Our supporters may or may not be aware, that Taylor Wimpey withdrew its last planning application for approval of its proposed drainage strategy at Thames Farm in late October. This was because SODC, following advice from OCC the Lead Local Flood Authority and SODC’s Drainage Department had stated that they were not satisfied with the submissions made on behalf of Taylor Wimpey, based on the findings of an external advisors report – McCloy Consulting. The full report can be accessed here and is expressed in the advice notes from OCC and SODC Drainage which can be seen here
Rather than have on record a refusal Notice, Taylor Wimpey has chosen to withdraw the application which is now its 3rd attempt at obtaining approval. Confirmation of Taylor Wimpey’s withdrawal of the application is confirmed here.
Whilst this is good news for residents and demonstrates how badly flawed the proposals were, TFAG remained concerned that a further application and attempt would be made by Taylor Wimpey to secure its objectives of developing the site with 95 houses which in turn would require much of the site to be grouted and most of the site vibro-compacted.
In reality, one might have hoped that Taylor Wimpey would understand how unpopular its grouting proposals and the consequential off-site drainage strategy was and look at re-planning the layout and density of the site so that ground remediation and off-site drainage scheme was not necessary, but we believe that at this juncture that is not likely to be the outcome. TFAG, therefore, invited all 3 Parish and Town Councils to be joint signatories with it of a fairly hard-hitting letter to the Taylor Wimpey PLC Main Board suggesting to them that they should intervene and ask their subsidiary to re-think, what is a deeply unpopular and highly risky proposal for Thames Farm and replace that proposal with a much lower density development that neither involved grouting nor off-site pumped drainage.
Unfortunately, the 3 Councils have not been prepared to join us in doing this and not surprisingly, within a few days of that decision, a fresh application has been submitted to SODC, namely P21/S4524/DIS. This Application is for the approval of Discharge of condition 5 (Construction Management Plan) of Planning Application P16/S0970/O. (Outline Planning Application for up to 95 dwellings and associated public open space and landscaping. Means of access and strategic landscaping not reserved).
This Application is seeking, approval to a Construction Management Plan for inter alia works that are NOT part of the approved Planning Permission, namely that of the grouting and vibro compaction of the site in addition to its future development for Housing.
Residents and the Councils should be aware, that with this application Taylor Wimpey is continuing to pursue a proposal that sees the grouting works as already permitted by their base Planning Permission. They are effectively trying to secure acknowledgement of permission for these works by stealth !!! This is entirely contrary to the advice provided by SODC Planning, that the groundworks/remediation proposals that Taylor Wimpey propose are not permitted under the terms of that base Planning Approval and would require a fresh Planning Approval as a new and major engineering operation on land. If SODC were to approve this application then it would find it very difficult to later argue that it requires a separate Planning Application for the ground remediation works.
TFAG will therefore be objecting to this proposal, and we fully expect and hope that SODC will also stand their ground and reject it as a proposal that covers far more work than was permitted by the original consent. It seems quite ludicrous that Taylor Wimpey continues to pursue this approach which is yet a further and unnecessary drain on resources of the LPA and also others who are spending so much time energy and money on taking advice and ensuring that they are not permitted to proceed unless their ground proposals are first approved with a separate planning permission. A template for objections is at the end of this briefing note.
Costs to date:
The costs of defending the situation and getting to this point have been met by a combination of expenditure - primarily on legal advice by TFAG and a series of technical reports financed by Shiplake PC, Harpsden PC and Henley Town Council.
The latest report from JBA dealing primarily with the grouting proposals was received just at the point it became clear that the application was being opposed by OCC and SODC Drainage and Planning and so has not been issued to anyone apart from the funding members that procured the report. We are hoping to keep that Report in reserve for any further steps by Taylor Wimpey.
TFAG’s funds have been provided from a large number of primarily, Shiplake based residents and the Steering Group members. Of the total amount raised apprx. one-third of the funds have been expended to date and one further invoice just presented. Therefore, at this juncture, we retain a very reasonable sum in the TFAG Account for the ongoing issues.
In the interim, TFAG will still write to the Main Board of Taylor Wimpey PLC and also its main shareholders and politicians (and send copies to the media) requesting them to influence their subsidiary to change its approach to this site and review the nature and density of development proposed.
We will of course let you know the outcome of this when we have further information, and in the interim request that you:
Residents Call to Action:
1. Object to the current application using the template below;
2. Write to the Council representing your address expressing concerns about this ongoing saga for which there is also a template below
3. Ask your friends and neighbours to sign this petition and have your voices heard
Thank you for your support,
Peter@TFAG
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Template 1
TFAG strongly urges residents and the 3 Councils to object once more to this new planning application.
In order to assist you, we have developed a template response that you can draw up to submit an objection. Concerned residents are requested to use some or all of the points given below to submit their own objections. These objects can be submitted to:
All objections to this current application should use the planning reference: P21/S4524/DIS
Address: [Insert Address]
E-mail: [Insert e-mail]
Date: [Insert Date]
Planning Reference: P21/S4524/DIS
Dear Sir/Madam
Land at Thames Farm Reading Road Shiplake
I would like to confirm our objection to this latest application for the following reasons:
Matters of Principle
1. The works to which this current application seeks to apply are works that are not covered or permitted by the extant Planning Permission P16/S0970/O.
2. Condition 5 of this Application has already been addressed and discharged.
Matters of Detail
3. The attachments are all historic and out of date and inadequate and apply to the original approved works only.
4. The Construction Management Plan is a very generic ‘off the shelf’ document used for general projects of a particular type. It is inadequate when considering a project as large or as complex and as unneighbourly as the project that the applicant is now seeking approval for bearing in mind the significant impacts of the works as proposed. It provides general words relative to un-neighbourly impacts on neighbouring and nearby properties and does not provide specific measures to measure and compare those impacts and also to minimise mitigate and avoid wherever possible matters which may arise and may constitute a nuisance to surrounding properties. This relates particularly to the grouting and vibro-compaction works that as yet are not approved by the LPA
5. There are no baseline studies referenced relative to noise, dust, vibration levels nor any thresholds suggested where these matters exceed what is reasonable and acceptable for issues that are going to be daily occurrences over a very extended period of time.
6. There is no reference to scheduling the condition of existing structures in the vicinity to record and verify that damage is not being occasioned by the referred to works to other premises
7. There is no appendix A, and as such, the document is missing one of its most fundamental elements.
Having regard to my comments above, this application should be rejected and the applicant reminded that it has been advised that a further planning application will be required if it is to be permitted to undertake the proposed grouting and remediation works referred to. Please confirm that this is indeed what SODC propose doing.
Yours etc etc
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Template 2
Residents should also ensure that their democratic representatives at the 3 local Councils - Shiplake Parish, Harpsden Parish and Henley Town Council are aware that we would like those bodies to engage more pro-actively in this matter. They should object to this current application but also put pressure on SODC and Taylor Wimpey to resolve matters once and for all and if unable to agree, then to formally have decided the legality of the proposed ground remediation works. The current approach is both wasteful of resources and will eventually result in approval by default or through objection fatigue, which is clearly the wrong answer to such an important decision.
The 3 Local Councils can be contacted at:
Shiplake Parish Council: clerk@shiplakepc.com
Harpsden Parish Council: clerk@harpsdenparishcouncil.org.uk
Henley Town Council: clerk@henleytowncouncil.gov.uk
Concerned residents are requested to use some or all of the below:
Dear [??? Council]
Thames Farm, Reading Road Lower Shiplake – Development Proposals
We are very concerned about the long-running and seemingly continuous attempts by Taylor Wimpey,
owners of the above site, to seek approval by stealth/implication to the grouting and vibro-compaction of this site when this work is not permitted by their extant Planning Consent as advised by SODC.
The risks to our drinking water are too great to simply allow the matter to drift and for consent to be granted by default
We feel that the current situation where applications are repeatedly submitted under and seek to get those works approved under the cover of discharging conditions of the current Planning Approval are a hugely costly and time-consuming use of valuable public and also private resources .
We would request that as our democratic representatives you should take steps to positively engage with SODC the Local Planning Authority and ask them to be proactive in bringing this matter to a head once and for all and if necessary by legal action.
There are a number of mechanisms to enable this to happen including amongst other things a declaration by the courts of the legality or otherwise of said works. This or alternative mechanisms that could be agreed with Taylor Wimpey would be a far more direct, less time consuming and better use of resources. It would also conclude the uncertainty that has existed over the future of this site for the last 3 years and allow residents to stop being worried about the matter.
We would ask you to do all you can to bring about a resolution of this matter in this way so that the entire community and the applicant can establish the correct way forwards for this matter to proceed.
YF
Name [xxxxxxxxxxx]
Address [xxxxxxxxx]
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