Over 100 local people viewed the latest proposals from the developers for the former MoD site at Warminster Road.

Concerns were raised about school provision, the impact of additional traffic, and the general layout and design of the housing.

“I am pleased that the public is engaging in the process via this consultation”, commented Cllr David Martin, “we look forward to securing a high quality development on this important location”.

BathNES Council have launched their Placemaking Plan, which is part of the spatial planning policy for our area.

The Placemaking Plan, once adopted, will complement the strategic framework in the Core Strategy by setting out detailed development principles for identified development sites and other policies for managing development across Bath and North East Somerset.

The primary purpose of the Launch Document is to spark debate and discussion about detailed planning issues that need to be resolved. This initial stage in the preparation of the Placemaking Plan provides the catalyst to work with local communities and others involved in the development process. The Launch Document is presented as a discussion document, designed for community and stakeholder engagement and to generate the content for the next stage of the Placemaking Plan preparation.

This is the chance to comment on the issues and opportunities for key development sites and suggested planning policy framework for considering planning applications in Bath and North East Somerset up to 2029. You are invited to comment on the proposed scope and content of the plan and to use the discussion points and issues highlighted in the Launch Document as a basis for your response on the development sites and policy areas.

The Placemaking Plan Launch Document and Comments Form are available on the Council’s website www.bathnes.gov.uk/placemakingplan. You can use the Comments Form (click here to download the form) and send it by email to planning_policy@bathnes.gov.uk by 5pm on Friday, 20th September 2013.

Planning permission for an extra house on the Sydney Lawn site has been refused.

The house Sydney Lawn, next to the railway on Sydney Road, has now been demolished and the site is being re-developed into eight flats. An application was made in February to build an extra detached house at the end of the plot.

Cllr David Martin objected to the proposal owing to the loss of open space and increased pressure on local parking. Eleven other local residents also objected with similar concerns.

BathNES Council’s planning officer has refused the application as the new dwelling would be an incongruous addition tot he site, harmful to the character of the conservation area.

One hundred and fifty local residents attended a consultation day organised by the purchasers of the Warminster Road MoD site. Your Lib Dem councillors David Martin and Nicholas Coombes had a private meeting with the development team, and also attended the consultation alongside the Leader of the Council, Cllr Paul Crossley.

Developers of the site put forward their sketch scheme for several rows of terraced houses and a residential care home, covering most of the site. A small buffer zone along the Bathhampton side of the site was left, as was canal side access. The Council concept statement idea of a second bridge over the canal was also included. However, the first draft contained no facility for the expansion of St Mary’s Primary School, which is likely to be made necessary by the new homes proposed.

“I commend the development consortium for organising this consultation day,” said Cllr Nicholas Coombes. “I hope that they continue to listen to and work with local people in developing this site. I expect David and I to have a close working relationship with the consortium to ensure that a scheme satisfactory to all is produced.”

A consortium of developers and consultants has purchased the Warminster Road site from the MoD. The consortium is holding a consultation event on Saturday 11 May, on site at Warminster Road, to discuss the early ideas for the regeneration of the site. The session will be from 10 am to 4 pm.

Local residents will have received a direct invitation from the consortium. Your local Councillors will be attending the event, and we hope that you will be able to join us there.

We are glad that so many of you took part in the Council’s consultation to create a Concept Statement for the site. As your local councillors, we will be emphasising to the developers the importance of this document and listening to residents further. Please do get involved in this very important process.

The invitation has also been covered in the Chronicle.

The Warminster Road offices of the People, Pay & Pensions Agency of the MoD have been sold. The site has been bought outright by Square Bay, a property company specialising in London mixed-use developments for Far East Asian investors.

The site will be developed in partnership with Firmstone Developments, based in Bristol. They describe themselves as “small and friendly” with experience of small residential developments.

According to the Chronicle, Markham Hanson, of Square Bay, said: “Redeveloping this site will allow Bath to have the opportunity to provide much needed family housing near to the city centre and improve what is currently a brownfield site.”

Local councillors Nicholas Coombes and David Martin intend to work with developers and the community to create a high quality project with good environmental credentials.

A government Planning Inspector has dismissed an appeal to build a new house in Minster Way.

An application was made last year to build a new house in the back garden of 53 Minster Way, accessed from Trossachs Drive. A similar application was turned down in 2003.

BathNES Planning Committee decided not to approve the latest application in May 2012. The applicant appealed against this decision to the Planning Inspectorate. The Inspector upheld the council’s decision owing to the harm to the conservation area, character and appearance of the proposal ad damage to the residential amenity of neighbouring homes.

The development of 13 houses on the site of the former school is continuing with a completion date of mid summer. Houses in the new Rennie Close are now being advertised for up to £700,000.

The Lime Grove Gardens road surface will require repairs once the works have finished and the developers have agreed to do this. In addition, the developers have agreed not to park vehicles in the adjacent roads, as this was causing problems for residents’ parking.

Cllr David Martin will continue to work with the developers to address the concerns of local residents during the development.

The owners of Smallcombe Farm have applied to formally divert the footpath from the steps by their farm to a zig-zag path through the nearby field. Dozens of local people have taken part in a preliminary consultation which closed on 4th March.

The preliminary consultation was undertaken by a professional agent on behalf of the applicant. They will now analyse the responses and possibly investigate compromises. When they are ready, the agent will write a submission for the Council’s Regulatory Committee to look at. Independent council officers will also write an accompanying report. It will be up to the Regulatory Committee to decide whether to take the application further or abandon it.

If the committee decides to take the application to the next step there will be a further round of public consultation undertaken by the council, followed by another meeting of the Regulatory Committee. Finally any application supported by the committee will be sent to a government Planning Inspector to decide.

Bathwick councillor Nicholas Coombes is chair of the Regulatory Committee. While he isn’t able to comment on the application, he is committed to keeping local people informed and making sure that they are able to be heard when the application is considered by the council. However, no developments are expected in the short term.