ME!~THlG HF.l,D ON 8 th DECEMBER 1 98G !\T TllF'. OLD SCHOOL

AT 7 . L~Sprn TO DISCUSS OUTLINE STRATEGY f.'OR THE

Rf<'.STORATION AND DEVELOPMENT or HI GHtlAtl COURT.

PRESENT - Mrs S Smith - Chairman Messrs . D Cart wri ght , A Chambers , D Harris fc.£ S Humble .

Members of TBC - Mr Strachan &c Mr Phi l 1ips .

DISTRICT COUNCILLOR - Rob Johns t one

Mr. T Fenton on beha l f of 1li ghnam Court .

The Chairman opened the mee t in g by welcomin g c1ll those pr.esent , th e n as ke d Mr fi'enton to put forward th e proposal for Hi gh nam Court .

I ' • I Mr Fento n stated the outline of the proposal was to secu r e the future o f the Cour t an d t hat of the artistic life around . Money had be e n sp e nt , but much more was need e d to be spent on1it . 1 he Gar den was over g ro wn and nee rl~/ attent io n .

THE SCHEME IS DESIGNED TO:-

J. . Mal<f:. c'i15c. futu r e of the Cour t safe in the lon g term . 2 . Er.lsure t~R:/ a r ti stic l ife ar oun d the Cour t wi l l flourish . 3 . Replant "P~~a ne a nd ge ner al repl fmting . 4 ~ Cour t?/ gard ,ee s "\1,,i._l be a t:r i but e to the -...... vil la ie again .

, ---...... ................ ,

THE.GARDENS

' The Gardens have many a cr es and will tak e. C L1i\ ( fQOUS finance to renov a t e . ....

OPERA BOX

Thi s is not a v iable proposition on i t s own , but 0~ i ll need · ~ confer en c e for suppor t.

THE COURT.

Then :! are already plans for a llotel.

VILLAGE CONCEPT

The hu man eliminate to this project must be the ba ckoo ne of it .

None of the above are a viab l e unit i f sp lit.

This scheme is a new con c ep t i n th e County and is clesi8n ed f or th e old er people t o enjoy life , as the age limit starts a t 55 u pwards. It is hop ed th a t thos e livin g in th e villa ge will enjoy t he surroun ds and water g ardens , it will also be se l f ft nan c i ng .

Rob Johnstone then asked Mr St r achan at what sta ge this Sch em£ has r ea ch e d . He replied th Rt the application l~cked de tail so it ha s bee n I e turned to thG A3ent . TBC are still awali.tiii9g reply . The eight week s tatuary period had not started , t hey have till th e January meetin g which will be on t he third Tuesday of the Month .

Ar Strachan tha n r eported this was an unu)'ll proposc1l , nothin g st mil ar ~~~ ~~e n receiv ed before . A co mplex near lar ger propert ies who have

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.1e next question raised was what would happen i f Planning Permission was e,iven, then the Units remained unlet. He replied the applicant could seek restrictions to be lifted .

It was th en pointed out the Hi ghnarn would increase iµ si ze by 50%, thi~ would vastly increase the traffic volume on the surrounding roa ds its services and amenities .

Mr Fenton replied sayin g access would be onto the Dual Car r iageway . The proposed villa ge would ha ve its own Community Hall , Library , Bus Se rvice to Gloucester , basic amenities for its Re sidents and woul d be total1y separate from the present villa 8,e, but Residents may share t he facilities on times.

The Chair1nan then expressed concern over so many old people livin g as a community where the age limit starts at 55 then be co mes aged . Mr Cartwright felt it may turn into a Nursin g Homes for the aged .

Mr Fenton replied by saytn g as the residents Bet older, they coul d trad e their units i n fcir smallJr ones , clos e r to t he main facilities . The Schc~rne would fail if it be came a g lorified .,Nursin g Horne.

Councillor Johnstone pointed out that such a plan is a majo r rleparture from the Gloucestershire Structure anrl th e Glouc e ster North Env iro ns Local Plan. ·,

' .Mr Strachan , replied policies have already heen pointed out to the applicants . 'A)s o, Mr Phillips J rns been involved at the e arly sta r;e s .

-- T-11e Rorou gh Pl annJn g Committee has its own set of proc e dures to go throu gh prior to r ~achin g their de cisi9~ .

Mr Fenton then said, the project has to be biB and bold or it will not work . The idea was first put forward by a Deve l oper . Reaso n to see lli gh narn Court a viable ·; place. It is th er efore inten ded to hold a puhlic meeting en Sunday 14th December 1986 . '

Councillor Johnstone said surely Highnarn should be minor infill . cope for the size of Development

the only Development allow ed ~in The Current sewerage syst em coul d pl anned . ........__,._____

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not ·· ..........

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Mr Fenton siad the guest ion of the sewera r-;c li es with ---.th e Authorites . An architect will also contact th e Highways Dept . over -~ he , road . Mr Strach an stated a second access incas e of e mer ge ncy would be -~ must. At this point Mr Fenton sairl I would lik e to make it cl ea r that the Parish Council decision is very i mportant to nie .

Mr Fenton then left at 8 .30pm so di scus sion and de cision could be made . The Chairman thanked him •for g ivin g his re port .

The Chairman asked if the Parish is ready to tak e another new Estate of this scale . It was felt we should not ha ve too. Mr Strach an fe lt Hig hnam sh ould have a s et tlin g down perio d .

SUHMERY OF DISCUSSION THAT FOLLOHri'.!J

It Appears that in small scale Developments of this type ie . 30 dwellin es , the old seem to love the way people mix , areas lik e those in Ledbury ar e sellin g as fast as they are built .

It was thou ght that with Hi ghnam Court cceating , solely f or music lovers, t~e.vast influx of people would come fro m outside the ar e a . Ther ef ore m1x1ng of people coul d be dif f icult as th e majority may be sin ~l e .

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L' . R. E. are concerned that parts of the countys forecast of 1Touses a r e -. exceeded, also the s tructure of this l and is in no way preservin g th e

, 8a rd e ns and surroundin g s land of th e court .

TBC have indicated that they already have suffi c ient land for buil d in 3 homes for the next 7 years .

TBC Eng in e ers have pointed out that they have no storm wat e r syst em, ~vill have to ha ve its own separate tr eatme nt wor k s . Th i s can become very expe nsiv e .

Finance will c ome from income of t he 300 Units , ground r e nt etc ., Units wil l sell on the Le asehold . Some rent ed accommodation may be availabl e on a s it e of this size , helpin g provi de a more bala nced Community . Appea rs therefor e to . be a form of Timeshare Schemes .

TBC have never experienced any thin g of this sc a le before . An ide a tri ed out in America . The Scheme will be difficult to set up a nd operate . Le e al Agr ee ment d!awn up y ill be very co mplexed , with thin g s done in the corrent sequence . ·

The Court a l ready h a s p l ans passed for the con version into a h otel . Thi s is to run by Profe$s i onal Man~gement . To s ave the House appea rs to be the _ rnain obj e ctive ..

Plans to he l ooked at frorn a planning point of v iew. TBC Eire fully awar e t11a t t l;·r.s- s'ets ,a president for t he Rorou gh . This bein 8 fo r outlin e permission ttt'f;"\ Parish Counc il must gi v e it plenty of thou ght . Parj_sh CGuncil v iews ar ~ very important ~t o TBC dis cu ss ion . Publi c must all expr.ess their views orn·:.;S.Qmething of ,this scale . A Plannin g Committ ee of 2L1. Plannin g Officers wilf . can5ider '•-the plan .

Best way to obtain response is to call ,a Bublic dee tin lj for Pa ris h Councillors to answer questions , try to clear any mis c oncep t io n , also in fo rm th em to write their obser v ations to TBC~

The Chairman then Thanked Mr Strach an , Mr Phillips gnd Couneillor Rob Johnstone for g ivin g us their ti me and poi nts of vi ew . .

HIC-;HNAM PARISH COUNCIL

A SITE MEETI NG HELD ON MONDAY 5t h OCTOBER 1987

TO DISCUSS HIGJINAM COURT DF.VELOP:-rnNT

P~ESENT - Mrs S Hurnhle (Chair man PC) Mrs S Smi th (Ex. Chairman PC) Mrs G Stewart (C. 1J. R. S. ) Mr · C O' Donnell (Parish Clerk)

The ChAirman wel.corned Mrs Stewart to th e area ancl introduced her to Mrs Smith , w}10 was invited hecause of he r inv olv ernent at the initial and for her knmvledge of · th e area , and the Parish Clerk who has been only contact torl ate . ~--, -

sta ge her

Mrs Smith :·tbeo . proceed to guide the party from t he grounds of t he Old · School , throu 8h the park and onto t he Court .

. I. \ . .

; ,..s Humble poi nt ed 'out the areas t-hat the Development would cover as ,rli.cc1ted to her when the Court held its open day .

\

Mrs Stew: 1rt stat~d the Parish Council has don e extre mely 1,,1ell in getting the Dapa rtmen~ of the Env ironment to h ear the case . Then as ked if t he r e wer e any more detailed plans other thari the or i g inals sub mitted . The a Op we r Was', r~~ • . . .

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The Courc l)ein g a ·Grade 1 listed buildin g may have to be preser ved a nd t o ~,~--:::. some sort pf , Commercial vi ability to fLmd it , but hopefully not on this scale .

Mrs Smith asked if the preservation of tr ee s cou1d he used Rgainst t he de ve lopm e nt . Mrs St ewa rt sai d if should not be one of th e Councils main objections .

The quest ion of an ~.g reement was r n ised to protect the Counc i 1 if they failed in the figh t of this case . Section 52 was talked about . Mrs Stewnrt said the Parish Council would ne eci to ha ve le ~al R~nres e nt at ion ~ ;fi e.ht the case, a pla nnin g witness 1;1ould a l so be useful . '

Mrs Stewart offer ed her services free to th e Parish Council for t h is visit and work contacted with i.t, but i f th e Parish Council would like her to present th e ir c ase , her fee is [170 pe r day plus expe ns es and VAT. A Solic itor would also be contact ed who Mrs ~tewart has work ed with succ ess fully in th e past to se~ i f he is avail ab le , if the Council r eq u est ed it . The Chairman ask e d Mrs Ste wart to contact him .

The cost to fi ght this case is expect ed to be arounrl £3000 to £5000 , not cheap for the Par is h e 6uncil.

The Cha ir man t hen thank ed everyon e for a tten di.ng and felt the meeting h ad been most useful to all partJ .es conc erned .

/ MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC MEETING HELD AT HIGHNAM PARISH ROOM

Present:

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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22 1987

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Sheila Humble, Chairman of the Parish Council,

King, Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council,

Mr Derek Davies, Tewkesbury Borough councillor.

A number of parishioners. - ~ b

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The Chairman gave apologies from Mr Tom Fenton and made

a statement relating - the history of the application to build

on Highnam Court land. Slie said the Parish Council objected

to the application on the grounds that it was extremely big

and would increase the number of dwellings in Highnam by

fifty percent. The .Council questioned the validity of housing

so many elderl y people together. It was also concerned that

the scheme was in conflict with the County Structure Plan

and the Gloucester North Environs Plan.

The Vice-Chairman read details of objections which had been

lodged with Tewkesbury Borough Council and a letter from Mr

Fenton, who had now withdrawn from the application. Mr Smith,

although he did not own the land, was continuing with the

application and a public inquiry would be held on the 10-12

November 1987.

The Chairman said the council had decided to oppose the

application and felt it was important to be represented at

the Inquiry. All the papers had been passed to an expert

planning consultant at Birmingham University who was preparing

a case.

It would cost £1,000 to £1,500 to pres ent the case and

the meeting had been called to discuss methods of finding the

money.

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The council had set aside £1,200 for the construction of

a lay-by on the spine road but work was unlikely to commence

in this financial year so the money could be used to pay for

representation at the Inquiry. It was a matter for concern,

however, that costs of representation could exceed £1,200.

The Chairman read letters from Mr Ian Locks and Mrs Anne

Vaughan-Davies supporting the idea of a professional representing

the views of th~ village.

Coun. Davies said the application had been made last

December and had been -opposed by his predecessor, Mr Johnstone,

as strongly as he could. However, a good public relations

job was done on behalf of the applicant and the members of

the Planning Committee as constituted before the last election

felt the scheme was a good idea.

Mr Smith had outlined to the council plans for upgrading

Highnam Court into an hotel, building an opera box and re­

establishing the gardens - the cost to be met by building 300

dwellings.

Coun. Davies said the Borough Council had been somewhat

misled. He felt the application was not straight. It was

planning by stealth. Ostensibly, however, the Planning Committee

had passed the plans but had, since his election, had a re-think

and was now instructing the Borough Planning Officer to adopt

a neutral position at the Inquiry.

Mr Smith would now have to fight his corner on his own,

but he would be backed by wealthy developers with skilled

professional representation and the more local people who went

along to the Inquiry to show their opposition, the better.

The concensus of opinion he had found was that most people

were against the scheme because they realised that it was likely

to be different t o what appeared on paper. If the Parish could

act effectively in unison, it had a good chance of stopping the

application in its tracks.

( )

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----~ Mrs Josie Smith, former Parish Council Chairman, said

she had spoken to Coun. Chamberlayne, Borough Council Chairman,

and explained to him that the parish was afraid outline

permission would be granted and that the scheme would then be

altered on the grounds that there was no call for this type

of housing. But when the vote was taken, Mr Chamberlayne

abstained and this was something she felt very grieved abouto

Mr Ron Jones said if it was the case that Mr Fenton owned

the land and he ha d now withdrawn, the scheme could never go

ahead.

Coun. Davies said Mr Fenton had publicly stated he did

not intend to sell the land or pursue the application. But

if the application was granted, Mr Fenton would be under

tremendous pressure and would be forced to bend, de s pite his

personal feelings, because he would stand to become a millionaire

by selling.

Mrs Smith said outline planning permission was valid for

three years which was a long time for Mr Fenton to withstand

the pressures that would be brought to bear upon him.

Mr Don Say said Highnam had been promised a stabilising

period at the end of the present housing developments but if

the application was allowed, the village would face another ten

years of being like a building site.

Coun. Davies said the Borough Planning Committee had supported

the application because it was given a document which made the

scheme look very attractive and something which would be in

the interests of Tewkesbury. The Committee had now changed

its mind and on the 29th September, at its next meeting, they

would instruct the Planning Officer to adopt a neutral position.

The Committee could not now tell him to oppose the scheme because

he would then be against something which they had ostensibly

passed.

0

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Mr Peter Hayes said Mr Fenton should be asked to give

evidence at the Inquiry on behalf of the parish to help

strengthen -its case.

Mr David Slinger said if the Borough Council had changed

its mind it should have the courage of its convictions and

instruct its Officer to oppose the application at the Inquiry.

They should publicly accept that they had changed their minds

and admit that they had made a mistake.

Coun. Davies said the Planning Officer had been against

the scheme from the start. It was the Committee which over-ruled

him. He said that the Council could not revoke something it

had already passed but by standing to one side, they could

make it clear to the Inspector at the Inquiry that they had

changed their minds.

He said the applicants had held a meeting at Highnam

Court on a Sunday afternoon with tea and cakes provided and

a lot of Borough Councillors attended. They were taken on a

walk around the site, which was a lovely one. If the dreams

that Mr Smith seemed to have were to come to fruition, it

would be a marvellous development, but he could not believe

the dream. Mr Smith did not have a good track recordo In July

1980 he was given permission for a musical centre at Highnam

Court and one of the conditions was that he should close off

the entrances at Two Mile Lane and in the Newent Road and open

a new entrance on the A40/48 roundabout. He had never done so.

He had put in an application for an hotel which was passed and

the Borough Council repeated that a condition would be the

closing of the two accesses and the opening of a new one on the

roundabout so he was in breach of that permission. This did

not speak too hi~ly of someone who wanted to build 300 dwellings.

Mr Michael Matthews said as he was in the •trade' of

dealing with planning inquiries himself, the possible costs to

the parish of being represented, concerned him.

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He said the correct procedure would be for Tewkesbury

Borough Council to be asked to consider the matter again and

for its Planning Committee to state that it now objected to

the application because of further information received,

If the Council did that, it could authorise the Planning

Officer not to take a neutral position but to give evidence on

his professional view. If that were done, witnesses could be

called on behalf of the Parish Council to give evidence and this

evidence wouJ , 't include the case prepared free of charge by the

Council for Urban and Regional Studies. Ordinary members of

the parish could attend to give evidence of the emotive areas.

All this would save the cost of the parish being legally

represented. The only reason for having representations would

be to cross-examine the other side - and that would be done by

the Borough.

, Coun~ Davies said since his e lection in May he had

succeeded in persuading the Council to shift its position to

a neutral one. He was happy, in the light of Mr Matthews'

comments, to go to the next meeting with a witness from the

Parish Council and plead the case again.

Mr Tony Roberts said from his experiences working in the

County Planning Department, it was unusual for the Secretary of

State to call in a case of this kind. The Borough Council could

not now make any resolution about the application, but it

could say what it would do if it were free to make a decision

at this stage. If the Borough Council was prepared to do that,

it would save the parish a lot of money.

Mr Reginald Davis said he had lived in Highnam for 31

years and worked on the estate for Mr Parry and Mr Fenton.

Since Mr Smith's arrival it had gone down the drain and was now

in a worse condition than it had ever been before. He suspected

Mr Smith was out to get a quick buck from the developers.

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---~ Mr Davis disputed Mr Smith's assertion that the trees on

the estate were now past their best. If the application was

allowed it would be the worse thing that had ever happened

to the village because the bungalows proposed would be no

use to anybody.

The Chairman asked how parishioners would feel about

paying an extra one penny rate to raise a further £1,783.

"That this Parish Council, with the backing of the whole

of the village, get proper counsel to represent it and that the

money should come from the parish rate and that this Council

arrlthis parish make a decision as to the amount of money we

are prepared to la y out."

He was SECONDED BY MR DE LORENZO.

Mr Norman Gardner said it would be wrong to impose a

ceiling on the amount the Council could levy.

MR GARDNER PROPOSED AN AMENDMENT:

"That there be no limit set at this stage. This should

be decided at a later stage when costings were availableo"

He was SECONDED BY MR MRIAN FLETCHER.

Mr De Lorenzo said the Council should be left to obtain

quotations for the legal costs and it would be unnecessary to

call another meeting to discuss them. The whole village felt

strongly that something should be done and that any expense

should come from the rates.

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MR MA.TTHEWS PROPOSED A FURTHER AMENDMENT:

"That the Parish should approach Tewkesbury Borough

Council to ascertain whether it would represent the parish

professionally or whether the County Council would provide

representation. Onl¥ if both those approaches railed should

the parish employ its own professional."

Coun. Davies said he was worried that the parish would be

leaving things too late but Mr Matthe :· .s said it wo,_"ld only

take a few days to find out the position of the Borough

and County Council.

MR JEFFERY SWIFT PROPOSED:

"That a £5,000 limit should be put on the cost of legal

repres e ntation."

However, Mr Slinger pointed out the Council was not required

to do what the meeting decided. The Council was the elected

representative of the parish and was only consulting the

electorate. There was no obligation upon it to abide by the

feelings of the meeting. He said the parish should trust the

Council to deal with th e matter in the light of the feelings

expressed.

A vote was taken on the AMENDMENT proposed by Mr Gardner.

There were 63 votes in favour with 6 against and 2 abstensions

and the AMENDMENT WAS CARRIED.

Mr Matthews said he would not decline if asked by the

Council to be its representative.

Mr De Lorenzo complained that he had only heard about the

development at a very late stage last Christmas. Better

arrangements were needed to communicate this sort of information

to the parish.

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Mr Ron Jones said from his experience of numerous public

inquiries in which he had been involved, it was most important

for local residents to be seen by the Inspector. Residents

should go and read prepared statements because this sort of

local response was very important.

Mr Matthews said those who wished to say something to the

Inspector should attend on the opening morning. It was important

for local people to be seen attending throughout the length of

the hearing not just on the first day.

Mr David Wilkin called on the Council to make every effort

to pursue the suggestion of Mr Matthews that the Borough or

County Council should represent the parish to avoid any local

expense.

Coun. Davies, in response to requests from the meeting,

said he would attempt at the next Boroug h Planning Committee

meeting, to get an enforcement order served on Mr Smith for

breach of his previous permission.

The meeting,: which started at 8. OOpm, concluded at 9. 30pm.