The Consortium of developers who are building the new town at Sherford have applied to the local planning authority for permission to change the masterplan layout. They have held well-attended consultation meetings in recent months to discuss.
There are two main aspects to the changes, although they interlink. First, the method of disposing of rainwater run-off from the site has had a major rethink. Just a few years ago it was fashionable to engineer solutions to problems like these often with huge concrete underwater tanks being constructed. The developers have decided to let nature help this process by leaving in place or creating some fingers of green space within the new town to let water soak away naturally. It is hard to work out why the original design did not incorporate this capability, but because the plan was started well over ten years ago, the rules and approaches differed.
The second major change, to accommodate the greater open spaces being planned into the urban design is to push more housing development into the community park which sits on the edge of the new town. The developers have assured me that the number of houses in the new masterplan will remain precisely the same as a result of these proposed changes. There will be no alteration to the design to the individual houses and the community facilities will be included as previously designed.
I would encourage any constituent who might be concerned to look at the detail of the proposal on the Plymouth City Council website, especially the new masterplan and let the council have any representations.
After a slow start I have the sense that the developers are starting to get to grips with the challenges of this new town and are making good progress. I expect the pace of development to increase from now on. The school is underway and it will not be long before the community has a thriving heart. Many people have moved in and several new affordable homes to rent are also now occupied providing much needed security for local families.
We have a generation, our children and grandchildren, who cannot afford to buy their own homes and are denied the security that we have enjoyed. It is now a political imperative to deliver on this and Sherford is part of the solution.
It is hard to oppose these sensible and modest proposals which might make the new town even more attractive.