The Original Planning Application has been withdrawn because of so many objections and the impracticality of the design.

Should you be interested, all the documents and description are available below:-

Previous Application

Below you will find various documents and reports - or at least links to them - regarding both the planning application for the East Wharf and the policies that the Local Authority will rely on to determine the planning application. Clicking on the links will open the relevant document in a new page, whilst right clicking and selecting "save as" will save a copy onto your computer for printing or whatever.

If you find any inconsistencies in the WSC planning documents, both factual or conceptual, these can be valid planning objections

Be warned, some documents are quite long and some are copyright of the owners - which means private use only, for submitting a planning objection and not for re-distributing. At the end of the list of documents is a detailed report from a professional planning consultant. This is very technical and is laid out in the rather abrupt fashion for legal reasons. Should the Planning Committee decide to ignore the issues it contains, it will provide a basis for an appeal to the Government Office of the South West to "call in" the planning decision should guidelines and rules have been broken.

This document has cost 2 local business men over £2,500 in costs so far and they are sharing it with Watchet residents for free. However, should these documents be of use, a contribution towards these costs would be very gratefully accepted! Please either contact John Richards on 01984 634565 or make a donation at the Post Office towards the cause.

Finally, at the end are a couple of sample letters as ideas.

Please, if you are going to object, pick just one or two of the issues and write in detail, quoting any of the references that are relevant - it would be much better than loads of very similar letters. However, if you do not feel up to this, please feel free to email me, and I will do my best to help.


What would appear to be the most critical issues are:-

1)   All developments of 5 or more dwellings in Watchet must enter into a "Section 106" agreement with West Somerset Council to make a contribution to affordable housing as defined in a document called "SPG1". This can either be a percentage of the development as affordable homes, or, a cash contribution towards affordable housing in the local area. A rough calculation on the proposed development would indicate 21 dwellings or a contribution of about £1,200,000.00 (!) towards affordable housing. in exceptional circumstances, fully detailed, this can be negotiated. It would appear that WSC has, without public knowledge, negotiated with Urban Splash to negate any requirement for affordable housing or a cash payment. The Environmental Statement includes the full, gory details!

2)   Health & Safety issues regarding Harbour Road Boat Storage and the movement of boats. Impact on traffic and tourists by the closure of Harbour Road on regular occasions. The impact on local residents, vehicles, tourists and the local Church of all the probably noisy and noxious work on boats in Harbour Road, along with impact on the environment of the various chemicals used

3)   Consistency and fairness of implementing the Conservation Area Guidelines. The fact that the WHOLE CONSERVATION AREA must be considered, not just the East Wharf. When local properties can not add a small building (see refusals for Yacht Club on headland and cottage at Highbank) because it would be ''Visual Intrusive", how can such a large building be acceptable. This smacks of double-standards. Please read, however difficult, the Conservation Area Guidelines below and use these in your objections.

4)   Over development of site with too high a density (also see above) and contravention of the Local Plan (viewable in both Town and District Council offices) in terms of housing and tourism.

5)  The lack of transparency in the manner that West Somerset Council (and to some extent our Councillors) are handling the whole project. There seems to be many secret deals, lack of listening to local people and what seems to be total ignorance of their own planning guidelines. Perhaps WSC is not a fit body to determine a such a complex and significant development which will change the whole character of the area. Simply as land owners, this would appear to be a prejudicial conflict of interests. I personally believe they do not have the necessary experience of dealing with very clued up developers - see the mess up on Minehead developments. I also believe that they do not have the resources to investigate all the facets of this application in the required thorough manner. Therefore, perhaps if the application could be determined by Central Government on an independent basis, we would get a fair consideration

The way forward may well be to initially write to the Government Office of the South West detailing carefully all the planning mistakes made so far by WSC and expressing WHY it is felt that WSC will not follow their own rules and guideline, nor act in a fair way. This will require as many letters as possible to, with a request for the Planning Application to be "Called In" to:-

David Brown,
Planning Inspectorate,
Government Office of the South West,
2 Rivergate,
Temple Quay,
Bristol,
BS1 6EH.

Looking at the picture below, you will see the bulk of the new building as viewed from the slipway - this is quite a way from the proposed development and the building will look more bulkier the nearer you get to it. The jib (top) of the crane is at 20 metres from ground level which is few centimetres less than the proposed height. Actual spot heights can be see on the elevation plans which you can download HERE - note heights are from sea level, so deduct 8.3 metres from each measurement.

If you wish to download the full images in higher resolution, then please go the "Other Useful Documents" section below and click on the links to download. Anyone has full permission to use these images in any publication or media.

Prepared by:-
John Richards,
Watchet.net web-hosting.
01984 634565
5th May 2007

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS FROM WSC WEBSITE

OTHER USEFUL DOCUMENTS

PLEASE NOTE THIS PAGE IS BEING CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED
PLEASE EMAIL WITH ANY BROKEN LINKS, EXTRA INFORMATION OR COMMENTS.

In the year 2007, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in England and said, "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.

Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans."

He gave Noah the CAD drawings, saying, "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark.

"Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord ," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed Building Regulations Approval because the Ark was over 30m. I've been arguing with the Fire Brigade about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbours claim that I should have obtained planning permission for building the Ark in my garden because it is development of the site even though in my view it is a temporary structure, but the roof is too high..............

We had to go to appeal to the Secretary of State for a decision. The Local Area Access Group complained that my ramp was going to be too steep, and the inside of the Ark wasn't fully accessible, then the Department of Transport demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it............

Getting the wood was another problem. All the decent trees have Tree Preservation Orders on them and we live in a Site of Special Scientific Interest set up in order to protect the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go!

When I started gathering the animals, the RSPCA sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

Then the County Council, the Environment Agency and the Rivers Authority ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.

The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only CSCS accredited workers with Ark-building experience.

To make matters worse, Customs and Excise seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark"

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky.

Noah looked up in wonder and asked, " You mean you're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. " The Labour government beat me to it."

byeeeee