Save Throckley's Open Places

 
This result is an endorsement of our Campaign. The Labour Party got less votes than last year! even though at a national level they are on the rise.

Newcastle Council must now review it’s One Core Strategy in the light of such significant opposition.

Thank you all so much for your support, we go on to the next round of consultation in June in good spirit.

 
The 26th of April saw a candidate’s Hustings organised by the Newcastle West Greenbelt Protection Campaign.

About one hundred people attended, and listened to 7 candidates from the Wards affected by the One Core Strategy.

All candidates had been invited but no Labour candidates agreed – surprise! No doubt they did not relish having to defend their position. Three Liberals, one Conservative, one Newcastle First, Idwal our STOP candidate and one other Independent formed the Panel.

Each candidate gave a two minute address, followed by questions. The results next Thursday could prove interesting as only 7 seats on the Council need to change hands for Labour to lose overall power.

[click image to enlarge]

Mark is up for re-election and has the full support of the S.T.O.P campaign. So if you are in the Westerhope, ward please vote for him.

 
Idwal’s election campaign has began in earnest, with visits to several local community events having taken place already, and more planned for the days ahead.

The photograph below, taken on the 23rd April, shows Idwal chatting to some of the local residents who attend sequence dancing in the church hall of St Michael and all Angels at Newburn.

On Saturday the 21st Idwal also attended the coffee morning at the same venue and discussed issues arising from the One Core strategy with the regulars there.

[click image to enlarge]

Thursday the 26th is the date of the hustings organised by the Newcastle West green Belt protection Campaign, to be held at the Weatsheaf – like the other invited candidates, Idwal has been given 2 minutes to present his case (don’t know who has the unenviable task of telling him time’s up!).

Leaflets are being distributed to key areas in the Ward and we hope that word of mouth will also mean that people will know that an independent candidate is standing who is not having to toe a party line, but can stand up for the protection of the community and the open spaces people value.

Come along this Thursday, 26th April, to the Wheatsheaf Hotel at Callerton Parkway for ‘Question Time’ organised by the Newcastle West Greenbelt Protection Campaign. All candidates from the wards most affected by the housing plans have been invited to set out their views. We want them to answer your questions about why this housing is needed and why it could be built despite large brownfield sites in the city standing vacant. A third of council seats are up for grabs, and the way you vote could make a difference. We hope to see you all there at 7pm on Thursday. Click here to download a leaflet.

 
Local people were kept in the dark on building plans while council held secret talks with London-based investor

Newcastle Council claims to be acting transparently in its consultation with residents over its One Core Strategy (OCS) – a 21,000-house development plan which has aroused opposition from people across Newcastle and Gateshead. But new evidence obtained by Save Throckley’s Open Places (STOP) suggests the council is not treating all interested parties equally.

The council, it seems, has been happy to give large landowners privileged access to its thinking – apparently discussing the contents of the OCS plan with them at a time when residents were being kept in the dark. This would make a mockery of its claims to be acting transparently. The landowners, of course, are the very people who are in line for a financial windfall if their land is approved for development – whereas residents will undoubtedly see a sharp drop in their property values if the OCS plans go ahead.

What is the evidence that the council is favouring landowners? Principally, the action of a large Throckley landowner – London-based Greenwich Hospital Trust (GHT).

STOP has learned that GHT bought Fernhill, a key plot of land in Throckley, late in 2011. In October 2011 Newcastle made its very first public announcement of the OCS development plan. OCS is set to deliver a financial bonanza to GHT. Undeveloped farmland in Throckley that GHT has owned for many years has suddenly become valuable – because Newcastle now wants to put a 500-home housing estate on it. But GHT’s purchase of Fernhill was designed to make that development site even more valuable, by clearing the path for an essential access road between it and Throckley’s main road, the B6582. (Hexham Rd)

Read the rest of this entry »

 
The City council have published an analysis of responses from the consultation on the One Core Strategy; people in Throckley put forward the third most numerous objections:-

Callerton had the most, followed by Salter’s lane in Gosforth and then Throckley. The totals were based on letters and petitions.

However nothing has been removed from Throckley; though parts of proposed sites were removed from neighbouring areas such as Walbottle and Callerton. And of course the whole site adjoining Salter’s Lane nature reserve. We are pleased for these areas – but it looks like Throckley has been overlooked.

 
Idwal John has launched his bid to become the next City Councillor for the Newburn ward.

Standing of course as a S.T.O.P. candidate in protest against the proposed housing developments.

We are asking supporters to play a full part in this campaign to save our heritage by passing on this message to all your contacts, and if possible to print the leaflet for display and/or distribution.

It is available in PDF,  JPG or MS Word DOC format.

Then of course we would hope that they, and you, will vote for Idwal (and S.T.O.P.)

Anyone that does not live in the ward could instead sign our on-line petition.

Thank you for your continuing support.

 
The local council elections in May might be embarrassing for both the Labour and Lib Dem parties on Newcastle Council.

It is likely that other groups campaigning against the One Core Strategy housing proposals will follow the example of the S.T.O.P. group (Save Throckley and Walbottle Open Places) by fielding a candidate only on this issue.

Idwal John, a Throckley resident for 20 years, originally from Wales, used to teach politics but is putting theory into practice by standing in Newburn Ward. He comments:-

“I want to allow people to express their anger that more than 600 houses are still proposed for Throckley and Walbottle after other sites have been removed from the plans. Nothing has been taken out of the Throckley area and only part of the Walbottle site has been removed.

By fielding a candidate we can underline the importance of the issue- Newcastle Council must follow the recent government planning guidelines to use brownfield sites for building first.”

“The fight continues to save our valuable green spaces”

 
Sunday 1st April

Throckley Community Hall at 4.00pm

Hope you are able to attend:

AGENDA

1  Report on meeting and correspondence with Greenwich representatives.
2  Local election strategy
3  Report on Scrutiny meeting called by Lib Dems
4  Report on meeting with local MP Catherine McKinnell
5  AOB

The next phase needs to be thought about and there are already a few ideas in the pot to bring Throckley’s concerns to the fore such as fielding a STOP candidate at the local election in May. We have a meeting planned for 4pm on Sunday 18th March in the Community Hall in Throckley. All welcome.

WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT

We will be talking about:

1. Feedback from our meeting with Greenwich hospital the landowners of the largest site
2. Our plans for the forthcoming elections
3. Further campaigning activities, and responses to the next round of consultations

Look forward to seeing you there.

In early January, Pat McGee wrote on behalf of STOP to the Greenwich Hospital Trust’s local agent.  The purpose of the letter was to put forward points we hope they will consider in any decision to sell the fields adjacent the the brickworks. Pat also included cuttings showing our protests, and a wildlife sighting review, compiled by a local supporter.

The agent has now replied and has passed on our letter to Greenwich.  He has also arranged to meet some of our group on the 15th March so he can understand our concerns.  A report of that meeting will be posted on our website.

Click here to read the outcome of the City Council special cabinet meeting yesterday evening at the Civic Centre, to review the recent consultation on the draft One Core Strategy. With thanks to the NW Greenbelt Protection campaign for compiling this report.

The Member of Parliament for Newcastle North, Catherine McKinnell MP has written to Barry Rowland, Chief Executive of Newcastle City Council detailing her response to the core strategy. She is supporting many of our arguments and mentions us by name. Click here to read her letter.

STOP has written to the agents of the trust with a portfolio of documents outlining our case and the support for our campaign in relation to development 4944 at Drove Road, Throckley. Click here to read the letter.

Today, we added a photo gallery of the sites that have been proposed for development. Please click here to view the gallery and feel free to comment on any of the photos.

Two meetings are to be held between now and the consultation end date (4th Jan):

STOP Update (+ letter writing)
The Banktop Club, Throckley, Wednesday 14th Dec, 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

Drop-in Session With Planners (+ letter writing)
Throckley Community Hall, Monday 19th Dec, 3.00pm to 5.30pm.

Following both meetings, there will be an opportunity for you to write your letter of objection to the Council’s proposals.

As mentioned in previous posts & emails, the Council appear to be placing a great deal of emphasis on the objection letters. They have stated that they require reasons why specific sites should not be part of the One Core Strategy. It has also been said that very few letters of objection have been received to date..

It is possible that if enough letters are received, objecting to specific sites and pointing out why they should not or cannot be developed, that the Council will drop these sites from the plan. Any discounted sites will be announced in February following the consultation.

Please note that you will need to describe the location of the development(s) to which you object. If you are unclear as to which sites are proposed, click here to view a map.

So, if you have not already done so, please get writing or come along to one of the two sessions above. Volunteers will be on hand to help with hand-written or typed letters. You can even dictate your objections and someone will type out a letter out for you to sign. We’ll also provide envelopes and we will even go to the post box for you!

Groups of campaigners from across Newcastle met outside the Civic Centre as a turfed coffin with fake badgers and squirrels was symbolically processed from the Church to the Civic Centre.

Cllr. Murison addressed the group again, promising to listen and that no decision had been taken.  There was good media coverage including Tyne Tees.

     

The public gallery was packed again for the formal Council meeting, and our 550 name petition was presented, together with others from neighbouring areas. Amongst people who spoke to emphasise the importance of the issue was Pat McGee presenting our petition and Adam Vaughan from Callerton.

The Councillors have clearly acknowledged the sense of the argument that brownfield sites should be developed before greenfield, BUT in February the outcome of this phase will be that some sites will be dropped from the plan altogether, and Cllr. Murison emphasised that they would be looking at sites INDIVIDUALLY.

He commented that petitions have impact in general, but they can only use letters putting forward objections with regard to specific sites in this crucial  assessment.

SO PLEASE GET WRITING NOW!!!!

(deadline is 4th January – last posting dates are 17th & 20th December)

Local Resident Bryan Rees has kindly submitted his letter of objection for publication on this web site. Click here to download a copy. Please feel free to re-phrase some or all of his points when writing your own (which needs to be sent before 4th January). Please note that your letter need not be as detailed but the more points you include, the better. Thanks Bryan!

We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you of the (peaceful) protest on Wednesday 7th December before the next full Council meeting at Newcastle Civic Centre. The protest will take place between 5.15pm and 6.00pm and your attendance would be appreciated. Perhaps you could tie it in with some Christmas shopping? You can download a flyer here to help promote the event. After the protest, we will hand in our offline petition and there will be an opportunity to attend the public gallery at the meeting.