Has the NDP been compromised?
OPEN LETTER FROM THE MYLOR NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN STEERING GROUP
A copy of a letter from Cornwall Council has appeared in the Post Office window in Mylor Bridge today, 14 October 2020.
The NDP team is concerned to read about Cornwall Council’s intention to impose a large and inappropriate social housing development on the Parish, and we wish to clarify some points.
The letter suggests that Cornwall Council intends to build a large number of social homes to rent in the Parish. The number mentioned is far more than needed and would not give the Parish the mix of affordable housing it requires for local families and all age groups.
The NDP’s research shows a need for a total of 30 affordable homes, 12 in Flushing and 18 in Mylor for the period of the Plan to 2030: a mix of 70% affordable homes to rent and 30% affordable homes to buy or as shared ownership. This is supported by surveys and research carried out by the NDP over the past three years, including Cornwall Council’s own survey on our behalf of local housing needs. The affordable housing policy in the Plan reflects this and the Plan has been strongly endorsed by parishioners in the recent Regulation 14 statutory public consultation which took place between 13 July and 11 September 2020.
In the past weeks the NDP team has tried to urge the Parish Council to make this information open to everyone in the Parish, but our letters and requests have gone unanswered. Instead, we have been told to pause our work on seeing the NDP through to completion, and it has been alleged that we have shared confidential information, including the letter that has appeared today. For the record, we have not.
Our perception is that a minority have been working on this plan with officials of Cornwall Council. There has been no consultation with the community. This apparent secrecy goes against Cornwall Council’s own policy of openness and public engagement. It seems that Mylor’s NDP is being ignored and could lead to house building being uncontrolled in the Parish for years to come.
If the plans go ahead, they will not give the Parish the affordable homes it needs. The scale of such a development could provide Cornwall Council with some spare housing capacity for people from outside the Parish, but it will not give people in Flushing and Mylor Bridge the types of home needed: for example, larger affordable houses for growing families to move into, freeing up some of the existing affordable housing stock. What is more, development on this scale could potentially threaten Mylor’s AONB status.
A consultant has been hired by the Parish Council to help complete the NDP, at cost, and we wish to get on with supporting that work.
With this information now public, we encourage everyone to support the NDP process.
Please visit www.parish-council.com/mylor/ and contact your Parish Council to express concerns.
Thank you.
Mylor Neighbourhood Development Plan team.
Contact us at www.mylorflushingplan.uk
Find us on Facebook @mylorflushingplan
Where did this info about Cornwall councils intention come from? I cannot find anything about it on Cornwall council web site. As a resident in Mylor bridge I am concerned as to the potential locations of this development and would welcome further updates.
The initial feeling that something was going on was when local residents became aware of an extensive survey going on a site at Saltbox Close, starting very early in the morning. On contacting the Parish Council we were assured they knew nothing about it. Subsequently this letter from Cornwall Council that someone has posted in the post office has now come into the public domain, hence our open letter on this website. The letter makes it obvious that at least some members of the PC were very aware of what was happening during the public consultation of the NDP which they authorised.
Hello Michael, thanks for getting in touch. We are not sure how it came to be in the post office window but it was written by an officer of CC and was part of agenda papers for the Parish Council’s meeting on 28 September. Its existence was referred to at that meeting, with members of the public present as observers (muted on Zoom). Its contents were not shared with the public then. It would be interesting to know the PC’s response to your question, if you would like to ask them? With best wishes, Jane Moss (member of the NDP steering group)
I participated in your meeting on 22nd October. I thought I understood from that meeting that the ’70 homes proposal’ in so called secret email dated 15th September published by me in the Post Office window was NOT secret so far as Cornwall Council was concerned and that it would NOT happen without community support. As the Parish Council has not written to Cornwall Council (so far as I know and certainly had not done so by 29th October according to their Statement on the Council website (now in News Section)) I took it upon myself to ask for those two points to be confirmed in writing. I am sending you my three attempts to get those simple points recorded. At this point in time Cllr Mitchell, Portfolio for Homes has said that there is a pre app on Saltbox. I think he is confusing this proposal with Tregew Meadows 2 in Flushing but he has still not replied. Neither has Sam Irving, the relevant officer at Cornwall Council. In any event why doesn’t the Parish Council write to Cornwall Council or Cornwall Council write to the Parish Council or both. I am only a member of the public trying to fill a gaping whole. I think the assumption you seem to make on your website that all is now fine seems at least premature. Have you tried writing to Cllr Mitchell. He made the statement in your meeting?
Hi Fiona, thanks for your comments regarding the NDP and in particular our (the NDP Team) actions since the publication of the letter you mention.
It is true that we were concerned when we first had sight of that letter and, as you know raised those concerns very publicly on this website and on social media once the letter was clearly in the public domain. To get more accurate information, we then organised a public meeting (which you attended) and we received very firm denials to some of the detail by a number of officials , two of whom you mention above. We were also assured that nothing would be done without full public consultation and support. We have no reason to doubt what was said by those who took part. We wrote up the minutes of that meeting directly afterwards and published them on this site. That is all a matter of public record and there were some 39 witnesses to it.
Obviously, we are aware of the concerns you and others have, but it must be said that our preferred option is to work towards the completion of the NDP which we have been directly involved in for 3 years. The only way we can properly influence this is from within, working together with the Parish Council. We would like to think we are ‘cautiously optimistic’ rather than ‘assuming everything is fine’. We listen carefully to opinions of local residents and are very aware of possible concerns and problems. We constantly advise others when we see issues that may affect the smooth passage of the Plan. Like good friends, we are not afraid to say when actions are taken which can put the Plan in danger and as much as possible, we do this in private.
Since then, we have published 5 (or 6) more posts, the latest of which details a further public meeting to discuss Tregew Meadows 2 being organised and hosted on Zoom by the Parish Council on 7th December.
Thank you once more for your comments.
I’d like to read the text of the letter posted in the Mylor News window. I’m happy to view a ‘redacted’ image, but the view posted on this website is too small to read.
Hopefully that is unintentional, I’m assuming there is nothing to hide (?)
Thanks for your letter. Nothing has been redacted or deleted, but that post is now over 3 months old and while we don’t believe in deleting or hiding anything, we would not re-post it after all this time either. You can still find the original post (which if you’ve seen the photo then you will already have found it). If you read the whole article, you will find a link in the text which takes you to that redacted letter. I must say that when you do that, keep in mind that a lot has happened since and you should then read the updates and other reports that follow.