Another Christmas Post

Our annual Christmas Post is a belated one this year.  Sorry about that!  The thing is we started to write something a while back but it turned out to be more of a reflection on the 10 years of slow progress on the site that has become Dragon Court and ended up getting a bit sombre and not a little depressing. 

Christmas, of course, should be a time of celebration and good cheer so we'll leave our dark-ish reflections for another post.

Once again, though, we note that the building work that started in July 2015 still isn't finished (just how long does it take to build seven houses?) and we cannot yet hang up our computer keyboard.  Wait!  We're getting sombre again!  Let's leave it at that for now and we'll be back again before too long.

All the very best to one and all for Christmas.

Happy New Year

A somewhat belated Happy New Year to everyone.  We've now received a response from Stafford Borough Council regarding  our query about compliance with the landscape & planting scheme and the investigation we mentioned in our last post.

They have concluded that there is little point in enforcing the implementation of the planting scheme until all the building work has been completed.  This makes sense as there will be on-going construction activity until the last house has been built and this would be incompatible with tree planting and associated landscaping work.

Quite when this will be is, however, another matter.  We've haven't seen any external work taking place since well before Christmas and there is still the best part of another house to complete.  (The weather, of course, hasn't helped).  Chance yet for one more Christmas Post on the Blog?

The Christmas Post

With the Big Day getting ever nearer we've been mulling over what to say in our annual Christmas post.  As regular readers will know, we discontinued our greetings card idea a while back because we thought it was time to embrace reality and move on.  The "last post"  approach tickled  our fancy again but we've used that too many times and they invariably turned out not to be the "last post" at all.

This year, however, there is some news to pass on.  Many readers will no doubt have forgotten all about the conditions of the planning permission granted in 2010, nearly seven long years ago to the day.  One of the conditions requires the owners to implement the landscaping and planting scheme which they themselves submitted in support of their planning application.  And this very same landscaping and planting scheme clearly shows a number of trees and shrubs being planted throughout the site and, in particular, along the boundary with Stone Road.

The planning permission requires the owners to implement the scheme within eight months of the development being put into use.  Now, we're not sure whether this means when the first residents move in or when all the development activity has been completed so we got in touch with the Borough Council to find out.

What they said in their (very quick) reply came as a bit of a surprise.  They are now investigating to establish if there has been a breach of planning permission on the site. (On second thoughts, given the history of the whole thing, perhaps it isn't that much of a surprise after all).   We'll post full details about the possible breach as soon as we find out.  And, of course, if you know what's going on, do let us know.

One thing that we have noticed about the site is that a fence has been erected on plot 1 along the Stone Road side.  Strangely enough, it runs exactly along the line where trees are supposed to be planted.  Whether the good residents of plot 1 know about this, we can't say.  We'd have thought that their solicitors would have brought the conditions of the planning permission to their attention before they bought the property.  There again ... you never know.

We've been hearing loads of stories about the goings-on of this development for some time now: unoccupied properties being broken into, bricks being stolen, bills not being paid, court hearings and now a breach of planning legislation.  We thought that once the building work had started back in 2015 that would be the end of the matter and we could all get on with our lives.  Some hope.

And oh yes, we nearly forgot.  Merry Christmas to one and all!

Not quite The Last Post

Well, it looks like our new neighbours are finally starting to move in.  Curtains in the windows and cars in the drive are a bit of a give away, aren't they?  Obviously we extend a curteous welcome to the Rough Close community but also our sympathy as they will be living in the middle of a building site for the immediate future.

Building work started again with a vengeance this week with the arrival of fresh loads of bricks, mortar and all manner of tradesmen.  Quite when all the properties will be finished, however, remains open to speculation.  The Blog isn't going away just yet although, hopefully, there will be less need to post.

The Christmas Post

Around about this time last year, we ventured to say that it would probably be the last time we wished our readers the compliments of the season.  We figured that, by now, the new houses would be all be built and maybe even occupied.  How wrong can you be?  The building work continues.  Sort of.  Nothing seems to have happened on the site for the past three weeks and there still seems a lot to do.

However, according to the parish newsletter, three of the properties have been sold and the buyers are due to move in "by the first week in December".  The newsletter adds that the site is to be known as Dragon Court.

This year, we've decided not to post our usual "Christmas Card" at the top of the Blog as we feel now is the time to move on by which we mean simply looking forward rather than backward.  As one of our very sensible neighbours has pointed out, when the new people do move in they will become part of the Rough Close community.

Nevertheless we wish everyone a very merry Christmas and, you never know, we might still be here this time next year!  All the very best.

New Planning Application Update

Apologies for this belated update.  Local councillors have been consulted (not by us) and we were hoping to report more information about the status of the application  which we are as yet unable to do.

However, we've looked into the new application in a bit more detail now and compared the new proposals with the previously approved plans.  The main points are as reported in the earlier post: the owners wish to build living accommodation and an additional bedroom using the space previously allocated to the garages on plots 3 and 7.  They also want to build a detached,  single garage for plot 7 between the house and plot 2 and a single attached garage for plot 3.

The main impact seems to be on the occupants of the first house in Leadendale Lane with a potential loss of light entering the property and restricted views to the north facing side.

The detached garage for plot 7 means a reduction in its garden size and less space between plots 7 and 2.

As regards plot 3, it looks like the applicants have removed one of the trees which are shown on the approved plans in order to fit the garage in.  And the siting of plot 7's detached garage looks decidedly perilous to the tree that should be planted there!  Or maybe they don't intend to bother.

The documentation itself gives some cause for concern as it states the site name as the George & Dragon, Meaford!  Surely, planning documentation must be completed correctly.  If it isn't, what's the point in having a planning procedure?

We continue to have concerns about the failure to meet condition 19 which should have been met before development work started and should provide details of access to the development once complete.    And yet here we have a proposal which affects the layout of the site and, potentially, its safety.

Like other residents, we want to see this whole saga brought to a rapid conclusion.  However, safety must be a prime consideration.  If you want to object you can do so in writing, via the Borough Council website (link below) or by email.  The planning reference is 16/23982/FUL.  Closing date is 3rd May 2016.

Here We Go Again (Again). Oops, we've used that title before. Sorry!

Residents in the immediate vicinity of the new builds this week received notification that the owners of the site have submitted yet another planning application for a variation of the existing planning permission.  We're still looking into the implications but in summary the owners wish to utilise the garage space for accommodation on plots 3 and 7, and build an extra bedroom on plot 7. In addition, to provide an attached garage for plot 3 and a detached garage for plot 7.

Now that might not sound too bad.  However, the owners have already built the extra bedroom on plot 7 at least.  The planning application is therefore retrospective.

Our initial concerns are that the conditions of the original planning permission have not yet been met so we have no idea of what the access provisions will look like and now the owners wish to take action which could lead to more people living in the houses.  We have a concern that parking might be an issue.

There have been a couple of other developments as well.  First of all, we understand the people who purchased plot 1 have since changed their minds and asked for their deposit back!  We wonder why?  Secondly, we have also been informed that there has been a break-in at one of the properties, plot 1 again, it seems.  You couldn't make this up, could you?  The planning permission was granted in 2010 and here we are nearly six years later still with a building site on our doorsteps.

Once we've looked into the proposals in more detail we'll let you know.

Two Down?

It very much looks like the second of the seven houses under construction has been completed.  We've also heard on the grapevine that two of the properties have been sold. 

Now forgive us our ignorance as we're not sure how this all works:  the conditions of the planning permission have not yet been fulfilled and yet the houses can be sold?  The conditions in question are that all road construction, street lighting and drainage details have to be approved before work can commence.  This hasn't happened.  There are also a number of other conditions that have to be met before the development is brought into use.  We do hope whoever has bought the houses have got good lawyers.

Merry Christmas - Again

And so, dear readers, yet another Christmas approaches.  This is probably the last time we'll be wishing you seasons greetings as, by next Christmas, the houses will probably be built and the Blog will no longer serve any purpose.  On the other hand, construction work does seem to be taking rather a long time ...

Last time we looked on the SBC website there was still no sign that the provisions of the planning permission had been met.  Whether this has anything to do with building progress, we can't say.

For now, then, a very Merry Christmas to one and all.

Planning Permission Breached

And the work continues.  It looks like whoever owns the site at the moment is ignoring the SBC Enforcement Officer and the conditions of the planning permission.

Although residents will no doubt be pleased to see work underway on the site at long last, it doesn't augur well for the future if the legal requirements are ignored so early on.

It is the Borough Council's responsibility to ensure compliance.  So far they have explained the situation to contractors working on site and written to the owners' solicitors.  We look forward to seeing what action they take next.

Start .. Stop ... Start

Further to our last post, it transpires that, a few weeks ago, the owners submitted a request to discharge condition 19 of their planning permission.  This requires the submission and approval of road construction, street lighting and drainage details before work can commence.  However, the request was denied by SBC which means it's still in force.

Nevertheless, earlier on today workmen turned up to start work!  After some swift intervention by residents and one of our Borough Councillors, an Enforcement Officer duly arrived to ensure compliance with the planning permission conditions and work stopped.

The ownership issue remains unclear.  We're assuming that the site has been sold which would explain the sudden burst of activity after five years of stagnation but we don't know to whom.  The Land Registry shows no recent change of ownership although this could simply be a case of the paperwork not yet being processed.  We understand that, whoever does own the site, is now taking advice from their architect with a view to satisfying the remaining planning conditions.  Work will no doubt recommence at some point in the future hopefully in accordance with the planning permission.

Given the history of this saga, we would not be surprised if the new owners (assuming the site has been sold) were unaware that planning conditions had not been met.  What does surprise us somewhat is that there is no requirement for any one to notify local residents that work is about to commence.  Health & Safety?  Noise?  Traffic?  Incovenience?  Who are we to expect to be kept informed?

That's not the end of the matter, however.  As we have been writing this piece, work has started again!  In other words, the owners are flouting the planning permission, ignoring the Enforcement Officer and running the risk of having to rip out anything the BC doesn't like.  Will the Borough Council step up to the plate and do the necessary?   Your guess is as good as ours!

Stand-By

It looks as if the site was sold a while back and the commencement of work may well be imminent.  One local resident has been told that initial building activities are about to be begin although it is by no means clear that the developers are aware of condition 19 to the planning permission which requires details of road construction, street lighting and drainage to be approved first.

Nice of them to let us know, eh?  Anyway, our Parish Councillors and Borough Councillors are on the case.  We''ll keep you posted and let you have the full story as the situation becomes clearer.

Voice of Rough Close Updated

Finally, after a very long self-imposed slumber, we can report that the Voice of Rough Close website has been substantially overhauled and updated.  Click here to take a look.

Keeping In Touch

As it's been some time since our last post we thought we'd better put something online to indicate that we are still here.  We are, although there is little to report.  Occasionally, people can be seen walking around the site and the odd vehicle parks up in the space by the site entrance.  Other than that,  developments seem thin on the ground.  If you know any different do drop us  a line.

For Sale?

Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted that the "For Sale" sign, adorning the pub site for so long, has now disappeared.  An easy conclusion to jump to is that the site has been sold.  However, let's not be too hasty.  This isn't the first time it's happened.  We seem to remember that it fell down during a previous bout of windy weather.

On other other hand, something might well be afoot as the ad has disappeared from the James Du Pavey website.   Sold? Or taken off the market?  We'll just have to wait and see.  As usual.

And Yet More Houses

Readers may or may not be aware of the latest plans for building yet more houses in the area.  No, not in Rough Close but in Lightwood.  According to reports, plans have been submitted to build 200 "executive" style homes on greenbelt land adjoining Lightwood Road and Woodpark Lane.

As you might imagine, the plans have been strongly opposed by local residents who are supported by their local MP, Rob Flello, but not by the council's planners who are in favour of the proposals. Sound familiar?

And at an intended selling price of £750,000 a pop, these are not houses intended for local residents looking for their first home.  

According to Stoke-on-Trent City Council, the area is "at a competive disadvantage" when it comes to attracting high earners hence their positive stance on the matter.

Although not in Rough Close, the proposals do have implications for us: increased levels of traffic, for instance, on roads that already struggle to cope.  And if the proposals do go ahead, how will the inevitable stream of heavy contractor vehicles fetching and carrying materials to and from the site gain access?

If you want to find out more, here are some links for you.

Firstly,  here's a map showing where the proposed development will take place (it's the shaded area at the top of the image - as near as we can tell).

Click to enlarge

The local community has set up a Facebook page which you can access here (opens in a new browser window).

And finally, here's a link to the report carried by the Sentinel (opens in a new browser window).

A Dark Secret?

A new for sale sign adorns the fence of the G&D site this morning: James Du Pavey.  By our reckoning they are the third lot of estate agents to try their hand at selling the plot.

By all accounts, the site has already been sold subject to contract on two previous occasions so what's the problem?  What's the stumbling block that's preventing completion?  What dark secret does the land hold that only comes to light when potential buyers look at the fine detail?  And will James Du Pavey have any more luck than Butters John Bee and Daniel & Hulme?

The site is now on the market at £625k so it looks like the owners have reduced their price a bit but will it be enough to overcome whatever secret lurks beneath the rubble of what used to be the pub?  Only time will tell.

We wish the good folks at James Du Pavey all the best with this one.  The saga has gone on long enough.

An Interesting Chat

We had an interesting chat with a chap from the Highways Department on Friday.  Seems he had been asked to visit the site following an anonymous report that something was not quite as it should be with the fence. 

Whoever made the report was spot on.  The fence has been erected several feet beyond the site boundary.  In other words, whoever put it up has "appropriated" land which isn't theirs.  We'd noticed it ourselves and, if memory serves correctly, one of our readers has pointed it out in the past.   Anyway, well done to the person or persons unknown who brought it to the attention on the Highways Dept.  Their representative has now gone away armed with a load of photos showing the transgression in all its glory.

Let's just hope they do something about it and have the fence moved.

Sold Subject to Contract

Well, according to RightMove, the site is still sold subject to contract.

Site Sold?

A number of websites advertising the sale of the G&D site on behalf of the agents report that it has been sold subject to contract.