Update 10 February 2025 Speech Preston Village Hall

Ladies and gentlemen, unusually for me I’m not going to adlib it tonight because of the laws around Defamation.  Where are we at?  I need to be quick before the Thought Police come and remove me. Your councillors have been instructed in writing to have no contact with me – that’s because I said to WTC that there was no lawful resolution to pass to Dorset what has been passed.

 

In November, councillors and residents had just a few days to read the 300-page plan before it was voted on at Full Council on 20^th November.  7 of us from Preston were allowed to speak for just 3 minutes about 5 years of work.  One thing was voted on and something rather different then sent to Dorset Council in separate bites between 6 December and 15 January.  Nothing was put on the WTC site about this.  There were about 192 changes.  Michele Williams from WTC sent me a mail, in error, it should have gone to the town clerk.  In that she said these 192 things were all grammar corrections.  She had arranged this with Nick Cardnell, who is the officer at DC now in charge of the Statutory Process.  I asked him here tonight to explain things, but I’ll do the best I can. 

 

The Steering Group, none of whom live in Preston but will control our lives, have refused all requests to meet with residents, led my Alex and myself.  But their leader Cllr Northam is here, although, let me be clear, we do not consider this to be the resident-to-resident  meeting that we have requested.  Neighbourhood Plans are supposed to be bottom up processes led by residents and not by politicians keen to fulfil their election pledges. It’s too late now anyway, the matter is removed from Weymouth and controlled by Dorset.

 

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Harris sent us this leaflet in 2018 urging us to agitate against more housing in Preston.  We dutifully did that.  Then the Libdems decided that affordable housing was their flagship policy. Ooops.  Then Cllr Harris and Cllr Northam complained and objected to the NP for Sutton Poyntz.  The Libdem majority controlled WTC voted this democracy down.  Dorset Council intervened and allowed it, so you’ll see it forms part of the WNP now.  No other Weymouth Neighbourhoods were allowed to formulate a plan and the Weymouth Conurbation plan is what we got.  It’s among the largest ever attempted and has attracted major apathy from Weymouth people.

 

Like many of you here, I was one of the 573 people whose views were ruled out of order by Cllr Northam and he reported your local councillors to Dorset for sanction.  Cllr Harris wrote that 500 new houses in Preston was “lies”.  Maybe it was lies because the figure that came out very shortly after was for 570 houses.  Cllr Northam organised another information session, which turned out to be a Policy Session and that attracted 9 people from Preston and a total of 34 out of Weymouth’s population of 55,000.  He saw that as a “majority” vote for his policies with 0.06% of people represented. 

 

You may recall consultant reports that ruled out the 240 houses at Budmouth Avenue as not being viable.  Cllr Northam wrote that he would get that “tweaked” and it was.  Budmouth was ruled back in but then was dropped again because I gave a litany of planning reasons that had always ruled it out from development in the past.  It has then variously been reported as failing the Environmental test and just generally “too much housing in Preston”.  To my shame, I didn’t do enough for Wyke Oliver but I have to tell you that this is really, really hard.  When I was younger and more foolish, I was a Litigant in Person at the High Court in The Strand and took the judge through 10,000 pages of evidence over 2 years.  That was simpler than this process.  I won and I still hope that the Independent Inspector will hold a hearing in public and listen to the people of Preston.  Hopefully not shades of the Incinerator.

 

Budmouth/Wyke Oliver, all the same field right?  2 slopes of the Southdown Ridge.  How does Budmouth score 4 environmental red flags out of 8 criteria and get excluded but WO gets 1 red flag and 6 DON’T KNOW by the consultant.  That’s because the consultant thought about 240 houses for Budmouth but amazingly instead of considering 250-270 for WO, he only considered 112.  That’s how you get a consultant to write a favourable report instead of an unfavourable one.  As of today, what is the legal position here on Local Plans? It’s the 2015 Dorset Local Plan.  Wyke Oliver was never mentioned there.  I’ve got the Sustainability Appraisal from the 2017 review, which pulled WO in for the first time.  This alone was 323 pages against the WNP of 300 pages.  It shows 6 red flags out of 11 criteria, pretty much one half, OK,? and very close to the Budmouth result which led to it being excluded.

 

What faces us now is Climate Change and WO is far, far more dangerous.  Why? The 2 excluded sites would have voided directly into the Lodmoor Marshes, which are reported by The Echo and scientists as underwater as early as 2030.  2030 ladies and gentlemen.  The Plan shows Lodmoor as Inland Waterways, whereas we all know it is tidal and part of the sea.  WO will void into a Flood Zone 3 Area, that is the highest level of danger.  Have a look at page 65 of the Plan. WO houses have been flooded in the past as well as houses in Melstock Avenue.  There is just nowhere for the water to go.  The consultant won’t address this and in his costings for WO he shows a profit of £100 on a turnover of £70 million.  He does not address at all what will happen to the run-off and the sewage.  Cllr Northam assured the Full Council on 20^th November that the site would make £14 million profit, that’s the 20%. You can listen to the recording via the WTC website.  It is recorded on page 286 of the minutes, if you’re interested.

 

If you don’t believe me then how about our respected Mayor and GP Cllr Orrell?  He wrote: “I note the references to climate change and flooding. I fully comprehend the science in this area and the various impacts calibrated by degrees of warming.Preston is certainly at risk.  We have had briefings from the Environment Agency over the last decade which set out the firm predictions. I grew up in the area with my parental home at 45 Preston Road, just up from the old Streamside Hotel ( where we had our wedding reception). The stream it was beside also ran through our garden. I have seen it flood on several occasions and reach nearby bungalows built in the flood plain. The whole valley is at risk up to my old surgery near Chalbury corner. The sea wall will not last the century. The whole matter needs to be an area for substantial investment and redesign even without any new houses.”  Preston Road surgery is liable to be flooded as part of the Preston Brook.  The 200 new caravans might void into that.  The latest 3 flood warnings for the Preston Brook were the 23^rd November, 26^th November and 4 December, that’s floodline, not me.

 

The Plan says sewage is nothing to be considered by them.  The report in The Echo says nothing will change before 2045.  That’s well after the expiry of this Plan.  Weymouth is losing its Blue Flag beach, that’s a catastrophe for tourism and the income brought to the town.  The “emergency discharges” from the Wey, from Bowleaze and from Greenhill have doubled in just 2 years.  That’s the Environment Agency, not me.

I don’t want to swim in other people’s excrement.  I don’t want the flooding to be any worse than it is inexorably going to be.  What can you do to help?  One big thing we found on Budmouth is that the Flood Team at newly formed 2019 Dorset Council (they’re properly known as the LLFA) seemed not to have received all the resident input that had been given over the decades to West Dorset Council.  As a result, they published a false Statutory Declaration to the WNP.  They refused to give me a document from one of their officers, which I knew they had.  I forced this out of them through Freedom of Information and they withdrew the Statutory Consultation and issued a corrected version.  So, help us all out and get up-to-date information in front of the Inspector – the flood team are a Statutory Consultee.  If you have suffered flooding or surface water run-off, complete a new flood report just to be sure.  You’ll find the details easily at Dorset Council website or the link is on my website https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/report-flooding

I’ve uploaded a copy of this speech to my site.  Take a photo again of the address here on the desk.

 

What else?  PLEASE PLEASE do make a comment to The Inspector, you’ve got until 7 March although this process started on 24 January already.  You won’t get a day longer than this minimum 6 weeks.  I am completing a through commentary on the Plan on my site, you’ll see “page in production” for the moment.  It is a magnus opus and it’s important that the evidence is reproduced.  Alex will have his information in there as well.  Please review this and make of it what you will before making your comments. If you want me to let you know as soon as it is uploaded, leave me your email address tonight or message me through my site.

 

To close, let’s consider what happens if The Inspector overrides public opinion, like the Incinerator.  Well, this time you get to actually turn out and vote on it and your decision will be binding!   Please remember that if The Inspector leaves Wyke Oliver in and if the Plan is approved in this referendum, then you will have changed the planning boundaries and designation of Wyke Oliver from being greenfield, outside the development boundary, into approved building land as a free for all.  We’ve shown that it is a basket case financially if developers have to provide the subsidised housing that local and national government won’t.  Angela Rayner profited from buying her own Council House, didn’t she?  Have you seen what happens so often?  The developer promises affordable housing, puts a shovel in the ground, says it’s not profitable enough and asks the Planners to let him build what he wants by paying a bung instead of any community facilities.  This is called a CIL Community Infrastructure Levy.  This is paid to Dorset Council and then they give just 15% of it back to Weymouth.  BUT, if a NP is in place, Weymouth will get 25% not 15%.  That’s useful cash but none of it will be spent on affordable housing, it goes into a pot to be spent on anything from swings to repairing harbour walls.  Just not affordable housing.  That’s how the system works.

 

Could we have done it differently?  Yes, we could.  The boundaries of Weymouth changed last year, as we were told by Cllr Harris at our last meeting.  Cllr Northam was told by Ed Gerry and Nick Cardnell at Dorset Council that it was possible for the housing question to be considered outside of the NP area, which has proved so restrictive in finding suitable sites.  There is absolutely no need for the NP to be restricted to parish boundaries in the way that it was.  We are not credited with the 500 houses going up at Bincombe Park, it doesn’t have the same Littlemoor Councillor, it was not in Weymouth and has a West Dorset MP but over the road it is South Dorset.  I say that this is why the Plan has been pushed through with indecent haste and is already obsolete as we sit here.  It should have been paused whilst this took place.  In Dorset today there are 36 agreed Neighbourhood Plans, including Sutton Poyntz and Chickerell, 20 in preparation or under review, including Weymouth, and 8 which have been paused.

Update 24 January 2025

Weymouth Town Council have given me in writing that the Statutory Consultation Period organised by Dorset Council started today and, at the time of posting this, I think I am the only citizen of Weymouth to know this.  There is the bare legal minimum of 6 weeks given for this, expiring on 7 March.  The clock is ticking for Weymouth people to consult on thousand of pages which they haven't seen and haven't been told how to comment.  This is the future of Weymouth into the 2040's (15 yer expected Plan life).  The WTC website today speaks of the future: "the Plan will be sent".  In fact, what people don't know is that a version was approved by WTC on 30 November last and then another version with 180 changes, (see Stautory Consultation above) not seen by the people, was sent to Dorset Council on 6 December.  Yet another version was sent to DC around 14/15 January with more changes.  This was revealed to me when I attended the 15 January 2025 WTC Full Council and asked a question (deemed by the Mayor and Chair as "a very valid one" about what was going on.  I was handed this 25 page reply as my answer.  The lawyers for Dorset Council and Weymouth Town Council have not responded so I am planning an emergency application to the High Court (Judicial Review) to stop this failure in democracy and let people have their fair say.  The minutes of the meetings of WTC are on their website aand you can see recorded just how your local councillor voted on the matter.

 

Update November 2024

Weymouth Town Council have announced a meeting of the full Council on 20th November to be held at 7pm at the Chesham Suite, Rembrandt Hotel, Dorchester Road.  This is to accommodate the large number of people expected to attend.  They will only release the updated draft of the WNP on 12th November, so there is precious little time to read and consider carefully. There is a drop-in meeting on 14th November in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall from 11am to 6pm billed as a "chance to ask questions".  Anyone wishing to speak on the 20th must get their name in before 9am on 19th November to office@weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk

The Mayor, Cllr Jon Orrell, joined the Steering Group this summer and he will chair the meeting.  I have been told that I will have 3 minutes to speak and I will concentrate on Process and Democracy as seen from the perspective of Preston residents.  I have told WTC that I have an application ready to the High Court for a Judicial Review of the Process and the fact that WTC have not abided by the Nolan and Gunning Principles of Public Life, have voted for allocated sites "perversely and irrationally" against other policies adopted in the WNP and so on. Cllr Orrell has said that he hopes that so much of the information thus far kept secret from residents will be released on the 12th with the WNP.  Multiple Freedom of Information requests have been refused by WTC, saying that the information will be released "in the future".  The Town Clerk has refused to say where the future is and whether it is the 12th.  

Others will wish to speak on more specific items such as allocated building sites, transport, infrastructure, environment, flooding and so on.  Cllr Orrell has asked me to try and co-ordinate as far as possible so that the same points are not repeated.  I doubt that the timetable will allow everyone to speak who wishes to speak.  I am happy for you to contact me using the above link and if you give me your phone number I will gladly call you to let you know whether your concerns have been covered elsewhere.  You might then like to use the above email address to let Cllr Orrell know that you defer your 3 minute speaking opportunity to Glenn van der Pas.

Even if you do not speak, please attend the Council Meeting so that you can demonstrate to them the level of feeling about the WNP.

There is a Public Meeting for Preston Residents (but all are welcome) at 7pm on 18th November at Preston Village Hall where our local councillors and residents hope to co-ordinate responses as above.  This is designed to make Cllr Orrell's task easier on the 20th and make the public engagement more successful.

 

STOP PRESS - Will the WNP reflect the latest scientific projections that the Preston Beach Road, Lodmoor Reserve and Sewage Pumping Station could be under water now as early as 2030?  See this link: https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcrf.climatecentral.org%2FExplore%2FMaps%3Fzoom%3D13.9643117836407%26latitude%3D50.63116637032024%26longitude%3D-2.442907746156213%26regionType%3Dstate%26mapTheme%3Dsea_level_rise%26mapType%3Dyear%26basemap%3Ddefault%26layers%3Droads%252Ccities%252Clevees%252Clabels%252Cicons%26forecast_year%3D2030%26return_level%3Dreturn_level_1%26pathway%3Dssp3rcp70%26percentile%3Dp50%26contiguous%3Dtrue%26slr_model%3Dipcc_2021_med%26elevation_model%3Dbest_available%26rl_model%3Dcoast_rp%26scenarioId%3D1485&data=05%7C02%7C%7C178329e3d99049f62ddc08dd03c82bea%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638670880452122248%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=yhht8swLqa6u%2F%2FjJj2VqAGJh4fi2tqc0TzRmslyBN%2F4%3D&reserved=0

 

 

 

Update July 2024

 

As regarding Policy WNP 24, the building of 240 new homes on land off Budmouth and Brackendown Avenues.  The Weymouth Town Council (WTC) adopted the draft Neighbourhood Plan last year after the Viability Consultant wrote that the site was not viable.  The minutes of the Steering Group (SG) say that this report is to be "tweaked" to make it viable.  Dorset Council wrote in January this year that the plan was not "viable, achievable or deliverable"

 

In December last year a further consultation with residents was held and there were 1,450 responses. WTC have refused to release the democractic results of this consultation.  They have refused to release it even after a Freedom of Information request.  The WNP is due to be voted on again formally as policy by WTC, possibly in September 2024, after having refused to allow residents to consider the consultation from last December.  More 'Democracy in Action'.

 

It was clear that the SG were either ignoring, or were ignorant of, the previous planning moves on this site.  They approached it as if it were original thought.  I felt it helpful to write to the SG to give them the background as to why the site would fail for planning reasons in any event and why, therefore, it should be dropped from the draft WNP.  In addition, Policy WNP22 makes it clear that a minimum of 50% affordable housing is mandatory on greenfield sites outside the Defined Development Boundary and therefore it would be perverse and irrational for WTC to allow WNP24 to go ahead.  It would open them up to a challenge of Judicial Review.

 

My submission (without the accompanying evidential documents, these can be provided upon request) is shown on the tab: Development Site WNP24 "Land off Budmouth and Brackendown Avenues" above.

 

I prevailed upon Dorset Council to withdraw their false Statutory Declaration about flooding at WNP24 but only after I forced them to produce, under FOI, a document in their possession which proved that their Declaration was false. This Declaration had been relied upon by the SG.  The revised Declaration is now shown here:https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:e0acd5ca-03ba-45b0-9403-a53c5bee9732