Tern Inn and car park under threat from development

Around 100 local residents came to Dodington
Parish Council's meeting on 2 November
to protest against the development

A developer has put in a planning application to demolish the Tern Inn at Heron Way and build 28 flats on the site, including the car park which is heavily used by parents at Raysfield School and customers of the Heron Way shops.

Local residents have organised a petition against the proposal and will be meeting at 7pm next Wednesday (9 November) to discuss their next steps. They have also set up a Save the Tern Inn Facebook Page. There is also a Facebook group "The Birds Residents Group" that you have to request to join.

Dodington Parish Council is researching the proposal and the background and looking at how best to represent residents' views, but it is South Glos Council that will approve or refuse the plans.

If you have views on the development, please please make comments on the South Glos Council planning application page. You can read the proposal and see other people's comments here (the plans are towards the bottom of the list) and then press the Make a Comment button on the same page to make your own views know. You have until 15 November to do this (NOT 18 Nov as we said earlier), but we suggest that you do it soon in case you forget! If you think of something extra later, you can always make another comment before the 15th.

Different people will have different priorities - maybe you're a local resident, a user of the pub, a school parent or staff member, a customer of the shops, or several of these. Here are a few things you might like to consider. Please feel free to use these ideas, but it's best if you put your views in your own words rather than copying and pasting - South Glos councillors and officers will take more notice of them.

TRAFFIC AND PARKING

• The private car park has for many years been used by parents at school drop-off and pick-up times to avoid parking on the very congested Heron Way.
• This development would displace many more cars onto Heron Way, which is already curved and narrow.
• The result would be increased dangers on this popular Route To School.
• The planning application should not be determined solely on the extra parking required by the proposed flats, but should take into account the traffic and parking displaced by the proposal.
• A detailed traffic survey needs to be undertaken at 0830-0930 and 1500-1545 on school days (these extended periods cover the Pre-School as well as the Primary School)The parking shown allocates 8 visitor spaces for the new flats, but no spaces for the existing shop units and maisonettes
• (edited 04/11/2016) The parking shown allocates 8 visitor spaces for the new flats, but no spaces at all for the existing shop units and maisonettes.
• (added 04/11/2016) The Design and Access Statement says “if at all possible, the Local Authority suggested a potential planning benefit to serve the existing shops and assist with community concerns to demonstrate 6 parking spaces allocated for community use” – Does this mean they would want to put another road access onto the space in front of the shops, which they also own? 

DESIGN

• The high density and low parking provision is very reminiscent of the nearby Normandy Drive development that has caused so many problems with vehicular access.
• When Normandy Drive was constructed it was based on ill-founded Government parking limits that have since been withdrawn. What are the current South Gloucestershire requirements?
• Even considering the meagre parking proposed for the new flats, many of their occupants will park out on Heron Way, causing traffic holdups and increased danger.

JUSTIFICATION

• The Design and Access Statement refers to the Draft DPD's Chipping Sodbury Town Centre Summary, which is not relevant. This site is not part of the Chipping Sodbury Town Centre area, as would have been obvious if the designers had consulted the map on page 17 of the document they are quoting (http://www.southglos.gov.uk//documents/3-Chipping-Sodbury-@-May-2015.pdf)
• Moreover the 1-2 bedroom homes in that Town Centre were an aspiration of Chipping Sodbury Town Council, but this site is part of Dodington Parish not Sodbury.

EFFECT ON EXISTING BUSINESSES AND DWELLINGS

• Pub: As many of the comments on the Planning Application say, this is not a “former pub” (as the developers originally claimed) but an active business and community hub, even though the site owners would like to see it run down. The community would rather see investment in the pub to make it more viable.
• Shops: The shop units have recently been considerably improved and are developing into thriving businesses. The proposals would take away the parking that they need to survive, and the rank of shops would soon deteriorate again. In addition there seems to be no provision for waste storage or collection from the shops.
• Maisonettes: Existing residents would lose their parking and again be displaced onto Heron Way.

PLANNING HISTORY

• The proposals would not only remove the main car park, they also use the service yard at the back of the shops and maisonettes.
• What were the requirements of the original planning permission for the shops and maisonettes? Do the present proposals infringe parking that was required at the time?