Christchurch residents' anger over proposals mapping town's future (From Bournemouth Echo)

Christchurch residents' anger over proposals mapping town's future

2:00pm Tuesday 26th February 2013 in News By Katie Clark

PROTEST: Residents are up in arms about proposals to build on Burton Farm

MAJOR plans mapping out the future of Christchurch are set to be submitted to the Secretary of State.

Councillors will be asked to approve the submission of Christchurch Borough Council’s core strategy to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government following two major consultation events last year.

The document has provoked a number of campaigns from residents, many unhappy with some of the proposals on new housing developments, allotment relocation and community facilities.

The core strategy lays out the council’s planning strategy and policies until 2028.

The full council meeting tonight will be webcast live on the internet for members of the public, as the council is expecting a large number of people at the meeting, which will also set the council tax for the next year.

Proposals in the core strategy include a new housing development with up to 950 homes at Roeshot Hill, the relocation of allotments at Roeshot to an unknown site and 45 new homes on greenbelt land at Burton.

Chairman of Roeshot Allotments, John Campbell wrote to the council in the latest round of consultation blasting them for not identifying a new site.

He said: “These changes bring into focus the council's consistent failure to consult with this association. There appears to be a blind determination to pursue a pre-set policy option and in the process destroy a Green Flag award-winning site, purely to maximise commercial gain.

“As a result we have little confidence in the council being able to produce a sound principled policy.”

Other schemes include transport improvements to Hurn roundabout and the A338 from its junction with the A31 in the short term, as well as in the medium term – up to 2022 – on the A35 Fountain roundabout, Stony Lane roundabout and Staple Cross and potentially Somerford roundabout.

In the latest round of responses, where 500 individual comments were received, people objected to an additional 100 houses on the urban extension at Roeshot as well as the removal of the reference to the relocation site for the allotments.

There were also objections to the removal of text regarding a new community facility in Christchurch town centre.