Will not directly affect the residents of Spooner row but this is a copy of a post I have put on Wymondham matters which concerns the other half of the Ward. South Norfolk has earmarked part of the money (they have got from the developers of the Silfield monstrosity ( 1230 new houses ) to pay for their Leisure centre improvements. = £3/4 Million. Details below. Wymondham Town Council were not consulted As part of what is called the section 106 agreement, which is in the public domain, £595 per dwelling that the developer has to pay South Norfolk, has been allocated to the provision improvement / indoor recreational space. I am sure the residents of Silfield who will pay for this with at least 6 years of building misery will be really pleased. Why could that money not have been spent of say a disabled lift for the railway, proper road improvements which would partially compensate the residents of Silfield for the misery that they have been consigned to?
Are you saying that SNC decided without local consultation, to spend the money raised from Silfield's new housing on leisure improvements instead of spending it on crucial and much needed road improvements for Silfield? Under Localism, there are obligations for councils to consult and act fairly and openly and spend money with due thought. If you are right, then this beggars belief.!
I would have thought this is exactly the kind of thing the money is for. When we discuss development on this board some of the points which are frequently raised are School places, Doctors and recreational space.
Schools are a separate issue and dealt with by the Education department, Doctors surgeries are actually private companies and essentially driven by market forces and demand. As to roads mentioned above, surely that is a highways issue, a disabled lift for the station is an issue for Network Rail ( I wonder if that is covered by the disability discrimination act?)
If you consult locally then nothing will get done because we cant agree on anything anyway so someone has to make a decision, it may as well be our elected officials
Thank God that Mr Halls is not in charge of planning otherwise nothing would get done. The S106 system provide funds to provide equipment and open spaces for the local development. It also states that some of the money should be used to enhance existing facility in the local community which in this case means the wider Wymondham area. As residents from Silfield use the Leisure Centre it is only right for the money to be used to enhance the Leisure Centre.
......If you consult locally then nothing will get done because we cant agree on anything anyway so someone has to make a decision, it may as well be our elected officials
You still have a legal duty to consult locally. who made this decision as you imply it was only one person? Where is the transparency for Silfield residents and Wymondham Town Council? Disgraceful
The first Anon post of the 25th as usual has their own agenda to follow. If they bothered to read my e mail I stated that the money could have been used to improve the road system, provide a proper diasbled access to the station from the Silfiled side of the bridge, rather than spend it on a building owned by South Norfolk.
On the one occasion Wymondham Town were asked what they would like to see happen with this development they asked, very sensibly that any green spaces be provided near the new school.
Directly links to the development, and passes the legal tests anon is ignoring.
What do South Norfolk do? Ignore this and force the developers to plan for a football pitch, undersize, alongside a Cricket pitch, undersize, that is the other end of the development and that no one is interested in.
If I were in charge of Planning I would listen to what is being said locally , and actually do it, spending the money where it was asked to be spent and not subsidsing improvements to my failing leisure centre when by all accounts they were not needed.
So , why did South Nordfolk not listen and why did they not consult back to the Town when they made this assinine decision. The obvious answer is that they did want Wymondham to say , hang on a minute ....
The last time they spent money on the upgrades to the Leisure centre they did exactly the same thing. Don't take my word for it, ask the Clerk who was in post at the time.
