CLOUD NEWSBRIEF NO 78 - 22nd January 2021
BAILRIGG GARDEN VILLAGE CONSULTATION
Many of you will have received the January 2021 Newsletter issued by JTP architects on behalf of Lancaster City Council. This invites local residents to help shape proposals for Bailrigg Garden Village and seeks views on our likes and dislikes and “dreams for the future of the Garden Village.”
The Newsletter has been posted to a pretty large number of addresses in south Lancaster and Galgate, but not we understand to Hala or all parts of Scotforth. If you haven’t received a copy, you can access it at : bailrigggardenvillage.co.uk. This website contains all the currently available information from JTP and they say this website will be regularly updated. JTP can also be contacted on email at : community@jtp.co.uk or by Freephone 0800 012 6730.
Respond to the Consultation. We encourage all CLOUD members to respond to this consultation, either by returning the Freepost card from the JTP Newsletter or on-line via their website or via their email: community@jtp.co.uk .
We realise that the Covid pandemic is at the top of everyone’s concerns at present and is causing much personal stress and anxiety, but if we don’t respond now it will be assumed that we’re happy to see the garden village go ahead. You don’t need to write a lot, indeed at this initial stage a short pithy response will be more effective. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind - if you think south Lancaster would be better off without a garden village, then say so! (Given that Bailrigg Garden Village now forms part of the approved Local Plan, there may be some point in adding words to the effect that “I don’t want it to go ahead, but if it does then I’d prefer it to look like……or have this…. feature”). If you visit and go to Click Here to Have Your Say you can see some of the (anonymised) responses that have already been submitted.
Contact your City Councillor. As well as replying to JTP, we encourage you to copy your response to your Lancaster City Councillor - click here for the contact details for councillors in south Lancaster/Galgate. This is vital. Unless you do this your councillor may very well never realise what your views are. We appreciate that our councillors have a heavy workload at the best of times and are particularly busy at present due to Covid. They are also responsible for approving key stages in the planning process and it is important to inform them of our views. (If you look back at our report to the Council debate on adoption of the Local Plan in July 2020 - here’s the link - you’ll see that, although councillors voted to adopt the Plan, there were some significant objections and reservations).
Timescale and Next Steps. The deadline for responding to JTP is Tuesday 2nd February, so we haven’t much time. After that JTP are going to make a presentation (via Zoom) back to the community on their “Masterplan Vision for Bailrigg Garden Village”on 9 February 2021. A further round of consultation and comment is scheduled for March and JTP are aiming to submit the completed Masterplan Framework to the City Council at the end of March.
The CLOUD Management Committee will also be responding, reiterating key points from our earlier responses on the Local Plan as we believe these are as valid now as when we first raised them.
M6 Junction 33 Link Road Consultation. We reported on this topic in Newsbrief No 76. So far we haven’t had any feedback on the comments we all submitted nor any indication as to which is the preferred route option. We’ll pass on news as we receive it. It’s important to note that the link road issue is the responsibility of Lancashire County Council, as the highways authority, not the City Council. This means we can expect to be engaging with both authorities over the coming weeks and months!
If you have friends and neighbours who are not on-line and have not received the JTP postcard - please let them know about this consultation - while of course observing social distancing rules! If you have any questions or comments about this Newsbrief, contact CLOUD at https://www.cloudbgv2017.co.uk/getting-involved