PLANNING ISSUES

This page updated

June 2008

PAVILION & FERRY TERMINAL DEVELOPMENT

A planning application is expected in the  summer of 2008

PAVILION AND FERRY TERMINAL DEVELOPMENT

The Weymouth Civic Society has formed an Action Group to challenge the excessive elements contained within the proposed development having regard to the already published views of the Society. We will use this page to report on all aspects of the proposals as well as our actions and responses. We feel it is important to give the people of Weymouth a factual account of developments and news as and when it happens.

We shall enquire, probe and report and publish stories and pictures in the cause of transparency in the hope we can help people make up their minds about the future of the site. Apart from noting that the Society feels the current plan is excessive, we shall endeavour to be objective and report fully on matters as they arise.

THE LATEST ON HOWARD HOLDINGS PLANS—LITTLE CHANGE

On 19 May members were given a presentation of the scheme to date by Howard Holdings’ architect, Nick Henley and their representative Gary Charman.

There are no significant changes to the general disposition and mass of the various elements. Emphasis was laid on the design allowing views through and over the site and of consultations in the early stages with English Heritage and CABE, the Council for Architecture and the Built Environment. The overall height of the tallest buildings, the end towers of the ‘landmark building’ at the far end of the pier, was given as 33m above AOD (above Ordnance Survey Datum). Currently 285 apartments are proposed of which there will be 50 affordable homes and another 65 dwellings off site.

The range of apartments looking over the beach has been divided into separate blocks but the mass of the landmark building remains as before.

Members put many searching questions but may have gained little satisfaction from the replies.

 

It is clear that the developers are anxious to gain planning consent and approval of the environmental statement this summer in order to achieve completion of work on the site by 2012.

 

SEE PAGE ‘PHOTO DETAIL’ FOR VIEWS OF THE SITE & PLAN

PAVILION SITE -  COUNCIL TO SEEK ALTERNATIVE

     FUNDING FROM THE GOVERNMENT’S SEASIDE FUND    

 

While Weymouth agonizes over the redevelopment of the nine-acre Pavilion and Ferry Terminal site and, in particular the theatre which might be in darkness for three or four years, moves have been going on in the background to see if, after all, government funding might not be forthcoming to help with part of the ambitious regeneration plan.

 

The Weymouth Civic Society understands that two days of talks and presentations were held in early April between Borough council officials and an inspection “panel” which reports to the Council for Architecture and the Built Environment. CABE announced at the beginning of April it is leading a £45million investment in culture and the arts in some of the most run-down seaside towns in England. The programme, initiated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will see £15million invested in the heritage and culture infrastructure in selected towns each year from 2008 to 2011.

 

CABE wants to hear from seaside towns which admit to suffering from neglect. The towns then have to prove they have projects eligible for government funding. Already Blackpool, Torbay and Dover are to receive £4million each for major schemes this year and there are further sums of between £200,000 and £1million earmarked for distribution to English resorts to help with smaller projects.

 

Could Weymouth and Portland be in line for a government handout if they qualify as neglected areas? The visit was seen by the council as an opportunity to put Weymouth forward as a seaside town worthy of consideration. A minibus was laid on for members of the party to visit areas such as Osprey Quay and the Pavilion site.

 

The visitors were particularly interested in what is planned in regard to the Olympics in 2012 and it was felt the Olympics might hold Weymouth in good stead for a funding application. Although the visit was generally considered to have been a success, nothing will happen immediately. It is a question of “wait and see” as to what kind of bid Weymouth might put in for funding.

 

According to CABE’s published guidelines, many of the town’s needs would qualify for help. Topping the list for funding are harbours, promenades, open spaces and constructing new buildings or converting existing ones for use as cultural centres. And of particular significance to Weymouth is the that fact theatres, concert halls, dance spaces and arts centres are seen as no less important in the regeneration mix.

 

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council have always claimed that the only way to refurbish the ailing Pavilion building, said to be costing the council £1million a year in upkeep, is to do a deal with a private developer. While redeveloping the site, the chosen developer Howard Holdings undertakes to refurbish the theatre and Ocean Room, though exactly when and how this might happen remains unclear. This is providing planning permission is given for the rest of the package, which includes 360 flats, a nine-storey landmark building and four star hotel, a 290 berth marina in the bay and the rebuilding of the harbour wall.

                                                                                                                                                                   April 2008

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANT DATES  at which the results of the Council’s consultation will be discussed and decisions made on the size of the scheme.

Management Committee 3 June at 2.00pm Pavilion

Council Meeting 18 June 7.00 at the Pavilion

THE MARINA AND THE WALLINGFORD TESTS—WPBC visit in May

David Joy, an experienced hydrological engineer and director of the Nothe Fort, accompanied the few councillors and council officers who travelled to Wallingford to see the engineering aspects of the proposed marina within the Pavilion and Ferry Terminal redevelopment scheme. He found no real concerns over the tests and engineering solutions that were demonstrated but commented that tests are at an early stage and concerns such as those regarding the harbour entrance and the shape of the marina can be resolved by engineering.

But that is only half the problem. These engineering solutions will have an effect outside the problem they are designed to correct. In the exposed position, the more the harbour mouth is extended the more the risk of an adverse impact on the beach regime and the harbour entrance conditions. A model can begin to demonstrate this. But there is a problem in the small scale of such a model, which cannot interpret the full-scale real life situation of the wave conditions and effects on the seabed and drifting of sand. It would be unsustainable to end up with regular movements of large volumes of sand or even of rubbish drifting from the harbour.

All these aspects will have to be considered and proved acceptable in the Environmental Impact Assessment. That will be a separate issue from the planning application.

However, it is the Weymouth Civic Society’s opinion that such a large marina is not necessary in this location.                                                                                                                                       May 2008

 

 

 

 

 

On 3 June the Management Committee made a recommend to the full council to approve the Pavilion and Ferry Terminal Development Brief and Strategic Environmental Assessment ….as part of the planning policy framework...to assist in guiding the determination of any future planning application for the site and that detailed points highlighted by those making representations …..be taken into account in pre-application discussions, and required to be addressed by the applicant prior to the submission of any planning application for the site.

 

On 18 June these recommendations were approved by the full council.

 

See below for WCS SSTATEMENT following the meeting.

STATEMENT ISSUED following the decision by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to approve the Development Brief and Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Pavilion and Ferry Terminal Site

 

Weymouth Civic Society bitterly regrets the Council’s decision to approve the new Development Brief for the Pavilion and Ferry Terminal site. In doing so the Council has not only ignored its own decision in February 2007 to go for a smaller project but has also made a mockery of the plans for the site included in the Local Plan, which is the basis for long term future development of the Borough as a whole, which the council adopted less than three years ago.

 

The Council itself has repeatedly stressed the importance of public responses to this project but, in practice, has totally ignored the depth of feeling against the scheme.

Opposition from many quarters has been expressed not only in responses to the council’s own consultations but repeatedly in the local press, at verbally at Council meetings and, recently, in the petition signed by over 7,500 people and presented to the Prime Minister.

 

The Development Brief now approved is biased towards meeting the developers’ requirements for financial viability at the expense of the urban and maritime heritage – a neglect of the principles of sound planning and conservation. The Civic Society is passionate about the future of our town and its unique appeal to us, the townspeople, and to our visitors - thousands of us who love the beach and the views out over the bay backed by our splendid Georgian esplanade. We do not want these dominated by a barrier of massive buildings and screened by partial enclosure of the bay.

 

Weymouth Civic Society does welcome redevelopment of this run down area and the renovation of the Pavilion. However, should any application for Planning Permission be made in the future which calls for massive buildings, densely packed apartments and a large marina, the Civic Society will do all that it can to encourage refusal.

 

 18 June 2008