments
I am delighted to announce that our President has approved the appointment of Mrs Patsy Clifton as our Vice-President. We look forward to her positive contribution in this role. Also, it is a pleasure to welcome Mr Andrew Robinson to the Committee.
Membership
Branch membership now stands at 148, which is a significant increase this year. We look forward to welcoming new members and volunteers as we go forward through this important period, and we appreciate your continuing support.
In Conclusion
As you can see, we are fairly busy at present with our project, Rutland 2036, as well as preparing to respond to the consultations. CPRE is also keeping busy at a national level with a range of initiatives concerning planning and the environment, all aimed at protecting, enhancing and promoting the countryside around us.
I hope you are all managing to keep safe and well. I will endeavour to keep you informed of further developments as they occur.
Malcolm Touchin
Fight 4 Rutland Launch Announcement
We are pleased to advise you of the launch of Fight4Rutland.
Fight4Rutland (F4R) is a local campaign group of Rutlanders dedicated to achieving the best for Rutland and Rutlanders in every way and opposes the disastrous over-development planned for St George’s Barracks (SGB). Over 2,300 houses slap bang in between North Luffenham, Edith Weston and Normanton and next to Rutland Water, in a Local Plan seemingly driven entirely by the MOD and Rutland County Council (RCC) in the face of widespread opposition from Rutlanders.
F4R is campaigning for a reasonable plan that would benefit our local communities, wildlife and tourism instead of damaging this by creating a dormitory town of 2,300 plus houses. We are also concerned about RCC’s increasingly anti-democratic position, refusing to currently allow public presentation of deputations or questions, (zoom attendance is allowed but no other participation) and generally appearing to be trying to force the development through at any cost and regardless of the changing socio-economic profile of the UK, including Rutland, following the Covid-19 crisis.
Herewith the links to our website https://fight4rutland.org/ , our FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/Fight-4-Rutland-109059604199382 and our Twitter feed https://mobile.twitter.com/Fight4Rutland All will be regularly and frequently updated as the fight for Rutland progresses.
Best Wishes
The Fight4Rutland Campaign Team
