Our front page has been updated with the following:

Thank you for sending your comments to Persimmon following their exhibition on Wednesday 6 February. We now all need to wait until a planning application is submitted.

KAGE are still getting feedback that people have not heard about this proposed development. Please help spread the word across Kesgrave! Persimmon’s proposals do affect the whole of the Town – there is a knock-on effect on all Kesgrave Schools and the main Kesgrave roads as well deterioration in the Open Space by Long Strops which is used by many residents (and their dogs!).

On Thursday 14 February we had an encouraging meeting with Planning Services at Suffolk Coastal District Council. They share the same concerns as the local community on schools, roads etc and are adamant that, should Persimmon proceed with an application, they will not recommend it to the Council Members due to current planning policy. Even though Savills are aware of this policy, they confirmed to KAGE on Monday 11 February that Persimmon still intend to submit a planning application in March, so we need to remain prepared.

We are looking for some additional support. Please contact us directly via facebook or email, if you can help with one of the following:

– We need help from a Solicitor, with expertise in conveyancing;
– Anyone with experience in significant planning applications/objections or the planning process;
– Photographs of Long Strops, especially including any endangered wildlife (Skylarks, Bats).

Please keep in touch with KAGE via Facebook or by registering on the website (www.longstrops.co.uk). We will keep you informed of progress and any action required to fight this proposal.

Kesgrave Town Council have agreed to place a printed copy of Persimmon’s proposals in the entrance foyer of the Town Council office on Ferguson Way (near the ‘little Tescos’).

If anyone in Kesgrave hasn’t seen the plans, please do go along. Persimmon have asked for feedback to be sent to Savills by this Friday.

The Council Office is open on Wednesdays from 9.00am to 3.00pm, Friday from 9.00am to 1.00pm and Monday from 9.00am to 1.00pm.

For more information about the Town Council (including location of the Council Office) please visit their website where a digital copy of the proposals and the feedback form are now available to download.

Giving just a few days notice, Persimmon and their agents,Savills, invited some residents of Grange Farm to an evening exhibition at Kesgrave Community Centre on Wednesday 6 February 2013. At the exhibition they asked for feedback to be provided within a week. They say that all comments will be reviewed and that a Statement of Community Involvement will be submitted as part of the planning process summarising the comments received. If you want to protect your quality of life and the identity of Kesgrave make sure you register your objections to the proposed plans. A suggested response is:

‘I wish to register my objections to the proposed plans by Persimmon Homes at Long Strops by Grange Farm. Kesgrave Town has reached its limit and any further expansion will affect my quality of life. There is already substantial pressure on facilities, such as schooling, and the road network and this development will add to it.’

Here is a Word Document with the above suggestion: KAGE1

Persimmon have asked for comments to be sent to:

William Lusty, Savills, Unex House, 132-134 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8PA

Comments should arrive latest by Friday 15 February.

(Please note that it is Savills’ Cambridge office that they want comments to go to and not their London office).

A copy of a one-page handout explaining the above which you can print-out and hand to other residents is here: KAGE-handout1

Notes:

1. Savills contacted us on 11 Feb to confirm that the deadline to provide comments to Persimmon is Friday 15 February (and not the Wednesday 13 February given on their feedback form) and the address that the comments need sending to is their Cambrdge office (not the London address per their letter to residents):
Savills, Unex House, 132-134 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8PA

2. Kesgrave Town Council agreed to place a printed copy of Persimmon’s proposals in the entrance foyer of the Town Council office on Ferguson Way (near the ‘little Tescos’) from the afternoon of 12 Feb. If anyone in Kesgrave hasn’t seen the plans, please do go along. Persimmon have asked for feedback to be sent to Savills by this Friday. The Council Office is open on Wednesdays from 9.00am to 3.00pm, Friday from 9.00am to 1.00pm and Monday from 9.00am to 1.00pm. For more information about the Town Council (including location of the Council Office) please visit their website. A digital copy of the proposals is also available from the Town Council website from 13 Feb.

Savills wrote to some householders on Grange Farm on 31 January 2013 (and placed adverts in the local newspapers) inviting local residents to a Public Exhibition at Kesgrave Community Centre on Wednesday 6 February 2013 from 4pm to 9pm (the night of the England v Brazil football match). To many this seemed quite short notice. Reports were only about 200 people turned up at the Exhibition whereas Grange Farm has over 3,000 properties.

At the exhibition were 11 sheets on boards showing various aspects of the proposed development and representatives were on hand to respond to queries and take feedback. The main purpose of the exhibition was to take feedback from local residents so that Persimmon and their consultants could use this to develop their planning proposals further, prior to their planning submission. Persimmon Homes state that ‘a Statement of Community Involvement will be submitted as part of the planning application summarising the comments received and detailing the changes incorporated as a result of the consultation process.’

Savills have given a deadline of either Wednesday 13 February (per feedback form) or Friday 15 February (per their letter to householders) by which they want feedback comments. A number of local residents have questioned whether Persimmon are genuinely interested in the concerns of the local community or rather simply want the feedback to help hone their impending planning application so that delays are minimised.

Access to the new development was proposed through a) the exisiting farm access at Dobbs Lane and also b) by extending the Millennium Way road across the bridleway and into the new development. Persimmon propose a detailed application for Phase 1 (100 homes to be built from the Dobbs Lane access across to the new Millennium Way access) with outline planning permission for a further 200 homes stretching to opposite Cedarwood School, making 300 homes in total. The woodland/heath area bordering Dobbs Lane was to be retained. Persimmon stated that ‘The site is serviced well by existing schools’ which many residents thought was laughable. Traffic calming measures were to be installed.

An electronic copy of the exhibition boards can be obtained by email from Savills.