August 2011 Newsletter online

The Dereham Society's August 2011 newsletter is now available to view online or download as a .pdf <here>.

August 2011 Newsletter

Breckland Active Land Management

Simple Asset Stripping?

The Executive Committee is shocked and appalled by the Land Sale policy of Breckland District Council which is presented as Active Land Management (ACM). ACM is portrayed as an open and transparent process designed to ensure that all the council’s land assets are managed in a way which best benefits all residents within Breckland. This is apparently such a well-meaning statement that no-one can object in principle but the devil as always is in the detail: an independent assessor gives Breckland a land value based on usages from open market housing to public open space and anything in between. It is then the duty of BDC to obtain ‘best value’ for the land after all constraints to any such use, including town and parish comments have been fully examined.

In practical terms this means that all pieces of open space belonging to Breckland are essentially up for sale unless a strong case is made by local residents which will persuade/force the independent assessor to place a high value on the non-economic benefits that local residents derive from Open Space in their neighbourhood.

This is exemplified by the opposition mounted by local residents at Castell Road to the proposed development . Residents have organised a meeting with George Freeman MP and are running a successful campaign to express their desire to keep the space for general recreation and use as a green lung. We fully support this campaign and have written to Breckland to lend support. Hopefully this will succeed in preventing a further four or five houses being squeezed into a high density area.

Our concerns are also for the other open spaces which whilst appreciated by many people do not gather the same degree of active support as these will inevitably become easy targets for development. In Dereham there are two smaller sites Waples Way and Howlett Close which are particularly vulnerable. Both these sites could benefit from some TLC but are situated amidst dense housing and offer a chance to create an attractive green space where it is needed.

The issue of Open Spaces within and around Dereham was deemed sufficiently important to warrant two studies being commissioned and adopted by all three councils including Breckland in 2008. This exhaustive study highlighted that Dereham suffered spectacularly from a lack of Open Space compared to National Standards and, far from losing space, required an extra 21 hectares to reach the standard. The study set out a plan to work towards this standard and develop a Green

Infrastructure connecting all the small pockets of space to the bigger wilder spaces we are fortunate to have. This included exciting proposals for better walkways and possible cycle paths to assist in overcoming the traffic issues. Dereham Town Council adopted the study and purchased eight acres to add to the stock of land near Neatherd Moor but the plan requires that existing small pockets in more urban settings are maintained or increased, not developed, which would destroy all attempts to build a green infrastructure. Given the involvement of Breckland in this process of establishing a Green Infrastructure we consider it to be a complete change in policy which has not been mandated if these spaces were to be developed.

The ad hoc sale of these sites would also appear to contradict all the carefully documented work undertaken to establish a Local Development Framework (LDF). We may not always agree with the conclusions of the LDF but it is a series of proposals that have been open to public consultation and professional scrutiny. If there was a need for more housing of a certain type in Dereham this should have been included and discussed in a fully transparent fashion. The LDF is now in place and once housing demand recovers we can expect to see more housing being erected in some of the ‘green spaces’ adjacent to housing at Windmill Avenue and the Greenfields area. This will reduce the effective green space in Dereham even further, making these small sites more valuable. To sell these sites in the middle of a housing recession when green spaces are becoming rarer seems extremely poor judgement.

Rather than simply seeking to present the sale of assets as efficient use of resources we urge Breckland to consider the concept of best value. Given recent events in cramped urban areas it is worth attempting to improve the environment we inhabit as this has such an impact on behaviour and aspiration. David Cameron alluded to this when talking of the importance of measuring well-being and not simply gross national product. Breckland should be taking the lead in building a more diverse and exciting environment for Dereham residents in which to live, rather than simply squeezing some crude financial gain from pockets of land. We urge members to join in and write expressing your views on this subject to your Breckland councillor.

National Context

HM Government received a report, the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, earlier this year, on the value of ecosystems to the national economy. The Key Messages include:

‘The natural world, its biodiversity and its constituent ecosystems are critically important to our wellbeing and economic prosperity, but are consistently undervalued in conventional economic analyses and decision making.’

‘Actions taken and decisions made now will have consequences far into the future for ecosystems, ecosystem services and human wellbeing. It is important that these are understood, so that we can make the best possible choices, not just for society now but also for future generations.’

The Assessment can be downloaded in pdf format from www.defra.gov.uk/environment/natural/uknea/

Economic analysis contributed to the Assessment was provided by a team at the University of East Anglia:

Urban Greenspace Amenity

Economic Assessment of Ecosystem Services provided by UK Urban Habitats:

Report to the Economics Team of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (University of East Anglia, May 2011)

The report concludes:

‘Urban greenspace, while under constant pressure due to the increasing demand for housing and commercial development, generate substantial benefits to local communities.

… changes in the provision of urban greenspace can create – or destroy – billions of pounds worth of benefits to local residents.’

In June, Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for the Environment, launching the Government’s Natural Environment White Paper said, ‘It sets out how to better protect and improve our natural environment. To grow a greener economy. To capture the benefits of nature in our wellbeing – getting society – in particular children – more involved.’

‘30% of habitats are degrading, biodiversity is in decline. This is just not good enough for a society that wants to see nature flourish – for our own enjoyment, for our health, and for the good of our economy.’ 

Events

26 October

Wherry nice in Broadland

Stories of the Broads. Malcolm Cooper

The Norfolk Broads and their associated river network were the main thoroughfare for trade for many years. This led to the development of a particular type of craft for cargo carrying – the Norfolk Wherry. This fully illustrated slide talk follows their development and use over roughly three centuries.

23 November

Christmas at Blickling by the Blickling Diggers

The Blicking re-enactors return, following their highly entertaining visit earlier this year portraying life below stairs in the big house.

Meetings are held on Wednesday evenings at 7.30 in Dereham Library. Admission is £2 to members and £3 for guests.

Christine Adams’ account at our April meeting of the remarkable life of May Savidge, who refused to let her 500-year-old house in Ware, Herts, be demolished to make way for a road, attracted a large audience and was a great success.

So far it hasn’t been possible to secure a date from George Freeman, our MP, to come to speak, although he has added his support to the Castell Road open space campaign.