On 14 March 2007, following publication of the LDF Core Strategy Document, the two Parish Councils arranged a Public Meeting at which Councillor Andy Smith gave a presentation and answered villagers’ questions. He was accompanied by Phil Ridley and Stephen Brown from SCDC Planning department, and the meeting was jointly chaired by Richard Kerry (Trimley St Mary) and Joe Smith (Trimley St Martin). John Gummer MP had agreed to attend but was unable to do so.  The Memorial Hall was packed - standing room only - with indignant villagers.

I am sorry not to be able to be with you tonight.  The Trident debate and vote has meant that the Whips have recalled us all – even MPs who are abroad.  You know that I am very concerned about the attempts to build large numbers of houses in Trimley St Mary and Trimley St Martin.  You are right to insist that the two villages need to be kept separate.  You are right too, to insist that those villages have already grown considerably and cannot take significant new development.
The difficulty is that the Government has forced huge numbers of new homes on all local authorities.  Suffolk Coastal is no exception – it is legally bound to provide for large numbers of new houses.  They cannot refuse.  That’s why they have to consult on where to put those homes.  It is not fair to attack them for obeying the law.  Our job is to argue effectively that Trimley is not the place for big new developments.
Of course most growth should be on brown field land – it’s the Government that has wrongly insisted on these green field sites being used and we need to change their mind – and the law.

Informal Notes Taken At The Public Meeting Held At The Memorial Hall On Wednesday 14 March 2007
(Notes Taken By : Tracey Hunter, Trimley St Martin Parish Clerk. Photos reproduced from a video made by Felixstowe TV))

PRESENT: Parish Councillors from both Trimley Parish Councils, Members of the Public.
INVITED GUESTS: SCDC Councillor Andy Smith (Leader of the LDF Task Group),  SCDC Planning Policy and Development Manager Stephen Brown and SCDC Head of Planning Services Phil Ridley.
CHAIRED BY: Chairman of Trimley St Mary Parish Council Richard Kerry and Vice Chairman of Trimley St Martin Parish Council Joe Smith.
APOLOGIES: The Rt Hon. John Gummer MP

Richard Kerry opened the meeting and explained that it had been held to give residents the opportunity to find out more about the Local Development Framework process and to be able to put any questions or views to those involved at SCDC who were instrumental in putting the whole process together.  He then introduced Andy Smith, Steve Brown and Phil Ridley to those present.

Andy Smith then proceeded to explain the Local Development Framework process and started by asking how many people had had a chance to look through the Core Strategy Issues and Options document which was currently out for consultation and about one third of the audience indicated that they had.  Andy Smith felt that the public had perhaps been ‘misled’ by inaccurate reporting in the local paper especially with regard to incorrect housing numbers and with regard to the Trimley villages, details of site specific Greenfield areas which could be affected by major housing development. He was keen to stress that the current CSIO document gave no indication of any preferred option nor was it site specific at this stage of the process.  Steve Brown went on to explain the process of the putting together the CSIO which, after consultation and having received and considered responses to this document, a further document would then follow which would then identify site specific locations for housing, identifying village envelopes, employment opportunities etc.  This document when ready (likely to be the end of 2007/beginning 2008) would itself then be put out for consultation.

Andy Smith advised that whilst their objective was to meet the needs of the local people and listen to their views, as a public authority, they must abide by the policies laid out by both national and regional government.

Steve Brown confirmed that he had received some 400 applications from land owners and developers, including the one most known about from Trinity College, but stressed that they had no more status within the process than anyone else.

Andy Smith then proceeded to run though the elements that made up the LDF document which had to take into account the key issues and trends which were affecting the Suffolk Coastal area and these included the driving objective of the need to provide affordable housing for young people to be able to live locally to where they had grown up,  provide housing near to employment such that residents did not have to commute along the already busy A14 and generally to provide housing for people, as with the current growth in population for the area, would mean that during the next 15 years, available housing would become a real problem for the area.  It was important that SCDC are able to demonstrate that they have taken the necessary required steps to provide the area with a 15 year land supply and to do this it would be necessary to utilise green field land as well as brown field, although Andy Smith did confirm that there was a limited supply of brown field land currently available in the Felixstowe/Trimley area.

He advised that the East Of England Plan had stated that at least 10,200 houses would be required to fulfil the expected needs for the SCDC area and although this figure had been significantly reduced by existing planning applications, windfall sites and current brown field land, this still leaves 3600 houses that need to be provided within the area.

Andy Smith did agree that the two Trimley Villages should retain their own separate identities but felt that they were still one area with Felixstowe, and he illustrated this by stating that whilst people liked to live in the Trimley villages, their work, education, shopping and social activities were all mainly carried out in Felixstowe. So whilst they were both diverse in their own ways, they were also complimentary.

Andy Smith then went on stress that with regard to where housing would be situated, that there were currently NO site specific options contained in the current document and that six different options had been put forward for consideration.  However, he did concede that most of the options did favour Felixstowe and the Trimleys for development and this was due to the area having major employment opportunities close by such at the Port of Felixstowe and British Telecom, there was a current housing shortage in this particular area and it was needed for both social and economic development.

He also confirmed that available brown field sites would be utilised before Greenfield sites would be considered and that housing would be phased in over the next 15yrs using these brown field sites as a starting point.   Phil Ridley confirmed that whilst Greenfield sites would in fact be identified at the start of the process, they would be used as a last resort.    He confirmed that they were not just going to be looking at green field sites in the Trimley villages but also in Felixstowe such as land adjacent to the A14.

Andy Smith was keen to point out that the document was not just about housing, but the whole infrastructure of the area including roads, social support, transport etc.   Developer contribution and co-operation would be required and would look at such aspects like the local High Road to see if it could be improved.  Phil Ridley advised that they would be consulting with all local services such as utility companies, Police and other services as the infrastructure of an area to be developed would have to be put in place first before housing development could take place.

It was also stressed that full consultation would take place with parish councils, local people, potential developers etc in order that the LDF Task Group would be able to fully consider all the options available and be able to put forward the next document in the process which would take into account the responses they had received.  However, Andy Smith advised that whilst they were very keen to look at, consider and use the input of consultees in the next phase of the process, there were some tough decisions to be made and it would not be possible to “keep everyone happy all of the time.”     

Richard Kerry then thanked Andy, Steve and Phil for their presentation and then proceeded to read a letter which had been received from John Gummer MP. (Copy attached).

There then followed a question and answer session with members of the public and the SCDC representatives.   A selection of which follow :-


Q: Where are the brown field sites in Felixstowe and Trimley?
A:  There are not many brown field sites available; they are mainly made up of large gardens which  could be subject to future planning applications.  There are few substantial large brown field sites, but  they are trying to identify any at the moment.  
Q: There are currently six options contained in the document, is it true that the Task Group did in fact  have a preference for option 6 and that this was in fact minuted at a Task Group meeting?
A: Yes that is true, but that was before the Government changed its mind about public authorities putting  forward preferred options.  New instructions received during the process advised that options should  be put out for consultation without preference.  
Q: Is your mind still open regarding the six options?
A: Yes, it is.
Q:  What would the price of affordable housing be?
A: It would depend on whether the cost of the property would be subsidised, rented out, or part-shared.  SCDC would do everything they could to provide affordable housing.
Q: What percentage of houses built would be ‘affordable’?
A: One third would be affordable. (1 in 3 in villages, 1 in 6 in towns)
Q: I am a 23yr old local resident but cannot afford anything in this area.
A: Unfortunately, people see houses as an investment and sell at the highest price they can achieve.  Providing affordable housing in local areas will help to address that problem.
Q: Available properties which are owned by Housing Associations are always being sold privately at  high prices which are out of the reach for young people.
A: We agree that is wrong. SCDC will be able to take away the chance of this happening by enforcing  robust agreements that affordable housing is only sold to people with local connections and remains  an affordable price.
Q: Following attendance at SCDC run workshops, a settlement hierarchy showed that the Trimley  villages were shown to be classed as key service centres which could provide small infill  development; now in this document it shows the Trimley villages as being joined with Felixstowe  and therefore classed as a major urban area. Why out of 115 towns/villages are the two Trimley  villages the only ones that have been moved when this document was produced?
A: This is a consultation document only,  they could be changed again, as could the classification of any  of the other towns/villages.  Stephen Brown advised he initially put this settlement hierarchy together  based on information gained from various workshops but pointed out that any village or town could  argue their own case for their classification to be changed.   Andy Smith added that for the reasons he  outlined earlier, you cannot treat Felixstowe and the Trimleys differently.
Q: Does the same line of thinking apply to other villages that are in close proximity to towns, such as  Hasketon with Woodbridge?
A: Not necessarily.  It may be that villages who are in the local service centres or countryside sections of  the settlement hierarchy would welcome some housing development.
Q: Where are the sites proposed for development?
A: There are no sites proposed at this stage of the process, no secret maps in drawers!
Q: Have you looked at the Suffolk Coastal District as a whole?  Only option one does not include major  housing in Felixstowe and the Trimleys.
A: We will look at all responses to the consultation document and decide from there which option would  be put forward as the preference by SCDC.
Q: What about the future of the hospitals and doctors surgeries?
A: Without growth, existing facilities will not survive and hence with more housing development, will  come better services such as improved health facilities.  Phil Ridley re-iterated that they were talking  to various outside services to plan for the future of the supporting infrastructure.
Q: Can the David Lock report be put in the bin?
A: The David Lock report was helpful in that it properly identified the trends and issues that are affecting  the peninsular and these have proved to be of assistance in putting together the LDF.  However, their  scenarios and identification of huge areas of Greenfield land recommended for large scale housing  development, we are not taking notice of.  We will reach our own conclusions once we have studied  all the responses.

Following the conclusion of the Q & A session, Richard Kerry thanked Andy, Steve and Phil for attending the meeting.  Joe Smith addressed the members of the public and asked them to respond to the CSIO document by the 2nd April as it was important that their views on the future of the village should be considered by the LFF Task group, when putting together the next document for consultation.

Joe Smith then closed the meeting at 9.25pm.

Notes of this Public Meeting are shown below, but some questions and answers are so significant that we have decided to reproduce them in full.

Where Are The Brownfield Sites?

Stephen Brown : “There aren’t many brownfield sites in Felixstowe or the Trimleys. The most common are going to be large gardens and there is clearly a concern with regard to what is known as town cramming.  There are no substantial large brownfield sites I have to say. The sites are constituted by very small ones. There aren’t very many of them.”

Did You Minute Your Preference For Option Six Last Year?

Andy Smith : “That is true but we then had to rework our way of working to work with a complete change in the way the government wanted us to work. At that stage we and councils up and down the land believed we were working towards the guidelines, which was that you go out about now with a consultation on the preferred option so that people could see all the options and which one was thought to be the best. We went through that process as did hundreds of councils up and down the land.  But just when we were about to complete that the whole thing screeched to a halt because the first two or three councils who got to the public inquiry stage were told by the inspectors ‘No, you shouldn’t have been doing it like that, you should have gone out with plain options.’ So we had to stop and rejig and we lost several months in the process, as did councils up and down the land. So we are coming to you now saying we are not going to tell you what we think at the moment, but the very well educated know perhaps what was in our minds. But so far as the consultation is concerned we are seeking to guide the response in any way at all.”

What Percentage of New Build Will Be Affordable?

Phil Ridley : “The council adopted a policy in April last year where we lowered the threshold for affordable housing which is something the council should take great credit for. One third of all new dwellings across the district will be affordable on schemes of over 3 in size in villages and 6 in towns. The national policy is 15 and 25. We brought these thresholds down so we can deliver more affordable housing for the needs of this district as a whole and that policy is proving to be very successful for the last year.”

Why Has The Status Of The Trimley Villages Been Changed In the Settlement Hierarchy Without Consultation?

Stephen Brown : “The council held workshops and invited parish councils to talk about a settlement hierarchy, because that is the way the government suggests how we do these things. We should put settlements into a hierarchy. The ones at the top of the hierarchy have big employment, town centres, etc. They are the ones that should have the most. Workshops were held to talk about this principle of a hierarchy; how would you define the hierarchy; what criteria would you require in order for a settlement to be at the bottom or the top. The workshops were purely about talking concepts. At one of the workshops, to assist the debate I produced a list, just for myself, off the top of my head - perhaps this is how the hierarchy could look. When I gave that to everyone I said this is just my thoughts on the matter. This is not a commitment from the district council. This is purely to aid debate on the night. So nothing has been published. This is the first time we have had the document where you can comment. The council is asking for your comments. This is the consultation.”

Andy Smith : “You have to kook at the relationship between Felixstowe and the Trimleys as an area. Trimley people work in Felixstowe or Ipswich don’t they? Trimley people go shopping in Felixstowe or Ipswich. Trimley people go to school in Felixstowe. So you cannot treat Felixstowe and Trimley in isolation. We have to stand or fall together, and that is the thinking behind the way it is put there at the moment.  Villages of every size need to have the appropriate form and scale of development for that village, in that place, in their circumstances.”