Cllr Elfan Ap Rees says more employment opportunities must be created before more houses are built

Demand to ‘lay down the law’ - more jobs before building more houses

Report by James Franklin , Reporter Friday, June 22, 2012
7:00 AM

NORTH Somerset Council’s deputy leader says the authority must ‘lay down the law’ to make sure more jobs are created for people in and around Weston.

Councillor Elfan Ap Rees has decided to call in an application by developer St Modwen for a second phase of homes at the former RAF Locking site, saying the firm must do more to create employment before more housing is built.

That means the decision will now be discussed by councillors at the authority’s south area planning committee next month, with Cllr Ap Rees saying: “We can’t go on building houses in Weston until we start getting more jobs in.”

Last month St Modwen and the Home and Communities Agency handed in an application to build 150 homes at the Locking Parklands site.

That would only be the second phase of a £400million development, with 100 homes already built at the site and some of them now occupied.

When finished, the site will contain up to 2,400 homes and 30 hectares of employment space, but Cllr Ap Rees, the authority’s executive member for strategic planning, has echoed the concerns of Locking Parish Council, which wants jobs created before more houses are built.

He said: “My main concern is that we have yet to see any employment generated at the site.

“Although there are plans to build employment space, we agreed to phase one of the development on the understanding that that would provide employment.

“I think it’s premature to have an application for phase two until they have actually started creating something which will produce jobs.”

Cllr Ap Rees said he is also concerned about whether there will be adequate car parking available.

He continued: “I firmly believe that we have got to lay the law down because otherwise we’re back to where we were with Locking Castle, just building lots of houses without creating the infrastructure and creating problems for people going out of the town and it’s got to stop.”

A spokesman for the developer said the phase two application was ‘entirely consistent’ with the policy objectives set out in the council’s core strategy, while the provision of car parking also met the standards of the authority’s strategy.

She said work started on a 6,000sq ft commercial space in April. The site will be able to accommodate 60 jobs and is due for completion in the autumn.

She added: “Proposals for community facilities will be included in an outline planning application for the comprehensive redevelopment of the site due to be submitted later this year following a further round of public consultation.

“All necessary infrastructure works are being delivered on a phased basis in line with our initial plans and North Somerset Council’s requirements.”

9 comments

Pardon me for being naive in these things, but how do you 'create employment'? Having office or workshop space is one thing, but surely practical things like heavily discounted business rates and making sure that the rental prices are low are needed? There's just a lot of waffle and no detail in what this man is quoted as saying. And as I've said before the schools, GPs and other essential services should be planned first, not in the second phase. As Simo said, this reflects very badly on NSC's strategic thinking. Or is that, desperation?

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anne adaptor

Friday, June 22, 2012
Apart from the serious side of this story - I do like the image though, tanned, looks tough and means business.... Maybe he's our saviour!!!! We can dream!!

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TrueWestonian

Friday, June 22, 2012
Agreed Andreas... Dont knock the investors, but lets not knock them for sticking to the detail either if the leaders of the county council cant get their act together, after all and as we know some are very slippery! Locking Council are quite rightly looking at their village infrastructure though as this has possibly been overlooked. Hopefully the new residents will spend their money in your Bar Club and stop you turning it into a market though!

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TrueWestonian

Friday, June 22, 2012
We should be grateful anyone is investing money in the town, People living in those homes will be spending money in shops supermarkets , furniture , days on Weston beach , all is good for the economy. People building those houses get to keep there jobs. This is so simple its black and white.Stop treating people who are spending millions like dirt.

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andreas macrides

Friday, June 22, 2012
lets make the developer build some more offices, that will bring jobs... can't have enough office space after all can you.

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neo

Friday, June 22, 2012
@ Simon - agree, can't say boo to a ghost on this website? Back to topic - what 'She' failed to state is that the commercial uptake for Locking Business Park is borderline to start any meaningful development - the only growth is for affordable housing units - we are in a double dip recession after all?

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Mukiwa

Friday, June 22, 2012
I dont post much any more due to my posts being "libel" but I will this time. This is totaly the fault of NSC and the head of planning and development (wont say any names) for letting the developers make the rules as they see fit on face value. Still lets hope the next local election may produce a clear up of the dead wood (again no names) but I know whos top of my list.

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Simo

Friday, June 22, 2012
I dont post much any more due to my posts being "libel" but I will this time. This is totaly the fault of NSC and the head of planning and development (wont say any names) for letting the developers make the rules as they see fit on face value. Still lets hope the next local election may produce a clear up of the dead wood (again no names) but I know whos top of my list.

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Simo

Friday, June 22, 2012
Blimey, I thought, Elphan has come to his senses! Then I read on, and if the facts of the story are true, only to find that it seems the council are going back on the original agreement and the developers are doing what was agreed! Sounds familiar eh? It would seem Elphans probably trying to please the locals here as he's got it wrong in the first instance.

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TrueWestonian

Friday, June 22, 2012