Built Environment & Housing - meeting June 15th

There is a public consultation meeting - June 15th at 7:30 pm 

St.John's Chapel, The Butts, Belper.

The topic is:

Built Environment & Housing

Community & Leisure -- feedback leaflet May 2016

COMMUNITY AND LEISURE.                  

2ND ROUND PUBLIC CONSULTATION.

19:30, WEDNESDAY 18TH MAY 2016

MILFORD SOCIAL CLUB,

5 CHEVIN ROAD, (OPPOSITE THE SCHOOL)

MILFORD,

DE56 0QH

FACILITATOR: JOHN DEVINE

Reporting feedback

Introduction

Neighbourhood Plan 4 Belper team has taken feedback from our first consultations which took place around Belper Parish earlier this year. While the number of feedback forms returned was disappointingly small, those forms we did get were very interesting and some very good points were raised.

This information we have been able to use to produce an outline as to which direction our Plan should take within each of the following categories.

Plan for Belper – Consultation 1 – Community and Leisure Jan 2016

Key points –

1.      Belper is inspirational, open access countryside

2.      There are many varying communities of interest, demonstrating a lively community spirit and social life, but perhaps there needs to be more communication about what’s going on, which could take the form of more co-ordinated parish ‘notice boards’ (real and virtual)

3.      Is the parish sufficiently served by the physical community hub buildings it needs?  Should there be an audit of those existing, and does there need to be another central, social ‘drop-in’ place?  There should be a central directory of places

4.      The town really comes alive in several key weeks – the DVMWHS weeks, Arts Festival, Food Festival

5.      Are people falling through the ‘gaps’ in community and social life?  How can that be best addressed?

6.      Is adult education too qualifications oriented now?

7.       There should be improvements to the physical leisure offer – improvements to the relationship between stakeholders in Belper Leisure Centre

8.      There are concerns about limitations on places at Pottery School

9.      There could be more formal FE College links to the town

10.    Provision of facilities for teenagers is not good.  Perhaps emphasise more intergenerational spaces?

11.  Should there be drop-in arrangements at health centres? (there is casualty coverage by Ripley GPs in their area, for example)

12.  The location of Babington Hospital and access is good, and will be a loss

13.   Access to Belper Meadows and the Nailers needs to be improved.

COMMUNITY

Community rooms are something that Belper is fortunate to have a good supply of.

The old schools, with their various sizes of rooms, lend themselves to community use: the Strutts Centre on Derby Road; the Adult Education Centre, on Holbrook Road (is it available to the general public?); the Fleet Arts Centre, on The Fleet; No28, on the Market Square; the community centre off Bridge Street, near the library; the Social Club at Milford.  The many sports clubs in the town offer room hire for parties and events.  The leisure centre has rooms available for hire to the general public.  There are also a good number of public houses within the Belper area with rooms and facilities available for public hire.  However, there is scope for additional public space:-

There is no community centre on the Parks Estate.

There was a lot of support for a community hub building in the centre of Belper where events and businesses could be advertised, with a café and social drop-in centre; perhaps even a meeting place for the town council with space for the public to observe.

The old Thornton’s building on Derwent Street would lend itself, in part, to

an easy conversion to community leisure activities. It already has a stage and

could be the basis of a community centre on the ground floor of value to all age groups.

The Tea Rooms at the River Gardens, when eventually built and with sufficient thought, could also become a community space.

Community engagement – volunteer allotments; veg. boxes.  At the moment we have a handful of people who seem to do the bulk of the organising.  How can we safeguard and build on their skills and enthusiasm for the future ?  What space is available for community use ? Who wants what and where ? There is much information required from the community.

Access to public buildings for both the elderly/infirm and the disabled of the parish.  Work has already been done in this regard by Accessible Belper, but there is more to do.

 

Should we be setting up some facility/scheme for the acquisition of local pubs as Community Assets should they fail as public houses ? Such premises would be ideally placed for alternative, community uses.

LEISURE

Leisure facilities.

Some have said that they would like a modern swimming pool with flumes, waves, etc. as well as the usual swimming pools.  Does this have community support?  Would keep-fit and sports facilities also need to be included?  Would it be better to have one large development or separate smaller developments?  Issues such as space/parking/congestion/access would need to be taken into consideration. 

Alternatively, should we be looking at extending/redeveloping the existing Leisure Centre ?  Issues such as school priority use/funding and access to the east side of Belper would need to be taken into consideration.

Or should we consider a Leisure Centre/Leisure Facility in the south of the parish ?  There would still be the same issues of space/parking/congestion/access as for a development in Belper Town.

What Community and/or Leisure Facility is required at Parks Estate area of Belper Parish ?

The Blue Box Scheme provides Multi Sports and Educational Workshops to the youth of Belper Parks.  Their management committee is looking at alternative/increase of use and looking at volunteer support in order to do this.  The community need to get involved.

The creation of Multi User Games Courts is suggested for the Parks Community. They provide safe, well lit facility for casual use sports by the youth of Parks.  What about Milford ?

Sommerlea Leisure Centre already has one as have many others. These are usually owned by AVBC.  Sporting Futures run sessions there.

Entertainment venues;

We have numerous music venues around the town (mostly pub based): the Queens Head, the Old Kings Head, the George & Dragon, the Lion Hotel, and many more – some akin to community centres.   Should we use the Neighbourhood Plan to safeguard our pubs from closure  by protecting them as ‘Community Assets’ ?  This would be a big undertaking and would need ongoing community involvement, but could be a boon to the more rural parts of the Belper neighbourhood area.

Town Notice Boards.

A suggestion has been made about having electronic notice boards throughout the parish, which could be updated from the town council offices.  There is also the possibility to have screens showing the same information in pubs, cafes and shops where there is a willingness to host them.  There would be issues such as cost/installation/security/maintenance.

Costs could be offset by selling advertising space on the system to local businesses and national organisations (think newspaper ads).  Are you in favour of these ideas or not?

Blue corridors – picnic areas or seating ?

Are picnic areas as valued as they once were ? Would they be used by families or prove a lure for antisocial behaviour ?  Would such areas be better placed away from the 'Blue Corridor' and closer to the edge of town i.e. the bottom end of Derwent Street and elsewhere along the bottom of the slope at the edge of the Meadows ?  Perhaps better provision of seating along the 'Blue Corridor' might prove more popular whilst still providing many of the benefits of picnic areas ?  We need to know which option the community favours.

EDUCATION

Concern has been expressed that schools provision within the neighbourhood plan area is at capacity.  Also, that there is insufficient tertiary education provision.  The views of professionals are being sought but we welcome any information, suggestions or ideas that anyone has.

YOUTH/ELDERLY/DISABLED

There is a good offer of structured sports within the area for young people, but

there is very little that caters for ad hoc and flexible needs.   It has been suggested that there needs to be more provision for areas to kick a football about or just to congregate.   

We have been told there is a need for further youth facilities at the Whitmore end of Belper and at Milford.

Do you agree?  Please let us know so we can get a consensus.

Should we have shared leisure/meeting facilities for young and old ?  The old Thorntons site could possibly lend itself to redevelopment of this nature.  A good sized space with easy access and parking in which to hold music, performing arts and other, larger scale, events. The needs of the younger and older generations, when it comes to entertainment, are remarkably similar when it comes to venues.

For the elderly, inform and those with disabilities: can we further improve Belper town centre by focussing on ease of access to all premises? What about the cost ?  A number of shops already make an effort to support those customers with additional needs, but many don’t shout about it. For instance, did you know that

we have retail staff in the town that can sign and say hello to those with hearing

impairments. It will be useful to tie in such accessibility considerations to future planning and

development in and around Belper.

HEALTH

The NHS South Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group produced a document last year entitled:

Joined Up Care in Belper

Healthcare Service Review for the town and surrounding areas

Interim Report –October 2015.

This is a 52 page document with gives many facts, figures and proposals.  The link to access this document is: http://www.southernderbyshireccg.nhs.uk/have-your-say/belper-health-services/

This document was followed by:

Joined Up Care in Belper

Pre-engagement Report.

This is an 8 page report which sets out the findings of the survey conducted at this time.

In total 84 questionnaires were completed.  It is expected that there will be further consultations taking place in the summer and that will be an opportunity for more Belper people to take part and make their views known.  The link to access this document also is:

http://www.southernderbyshireccg.nhs.uk/have-your-say/belper-health-services/

SPORTS

There is comparatively little opportunity for casual or spontaneous sports other

than fishing or ball games on green open spaces.  Multi User Games Courts would certainly help to redress this imbalance.   Perhaps aiming for at least 4 – one by the skate park, one on Parks Estate and one at the Whitemoor Estate  and one at Milford ?

COMMUNITY & LEISURE FEEDBACK

Post to: NP4B, St. John’s Chapel, The Butts, Belper DE56.1HX.   or e-mail to: info@planforbelper.org.uk

COMMUNITY:

LEISURE:

EDUCATION:

YOUTH/ELDERLY/DISABLED:

HEALTH:

SPORTS:

Parks and Public Open Spaces feedback report - May 2016

The Neighbourhood Plan Team has been busy collecting and collating feedback from residents whose houses back on to the following parks and green open spaces: Belper Parks, Bullsmoor, Manor Rec., Walker Bottom Rec. (at the end of Stanton Avenue) and Three Cornered Rec. We intend to survey residents whose houses back on to other parks in Belper in the next few months starting with the biggest green areas and working down.

Feedback has been collected via a survey form which is particular to a single place or a group of parks where they are in close proximity to each other. The views expressed come only from the residents surveyed not the facilitator. Many of the views were expressed by a considerable number of people.

Feedback about Belper River Gardens, Market Place, Meadow’s edge, and the Memorial Gardens comes from comments in surveys of other parks.

Wyver Lane Nature Reserve: Size 70 hectares situated at the far end of Wyver Lane

We do not intend to survey the residents living in the only house that is close to Wyver Lane Nature Reserve. The Nature Reserve is privately owned, is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust on a very long term lease and has no public access.

Belper Parks Local Nature Reserve: Size 20 Hectares surrounded by housing in the middle of Town, adjacent to Coppice Car Park.

Belper Parks is approximately 50% native English bluebell woodland and 50% grassland with 3 hectares of wildflower meadow. The meadow is fenced round so that cattle can graze the meadow in the autumn, which is the ideal way to manage a wildflower meadow. The site has had a management plan since 2003 this was updated annually from 2007, when the Landscape Services Department was first formed, until 2012. There are many things in the management plan that remain undone.

Comments from residents :- These vary widely.

1)      Many residents appreciate and look forward to the arrival of the Highland Cattle each year. But have strong comments on the way Landscape Services mismanage the cattle grazing regime for the wildflower meadow. One example is as follows:-

“What sort of idiot had the meadow mown before the cattle went in. The cattle had no grass to eat and the meadow would not benefit the land with no grass”

2)      This is contrary to AVBC’s Press Release in 2009 issued by Cllr. Jack Brown then Cabinet Member for Cleaner, Greener, Safer in which he said:
 “When the idea was first suggested I was instantly excited. Aside from the obvious environmental and educational benefits of replacing mowers with cows, the site of Highland Cattle, grazing in the park, would be a popular draw for walkers and tourists. Ideally, we want to find a willing local farmer who can graze their cattle and use the meat to sell locally and really subscribe to the organic and ethical values we’re aiming to instil with the project.”

3)      Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and other professional environmental groups also say cattle grazing in the autumn is the best way to manage a wildflower meadow. Mowing and removing the arisings kills or removes much of the very small wildlife you need to support the larger animals further up the food chain.

4)      Some people think the site is well managed, clean, tidy, safe and peaceful

5)      Others complain of dog fouling and litter.

6)      Non native species of plant and trees need to be removed

7)      Access for disabled people needs improving

8)      It is good to be able to walk away from roads, traffic and concrete, better for body and mind

9)      Generally good but need to be more inclusive

10)   Could do with community events and activities for families

11)   Outdoor awareness sessions

12)   Too much clearance of undergrowth. Less clearance of fallen trees as those rotting down produce food at lower end of food chain encouraging biodiversity.

13)   Less clearance of brambles at Coppice car park as foxes which keep rats in check have gone

14)   Footpaths to be better maintained and the occasional sight of a dog warden

15)   Freedom to walk without trespassing

16)   Community bird hide would be good

17)   The Parks need to be managed better. It has become much more overgrown and therefore dark since we came here 5 years ago

18)   Not consulted adequately on changes

19)   If people want to get involved in the management of the Parks then they should be allowed to do so.

Manor Rec.

1)      A skate board area in Manor Rec.

2)      I think the skate board park at Morrisons is in the wrong place. It is too out of the way, which allows groups of older teenagers to dominate it and scare of younger children

3)      There are no swings or roundabouts for children over 8 years old.

Walker Bottom Rec.

1)      The ball court slopes so balls roll of the court and into the brook. Needs more fencing to stop footballs going in the brook.

2)      We overlook the rec. and enjoy watching all ages enjoying the recent facilities

3)      Path needed round playground when direct route around the play area is muddy.

4)      We enjoy living on the edge of it and visiting children use it.

5)      Not enough swings and difficult to access the slide

6)      Path and fencing not adequate. Council official very unhelpful and rude

7)      More swings

Bullsmoor privately owned and currently farmland

1)      No building on Bullsmoor, would prefer development of brown field sites.

2)      No building on Bullsmoor as no infrastructure

3)      Views plenty and different routes to take, being in the countryside. They are attractive unspoilt areas and safe.

4)      We are unfit 80+ year olds and wish we could enjoy the Parks. We moved to Belper in 2012 and bought a property overlooking the serene green areas. It would be ghastly if housing were to be built on Bullsmoor. The infrastructure is not there schools, surgeries and Nottingham Road – unthinkable that traffic would be increased along it into Belper. Belper is a gem. We need to preserve what makes Belper unique. Kind helpful townspeople are also a plus for the town.

5)      Massive concern regarding flooding issues connected to new development

6)      Bullsmoor is vital to the World Heritage status. Bullsmoor should have “village green status”.

7)      To truly protect the unique features of Belper, the industrial planning permission also needs to be removed from Bullsmoor as part of the Neighbourhood Plan

The responses of the two exceptions to the 98% who did not want building on Bullsmoor

8)      Yes, as many as possible to support local businesses.

9)      Only if it is affordable housing for first time buyers

Three Cornered Rec.

1)      I don’t like the fact that dogs are exercised in 3 Cornered Rec. don’t think they should be exercised where children play

2)      No waste bin at the top of the rec. This results in rubbish on the grass

3)      Tailored for the very young, which is appropriate for St Johns Primary School

4)      Good place to go with children to play football and basketball. Play area well managed

5)      Needs a new basketball hoop and board

6)      Would be good to have new equipment like Whitemoor and an assault course.

Belper Meadows edge

1)     The area of the Meadows at the end of Derwent Street should be left as it is, completely natural.

Belper River Gardens owned and maintained by AVBC

Many people visit the River Gardens from other parts of Belper.

1)     The playground is only suitable for very young children.

2)     The Gardens need a cafe, they would be well used by the public

3)     Would like to see the cafe re-open

4)     Stop upgrading to things that do not work

Memorial Gardens owned and maintained by Belper Town Council

1)     Residents appreciate the work of the Town Council’s staff in maintaining the Memorial Gardens and imaginative displays of flowers.

2)     Few people know of the community garden in the Memorial Garden

Belper Market Place shared ownership by Belper Town Council, Derbyshire County Council, and some of the adjacent landowners, which makes legally enforceable no parking signage impossible.

Belper UDC Act 1953 requires the Market Place and Coppice car parks to be available for fairs and markets.

1)     Don’t like the Market Place being used as a car park when Coppice car park is so close.

General Comments on Parks and Green Open Spaces

1)      Belper’s Parks and Green Open Spaces give a sense of well being and are the reason some people move to and like living in Belper. Once they’re gone there is no going back.

2)      Freedom

3)      Belper’s Parks and Green Open Spaces are great places to exercise kids and dogs

4)      Green open spaces are too valuable to loose for many reasons. (Wildlife, recreation etc.)

5)      Commitment to maintain the integrity, size and biodiversity of Belper’s parks and public open spaces are vital for the health of Belper and neighbouring areas.

6)      What is bad about Belper’s parks and green open spaces :- Litter, Bottles, Vandalism and mis-use by a mindless minority

7)      It would be good to see schools use the Parks to educate children about nature and the environment

8)      It would be good to see more use of green open spaces to grow free food such as fruit trees and fruit bushes for people and wildlife.

9)      50% of all new housing built in Belper in the last 15 years. Only one built in Alderwasley.

10)   Protect Belper from developers keep our green open spaces.

11)   Any new housing developments should contain small regularly placed green spaces within them

12)   We all need open spaces to be in touch with nature. It would be a poorer environment without them in Belper

13)   Belper is a lovely Market Town. Don’t spoil it with too much building.

14)   Belper cannot sustain further development (beyond occasional an house). It doesn’t have the infrastructure. The road network cannot be adapted to facilitate extra traffic.

15)   If houses need to be built, make sure the roads are wide enough for all the extra traffic.

16)   I think it is important we keep these spaces as they are, with no new buildings. Belper is overdeveloped as it is, the town is in danger of losing its character.

17)   Not enough facilities for the number of houses.

18)   Belper is expanding! The attraction to live here is the access to the open spaces and parks. I would move house and town if I lost it. Key reason for moving here. To feel free having lived in an already crowded Derby.

19)   Belper’s infrastructure is under pressure. New builds both commercial and domestic appear to have no thought to how traffic is managed, let alone sewerage/water management

20)   The green spaces compliment the history of the World Heritage Site and encourage tourism. They also make the environment pleasant to live in.

21)   Please do not allow any more houses to be built on our Green Belt land. Belper is far too beautiful one of the main reasons we moved here.

22)   Speeding big issue on Nottingham Road. Traffic calming or cameras are needed to prevent accidents.

23)   Belper has too much traffic going through it (Bridge Street and New Road). The infrastructure seems very stretched by an expanding population.

24)   Parks and Green Spaces need to be protected. This is a common comment in many replies.

25)   Not enough car parking or school places, doctors or dentists to cope with more housing.

26)   Belper is in danger of over development which will result in the town losing its character. There are many similar comments to this. People are concerned about squeezing a quart into a pint pot, and the consequent loss of World Heritage status.

Emerging policies

1)      The vast majority of residents see the value of being in a World Heritage Site as well as its constraints and want it to remain much as it is with development only where there is no reduction in the site’s Outstanding Universal Value.

2)      No building on Belper’s Green Belt

3)      The vast majority of residents do not want houses being built on the Town’s current parks and green open spaces.

4)      Residents want local people to be involved in the maintenance and development of Belper Parks, and a number of people including older children are prepared to be involved under the right conditions. A community group can obtain funding to develop the site for the benefit of its wildlife and human visitors and help implement the local Biodiversity Plan for the Derwent Valley.

5)      People want to see more use made of Belper Parks by the community for appropriate activities. This will help reduce abuse of Belper Parks.

6)      The Tea Rooms in the River Gardens need to be renovated and re-opened as tea rooms.

NP4B at Belper Goes Green

The Neighbourhood Plan for Belper team will be attending Belper Goes Green. Look out for us at BGG on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th June.

If you have any questions about NP4B or want to feed your ideas into the process then please come and speak to us. We will be located in a marquee ........... not quite sure exactly where that will be on the Rugby Club grounds so you may have to search us out.

This is also an ideal time to become part of the team as the workload is demanding but would be made so much easier if shared amongst an expanded group of volunteers.

Link to the Belper Goes Green page on the Transition Belper website

BGG is being held at the Belper Rugby Club:

Community & Leisure

Community & Leisure

Wednesday 18th May @ 19:30

Milford Social Club

5 Chevin Road, Milford

This is the second meeting to discuss this topic. So far we have had a wide range of issues raised.These include getting more affordable housing in the town, thoughts about improving our various sports venues ; improving facilities for young people in the town and offering easier access to wheelchair users.

Where is this? 

Belper Broadband information ............. Digital Derbyshire

Following a comment made at the 1st Infrastructure Public Consultation meeting held at Strutts last month,  that poor broadband speed in Belper had resulted in some businesses being deterred from locating in the town, enquiries have been made to ascertain to what extent this is true. Of course it is nigh on impossible to know what businesses have been deterred but it is possible to tabulate the availability of high speed broadband in any given Belper address.

First we approached Derbyshire County Council which resulted in a visit from the Digital Derbyshire team, first for a briefing direct to NP4B followed by a briefing at a Transition Belper workshop evening. We learnt the following:

Digital Derbyshire

Digital Derbyshire is delivering the county's biggest ever broadband transformation. Derbyshire County Council is working in partnership with BT to lay hundreds of miles of fibre optic cable, bringing better, faster broadband to parts of Derbyshire.

The Digital Derbyshire programme is providing fibre services to communities by primarily upgrading existing BT cabinets in areas that currently cannot receive fibre services, and involves installing a dedicated fibre cabinet in close proximity to the existing copper cabinets, with enhanced broadband services being provided through a mixture of fibre and copper technology. The copper element involves using existing infrastructure (underground or via telephone poles) between the cabinet and the property. This technology is commonly referred to as Fibre to the Cabinet or FTTC.

So far, a total of eighteen green roadside cabinets containing the fibre connection have gone live in the Belper area as part of the Digital Derbyshire programme. This is in addition to the commercial coverage which already exists for some homes and businesses in the area. This means that many residents can now order fibre broadband from an internet service provider (ISP) of their choice (see map below for where the cabinets are located).

Digital Derbyshire is a circa £34 million programme which is split over two contracts; contract one until the end of September 2016, then contract two until the end of 2018. The funding breakdown is as follows:

£15.2m - BT

£5.0m – Derbyshire County Council

£9.7m – Broadband Delivery UK

£2.5m – European Regional Development Fund

£2.2m  - D2N2 LEP

This is the Digital Derbyshire link

This is the Digital Derbyshire presentation prepared for NP4B

Following contact with Digital Derbyshire it has been possible to create a document that lists the broadband potential of all Belper postcodes. From this it is possible to have an overview of how the work of upgrading the town is progressing. The following link lists all Belper postcodes and shows the progress made in connecting the street cabinet to which your house or business is connected by copper wire.

List of fibre enabled locations in Belper by postcode

Belper Fibre-Optic connected cabinets (as at May 2016)

To check your own address

Belper telephone cabinets are gradually being connected to the exchange via fibre optic cables. This makes it possible for higher broadband speeds to be available. You can check your speed potential here: Broadband Download Times by typing in your postcode.

Conclusion

There are still some locations in the town where broadband speeds are yet to be improved but the work carried out so far is encouraging. Speeds of up to 76 Mb are now being offered which would seem adequate for most business requirements. Digital Derbyshire have requested that comments regarding issues of poor performance should be addressed to them but of course we here at NP4B are also interested.