Planning application was not granted for the development on the grammar school site. The full details can be see on the PDC website, so removed from here to free space.
http://www.purbeck.gov.uk/docGallery/2310.pdf
H:\Agenda\PLANNING BOARD\Recs\2004\RECS NOV04.doc 8
6/2004/0945 The Welfare Dwellings Trust Change of use and erection of 13
new buildings to form self-catering holiday accommodation,including 103 flats, sports hall and health club, landscaping and car parking; The Purbeck Centre,Northbrook Road, Swanage
Friday, November 19, 2004
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3 comments:
Would it be fair to say that the council will object to any development of this site as it will draw trade away from their town council run holiday facility?
They have just invested up to £3/4million redeveloping the Bay View caravan park.
Their refusal to grant planning permission could be seen as an abuse of their position to prevent fair competition within the town for recreational facilities.
I believe that there is a massive conflict in interest in that the town is being run to maximise revenue from carparking and the caravan park often to the detriment of other commercial activities in the town. I further believe that the council's role is to facilitate the activities of the town and not be in direct competition with commercial ventures.
Therefore they need to rethink theirr philosophy and role in the town.
One of the objectors gave as her reason for objecting to this proposal the arguement that Swanage is a "Family Resort".
What on earth does this mean? Nobody could possibly imagine that the English seaside can return to being the principal destination for main holidays, or that the nuclear family or mum, dad and nippers was the universal norm. All I can see in this is a thinly disguised appeal to the "family values" brigade.
She followed this up with a derogatory reference to Butlins establishments.
Why not be honest and say you don't think that working class people, single parents, gays and lesbians and whoever else you grind her teeth at should not be allowed into Swanage in sufficient numbers to be noticeable.
A few years ago the suggestion that "social" housing should go on this site caused a general curling of lips in the surrounding streets. It proved to be only a brief distraction from the Telegraph's obituary collumns but what a splendid idea it was. Homes for people who can't quite run to the £300,000 plus going rate in that part of town and no Butlins! Family homes, next to a park and some (meagre) play facilities and within a few minutes walk of the beach. That would go some little way to reversing the extraordinary social engineering of the 30s and 50s which put most of the town's children as far as they could get from the facilities they would use.
Over 130 residents objected to the Grammar School development - because it was an ugly, crowded overdevelopment of the site. That has nothing to do with what members of the council might want. What sort of tourist would want to stay on such a site? Certainly not the same sort of tourist who stays in England and takes their family to center parcs. There was every danger that we would be left with a giant white elephant.
Before we have any more large developments in the town we should have a vision for what we want our town to be. I would like to see some real independent market research on the type of tourists that come here and how to attract the ones we want (and avoid the ones we don't). This place has to be balance between the people who live here all the time and the people that visit. This development would have generated huge traffic flow and a lot of the 'older' people who live on D'Urberville were very worried about what their quiet area would become and it is fair for them to have their say and for it to count. Noise, traffic, light pollution, deliveries at all hours, rubbish......
I would also like to see some logical debate about affordable housing. If people come (often from outside)to live here in affordable housing, where will they work? They won't want seasonal jobs and we don't have that much work in the town. What else will the town have to provide in terms of services e.g. transport etc and how will we pay for it.
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