City Farm riding arena (in the park)

[Joe K]

Ah, I see. Both docs have disappeared from the site now.

There are those who say civilisation (as we know it) has about twenty years left, tops. I think the city council have decided to coast 'til then.

[Deleted]

They've submitted an amended plan, but I can't so far see what has changed. I'll have to go through the documents with a fine-tooth comb. Drat.

[Joe K]

One things that seems to have changed is that when I posted my comment about the actual size of the arena being twice as big as the existing paddock implied, they immediately added a new block plan which 'explained' the extra space. This plan still suggested there was plenty of room between the arena and the boundary of St. James' Church, so residents could still use the park entrance next to the church.

This new plan, however, seems to push the arena perimeter even closer to the church, effectively blocking off that route. That would make the Upton St entrance redundant. Would the council sell it off too, to the farm or the church? More space for graves?

What's confusing is that while the new amendment indicates that the red line isn't necessarily the arena boundary, but includes space required for construction purposes, the original block plan (and I'm fairly sure it didn't look like this originally, as I would have remarked on it, but others may have a different recollection) states that the red line IS the arena boundary, a broken purple line, very close to the church, is the temporary boundary for construction. They should keep the schematics consistent, especially if the 02/01/14 plan has been altered recently. Otherwise, someone could end up arguing that the loss of the top entrance, whether originally intended or not, was implied, so not such a great blow to residents' expectations.

[Deleted]

I don't know if you've been reading the stuff about the Ridge and Furrow pub in Abbeydale; Richard Graham supports keeping it as a pub, and the only possible logical reason that I can think of to explain his interest is that he is friends with Phil Staddon, who has been hired to fight the Morrison's petrol station planning application. If that's true, then no wonder he was so against me when I contacted him about the riding arena application.

[Deleted]

Yesterday I received a letter from Paul James, in which claimed that the Council is generally under no duty to advertise its intention to enter into any lease. If true, this means that more such leases could be on their way as council cutbacks bite. We could end up with much of our publicly-owned assets leased to 'community' groups over which we have zero control and which can't even be questioned via an FOI request.

[Deleted]

I had a major go at the council at Monday's Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, mainly to do with the Draft Open Spaces Strategy. Part of it was reported in today's Citizen.

[Joe K]

Comments are actually still open for this application. I received a letter from the council on the 29th of January to say that 'amended plans' had been submitted. I only opened this letter yesterday, because it was addressed to 'The Owner/Occupier', and letters addressed so tend to be from Virgin Media and the like. I'm tempted to visit the council offices to ask them if they sent letters to any other address in Jersey Road, and if not, why they didn't feel the need to put my name on a letter sent specifically to me. Perhaps I'll settle for my latest comment:

Why is it that everytime we see a 'revised' DAS, it looks exactly the same as the first one? Can't it be headed with the actual revisions? Also, if the revisions are a response to the most recent objections, as seems likely, including one by the Environmental Protection Office, then they are at least as significant as the 'lighting issues' which caused the last application to be withdrawn. Why, therefore, should this application get any further? The council has said that Gymnasian doesn't need to consult with residents to make this application, but it seems to me that if they had made a real effort to do so, this project would already have commenced, or been given up as a bad job by now.

[Joe K]

13/01311/FUL | The Erection of a new all weather 40x20 riding arena/menage on the St James City Farm Site adjacent to St James Park. Complete with new exterior fencing, lighting and drainage. Currently used as animal grazing space and exercising paddock for a variety of large animals. | St James City Farm Albany Street Gloucester GL1 4NG

[Deleted]

I got that letter as well. I arrived a few days after the date on the letter because it was sent second class. Unlike you, I opened it immediately, as I saw that it came from the council. We've got till Wednesday of next week to make comments, I think.

[Joe K]

Small plus is that Tracy Hergest's address has finally been removed...

[Joe K]

Soz, Kay, I think this is what you wanted me to put up, so I'd better do it while I'm turning the computer off. It went out of my head after you asked, like yesterday's dental appointment after they texted me ...


Overview and Scrutiny Committee, 3rd February 2014

Issues relating to public open space and to public use of private open space:

As you know, St. James’ City Farm and part of the adjacent park were leased to Gymnasian UK Limited on 1st August 2011. Presumably, the leased area ceased to be classified as public open space on that date; and yet the Draft Open Space Strategy, which was produced during 2012 and put out to public consultation in December 2012, shows all of the leased area as still being public open space. The document acknowledges: “Barton and Tredworth falls seriously short in terms of the council’s adopted standard for open space quantity.” However, it also states that St. James’ Park measures 1.26 hectares, the same as it did in 2001, which can’t possibly be correct. It is unclear whether the measurement in 2001 included the city farm, but the area occupied by the city farm is shown on the maps in both 2001 and 2012 as being part of the park. Irrespective of whether the city farm itself has been included in the calculation of the size of St. James’ Park, the fact that an additional 850 square metres of public open space, currently under grass, was leased to Gymnasian along with the city farm means that the claimed total area of 1.26 hectares of public open space is incorrect. Is this a deliberate lie or did the officer who calculated the amount of open space actually not know that part of the grassed area of St. James’ Park had been leased to an outside organisation the previous year?

The Draft Open Space Strategy also says: “Quality of facilities in the existing open spaces [in the Barton and Tredworth ward] also falls short of expected standards…” It goes on to say that there is potential for a full multi-use games area (MUGA) at St. James’ Park. I don’t see how there can now be a MUGA, as part of the area needed for the MUGA has been leased to Gymnasian and seems destined for a riding arena, which will not be open to the general public, and will cost money to use. A MUGA would have to be built on a flat area, and the other end of the park slopes too much, I believe. The leasing of the extra 850 square metres of grass to Gymnasian seems to rule out the possibility of a MUGA, and yet the Draft Open Space Strategy speaks of it as if it is genuinely being considered. This seems to be designed to give a false impression to the reader.

I have previously tried to question the claim that Tree Wardens are ‘open space partners’ despite the fact that the Gloucester tree warden group ceased to exist before the Draft Open Space Strategy was written, but I got nowhere. In its current form, the document contains inaccuracies and, as far as I can see, deliberate lies that are designed to make people believe that things are better than they actually are and that public open space is safe in the city council’s hands. It is rather worrying that the Open Space Delivery Plan states that by the end of 2013 the council will: “Identify 10 under-used open spaces and seek alternative uses or disposal.” Who gets to decide if an open space is under-used? Councillor Sajid Patel has stated publicly that the part of St. James’ Park that is the subject of the planning application is under-used, when nothing could be further from the truth. Have these 10 supposedly under-used areas of open space already been identified, and are they to be disposed of? If so, where are they and have local residents been informed of the planned disposal?

There is also the matter of the so-called community garden in Conduit Street, next to the Trust Centre. As far as I know, the garden was not sold off at the same time as the Trust Centre, and yet it is not open to the public. What is its legal status? The Draft Open Space Strategy has classified it as private open space. I have personally never known it to be open to the public, although I believe that it was donated to Barton and Tredworth Community Trust by the Council in order that it could be used as a community garden. I suppose that it depends on who is defining the ‘community’.

I ask that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee investigates the issues that I have raised.

Kay Powell.

[Deleted]

I've only just got around to looking carefully at the new map, and I believe that the only difference is that there are now going to be zero flood lights, whereas before there were to be eight. This means that the arena won't be lit after dark. I'm currently composing another objection letter for tomorrow.

[Deleted]

Back in the real world, the city council seems determined to steamroller through the riding arena application. Despite the fact that there is still no tree survey or report, the matter is to be decided next Tuesday. I haven't had time to read Gavin Jones' report yet, so I'll do that when I can. At least I can have one more pop at the cabinet at Thursday's full council meeting.

[Joe K]

This Thursday meeting looks like the one to attend. I was tempted to go to the CCCP's thing at St. Oswald's, but this looks like more of a priority...

[Deleted]

St. James' Park isn't the only subject that I'll have a question about: there has recently been a rumour going around in my neck of the woods that the council is trying once more to sell off some of the space at Tredworth allotments for flats. The last time that there was this rumour was in 2006, and it was true. You can't believe everything that you hear on the grapevine, but it would be foolish to ignore this one.