January 24th, 2012
WELCOME TO MY WEBSITE.
January 19th, 2012
IMPORTANT EVENTS TO ADD TO YOUR DIARY
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Malmesbury Town Council planning meeting focusing on the Sainsbury’s planning application.
This is simply to ensure you are aware that the Malmesbury Town Council, in conjunction with St Paul Without Parish Council, are holding two public meetings on Tuesday 31st January in the Town Hall starting at 18:30 and 20:00 where the community can have their opportunity to let the two councils know their views on the Sainsbury’s ‘out of town’ supermarket application. The two parishes have jointly been working on analysing the extensive documentation and a short presentation will be given highlighting the salient details.If you want to get your view across to the two Councils then please come along. Feel free to pass this friends and neighbours and encourage them to attend.7.pm Malmesbury Town Hall
Sainsbury’s invite you to see their final Submitted plans for their Supermarket planning application.
Saturday the 28th of January
Malmesbury Town Hall
9.30am – 4.00pm
The River Valleys Trust AGM
Takes place on the 3rd February at 1900 in the Town Hall when a speaker from the Environment Agency will be speaking about our rivers.
January 18th, 2012
What kind of development do we wish for Malmesbury?
Comment?
PRESERVE THE BEAUTY AND VITALITY OF OUR TOWN
We’re a small market town with lots of character, traditional buildings, good schools and shops and we’re surrounded by working farms and beautiful countryside.
PLAN FOR PEOPLE RATHER THAN PROFIT FIRST
Hundreds of houses have recently been built yet we’re being asked to accept hundreds more. Our schools are full to bursting. Our parking shortage is legendary. Our roads, sewage, power and water infrastructure are at maximum capacity.
LETS CREATE A PEOPLE FOCUSED DESIGN LED NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
We don’t want developers profiteering for short term financial gain. Rather we want development that will stand the test of time, support the local economy, provide high quality accommodation for all of our community, respect the individual character of the town and protect our natural environment.
ALLOW US THE SPACE TO CREATE OUR PLAN
We want to put all the currently proposed development plans to be put on hold for long enough to give the community a chance to get good impartial advice from experts about what kind of growth would benefit the town – where and when. We want to use this advice to work in partnership with all those involved so as to manage what is eventually built. Malmesbury is a microcosm of the government policy on housing development. Developers think the government supports their arguments for inappropriate, unsustainable urban sprawl, Residents think their inclusion in the government’s trial neighbourhood planning scheme will bring sustainable development. Is government planning policy for people or quick profit?
December 17th, 2011
NEWS FROM BEYOND MALMESBURY
Comment?
December 4th, 2011
THE GREAT DEBATE
Comment?
Duncan Hames (Chippenham, Liberal Democrat speakes in parliament)
May I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and all the staff of the Houses of Parliament a very merry Christmas?
I speak today in support of increased local decision-making in the planning system. Specifically, I would like to encourage the Government to ensure that the neighbourhood plans made possible by the Localism Act 2011 give local people enough power to have a real say over what development takes place in their area, where it takes place and, crucially, whether it meets the sustainable development test.
There are many cases in my constituency that illustrate not only the ways in which people currently feel disengaged from the planning system, but the great potential in communities when they get organised. A great number of my constituents have contacted me about large housing developments proposed near Birds Marsh woods and the Avon floodplain in Chippenham. They have emphasised the importance of preserving the countryside around the edge of the town, and many have expressed their frustration at their apparent inability to affect the decisions being made. One lady made the point that,
“the voice of ordinary residents does not seem to be heard, and decisions are made by people for whom this is not their home”.
Similarly, the expansion of an edge-of-town Sainsbury’s superstore has recently been approved by the council, leading to the resignation in dismay of the chair of the Chippenham Vision group.
Earlier this month, I asked the Minister with responsibility for decentralisation what advice he would give to councils that face such developer interest in out-of-town sites. He assured me that the “town centre first” policy remains firm, but that development in Chippenham would suggest otherwise, as Wiltshire council felt free to ignore it. There will be no public confidence in a “take it or leave it” attitude to planning policy, with some councils proceeding with development that is neither sustainable nor what local people want, for fear of paying for expensive appeals by developers.
Friday, November 25th, 2011
£1 Billion to tackle youth unemployment
Lib Dem Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has outlined a £1 billion pound Youth Contract to tackle youth unemployment. The aim is to ensure that all jobless young people are earning or learning again before long-term damage is done.
- Over three years, the Youth Contract will provide at least 410,000 new work places for 18 to 24 year olds into work. Starting April 2012
- Including 160,000 wage subsidies and 250,000 new work experience placements.
- In addition, there will be at least 20,000 more incentive payments to encourage employers to take on young apprentices.
- A new programme to help the most disengaged 16 and 17 year olds – getting them back to school or college, onto an apprenticeship or into a job with training.
