|
Update on the appeal for change of use for The
George 12/7/19
Please note that the deadline has now passed (11th July)
for all additional comments for this appeal to be in
with the independent Planning Inspectorate. No more
comment will be accepted from any 3rd party.
The next step is within our gift, as the applicant, to
review any new information presented to the Inspectorate
which they will make available to us, and provide our
final response to the Planning Inspectorate by 25th July
2019. By this date the Inspector will have all the
material they need to review and organise a site visit.
Once this site visit has taken place, a decision will be
made by this Inspector. Hopefully by end August /Sept
19
For your information, please see below the strong letter
of support sent to the Inspectorate by our newly
elected Parish Council which addresses their support and
ownership of the installation of an appropriate barrier
between The George and the market cross .This road
safety issue was the principle focus of a small number
of objectors at the Planning Committee meeting on 20th
February and played a key part in our application being
rejected on highways issues. We are hopeful that through
this action by our Parish Council these concerns have
now been addressed .
Please be aware SSDC have already been granted
conservation approval as The George is a Grade II listed
building .
This letter can be read in larger size via .pdf format,
by clicking HERE
In the meantime we hope to soon be able to share news on
the outcome of our negotiations with our existing
landlord as the end of current lease date approaches
.Our key focus is to ensure Winsham Community Shop and
Post Office - owned and run by the community as a
Community Benefits Society can continue into 18th year
of serving our community.
Please remember anyone can become a share holder and
have a say in how the shop is run by attending our
Annual General Meeting held in December each year .If
you want to know more just let us know
If anyone has any further questions please let us know
on
winshamshopkitchen@gmx.com
Winsham Shop Management Committee
***
George Appeal Update 14/6/19
We are pleased to confirm we have received official
validation and the timescale of our appeal from the
Planning Inspectorate, that hopefully means a decision
will be made by September/October this year.
Please note the decision on our appeal is made by
the independent Planning Inspectorate, not SSDC:
Key date :25 July 2019
This is the deadline by which all information from South
Somerset District Council and ourselves should be with
the Planning Inspector for review. Post this date,
a site visit will take place and a decision will be made
based on written submission from both parties.
In line with the above process SSDC have sent letters to
all of you ,who wrote letters to them, to advise of
appeal and ask if any further contributions are to be
made , that they should go direct to Planning
Inspectorate by 11 July I
The Planning Inspectorate have received copies of all
your supportive letters and those against, regarding our
application previously sent to SSDC .It is therefore not
necessary to write again, unless you have something new
to say.
Our Parish Council have agreed to write a letter of
support and state their intention to apply for necessary
highways licence and put effective barrier in place
between The George and The cross to improve road safety
which will add weight to our appeal.
Existing premises:
Negotiations are ongoing with our current landlord to
stay in our existing premises until we are in a position
to move and we are hopeful that this will be resolved
shortly.
Any questions please let us know
Winsham Shop Management Committee
***
Winsham
Shop & Post Office /The George Update 24/5/19
1. THE APPEAL FOR CHANGE OF
USE FOR THE GEORGE
The George is still our
preferred location for the future location of Winsham
Shop & Post office. There have been no other worked
solutions proposed to secure the future of this valuable
village asset.
As of today The George
still remains available for sale and is currently
occupied by the owner
We are delighted to confirm
that, thanks to the considerable time and expertise of a
very much appreciated member of Winsham Shop Management
Committee, we have finally completed the appeal and
produced what we believe is a compelling case which has
been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate .
Our application now needs
to be validated by the Planning Inspectorate and once we
have this validation we will have a better indication on
timelines(up to 6 months). In the meantime if you want
to understand more about the process it is available via
the following website: planninginspectorate.gov.uk
Please be aware that this
will be a paper
review via our written representation by an independent
expert, not South Somerset District Council.
2. EXISTING
SHOP & POST OFFICE PREMISES
Discussions are ongoing
with our current landlord, who is aware of our
intentions regarding The George appeal and our desire to
enable us to stay in our current location until we are
in a position to move. There are significant challenges
regarding this, as our lease is due for renewal this
September.
As we have previously
stated that the building is not ideal, and the noise
created by the shop is a serious issue for our
landlord. We are confident we have a proposal to put in
place a solution to suit both parties that will allow us
to stay and will update you on this once we have
discussed this with our landlord and agreed way
forwards.
3. BARRIER/PLANTER FOR THE
AREA BETWEEN THE CROSS & THE GEORGE
Draft minutes from Winsham
Parish Council Meeting 8th May 2019 following proposal
made by Winsham Shop Committee below where Parish
Council have taken ownership of ensuring appropriate
barrier in place:
Proposal: Following receipt
of a request from The Shop Committee, the Members to:
a) Consider pursuing
the licence application with County Highways, in line
with their procedure, in liaison with owner of The
George and County Highways to ensure an adequate barrier
is in place.
b) Consider paying the
initial £165 application fee.
c) Consider agreeing in
principle to a planter barrier solution, subject to
discussion with County Highways, and obtain costings for
creation and installation.
d) Discuss the project
costs (as detailed in Shop Committee’s email).
Resolved:
The Members:
a) Agreed to pursuing the licence application with
County Highways, in line with their procedure, in
liaison with the owner of The George and County Highways
to ensure an adequate barrier is in place. Cllrs S Davie & J Everard will take this forward.
Proposed: Cllr J Hill Seconded: Cllr H Beentje 8-0-0
b) Approved paying the initial £165 application fee. Proposed: Cllr K Fowler Seconded: Cllr J Everard
8-0-0
c) Agreed to defer this
item to a future meeting.
d) Agreed to defer this
item to a future meeting.
Any questions please let us
know via email
winshamshopkitchen@gmx.com
Winsham Shop Management
Committee
*****
Winsham Shop & Post Office - The George Update 1st March
2019
It is now a week on from the Planning Committee result
and the work has begun in earnest to deal with the
aftermath. There is much to do and we will be on the
agenda at the Winsham Parish Council meeting to be held
next Wednesday 6th March in the Jubilee Hall.
Here is a summary of where we are as of today:
Number One Priority - Existing Premises
In order to enable us to continue trading in our
existing premises, we need to ensure that we have a new
lease in place with our current landlord, effective as
from 1 September 2019.
Negotiations are under way to enable this to
happen.
We will update you as soon as we have an answer on this.
Potential Appeal - The George.
‘Change of Use’ decision
We believe that the decision at the Planning Committee
should have been 'approval by the planning committee
conditional on installing appropriate safety barriers
being licensed and approved by County Highways to meet
their requirements'.
We still believe that The George is currently the best
available and funded option on the table. We believe
that there may be grounds for appeal and when we have
decided the way forward, we will report back to our
investors and shareholders. Our problem is that the
appeal process is anticipated to be lengthy, possibly 6
–12 months.
In the meantime we have taken appropriate action to
express to our Council officers
our serious concerns with the Planning Committee meeting
process and outcome.
Understandably, the owner of The George has now decided
to put it on the market and if - and when - he secures a
buyer, this option will be lost for our village due to
the Planning Committee's decision on 20th February.
Other options for consideration
Other options will be reviewed and any ideas are welcome
- we have already received several and will be sharing
what we can at next week's Parish Council Meeting.
Exceptions:
As we have already reviewed and rejected the Winsham
Playing fields/Sports & Social Club/Band Hut, based on a
number of key criteria such as accessibility (highways
issues), location and - very importantly - the ability
to fund, we do not plan to revisit these options.
Nor do we sense any great groundswell of support
for these locations.
It is not that these options could not be made possible - most things are
possible - but as stated to the Planning Committee,
Winsham Shop Committee does not
believe that these proposals will satisfy the
needs of the village. Quite apart from this, no new
option can be undertaken lightly.
Even to get to the point of deciding to present
just one of them to our shareholders would require a
huge amount of work over a considerable period of
time, including preparing a viable business case and
funding model, not to mention raising the necessary
funds.
Highways and Planning issues are, as we well know, a
major factor in any such project.
It should be noted that it has taken over two
years of intensive work to get to this point with The
George project - an available and existing building
requiring minimal change.
As you are aware, there is
nothing to prevent others taking on this mantle and we
will provide them with any relevant information.
Our next step will be to present
our proposed way forward to shareholders and The George
investors at a Winsham Shop Limited Extraordinary
meeting, date to be advised.
Remember anyone can become a shareholder for £10.
If
anyone has any questions or comments please contact us
on winshamshopkitchen@gmx.com
Thank you
Winsham Shop Management Committee
|
