Plans to introduce a new 40mph speed limit along the A38 between the Edithmead roundabout and East Brent have been unveiled this week in a bid to make the busy route safer.

Somerset County Council has this week published a Speed Limit Order proposal to introduce a 40mph limit for the stretch of road highlighted in red on the above map. It includes Brent Knoll’s Fox and Goose junction, which is a well-known accident blackspot.

For more information see Burnham-on-Sea.com

UPDATE: 12 FEB 19 email from Bleadon Parish Council's Clerk following Monday's public meeting, "Fracking – no discussion at council, not mentioned by any resident on any of the surveys I have seen (which is only about 100 of the 281).  You ask ‘why’ fracking was not on the survey – well, your email requesting it be put on the survey was noted but the issue was not considered relevant to this early stage survey.  The [Bleadon Neighbourhood Development Planning Working] Group decided the questions – you were not on the group.  No other resident requested any particular question."  

UPDATE: 11 Feb 19 (Mins 319.3 & 319.11) Frack Free North Somerset speak at BPC public meeting and BPC's response.

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BOB has been informed that a landowner on Roman Road, Bleadon, has received a fracking related letter as seen on the Frack Free EQS facebook post (see copy below). It seems that Oil and Gas Exploration Survey letters are being sent to various North Somerset landowners.

On 8 Feb 19 Drill or Drop? wrote: "Frack Free North Somerset has established that at least two landowners in the parish of Bleadon had been contacted by the company. The group said both had declined the rental offer. A large, but unspecified rental fee had been mentioned, the group said. The issue is likely to be discussed next week at the meeting of Bleadon parish council (Monday 11 February 2019) and by Frack Free North Somerset at its planning meeting (Tuesday 12 February 2019) ..."

"... Richard Lawson from Frack Free North Somerset said, “The central thing that will, or should, kill this attempt to extract is that it is actually on the Mendip Hills, which are fissured limestone. So any drilling, particularly fracking, will inevitably contaminate the interconnected waterways that run through the limestone, importantly to Banwell, where Weston super Mare derives much of its water, and to the tourist areas of Cheddar, Wookey and Wells. A plan to frack in Keynsham, on the other end of the Mendips, was abandoned because it would contaminate the Roman Baths at Bath.”

More information can be found on the BOB Fracking page including information on North Somerset and Bleadon Parish Councillors' view on this topic.

BOB has been raising the fracking issue with Bleadon Parish Council (BPC) since 2016, e.g. Nov 18, and requested a question(s) in the recent Jan 2019 BPC Neighbourhood Development Plan survey, as reflected in a recent BOB NDP blog. So, hopefully BPC are prepared to answer any residents concerns.

The next Parish Council meeting is on Monday 11 Feb 2019, 7pm, at the Coronation Hall, but please note that this is not on the published agenda.

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Frack Free EQS - Facebook Post 07 Feb 2019

Oil and Gas Exploration Survey letters sent to North Somerset landowners!

South Western Energy has finally shown their hand with exploration plans for Bleadon in North Somerset. Bleadon is just a few miles south of Weston-super-Mare and lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

If you are a farmer or landowner please thoroughly research this contentious issue before making any decisions on whether to allow access to your land, or to lease or sell land to the oil and gas industry. Your long-term health and livelihood may be at stake. Please let us know if you have been approached.

In the event that you might be opposed to the possibility of oil and gas production activities despoiling this area, and further contributing to the climate crisis, please note that the next meeting to be held by Bleadon Parish Council will take place on Monday 11th Feb at Coronation Hall, Bleadon, 7pm. Or write to the parish Clerk at parishclerk@bleadonparishcouncil.co.uk and ask that they put oil and gas exploration/development on their agenda and allow the public to participate at the meeting.

Let's support them and get the message out there that this area is potentially under threat from fracking.

Attached is a letter from Gerwyn Williams, CEO of South Western Energy, to a resident of Bleadon. We can confirm that the letter is genuine and that other landowners have been contacted to request access to their land for the purposes of undertaking pre-drilling application surveys. The image quality of the attached photo is poor so for your convenience this is what can be deciphered:

5th December 2018

(Name & partial address withheld)

Roman Road 

Bleadon

Dear Madam Re: HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION - Bleadon, Weston-super-Mare

Our company, South Western Energy Limited, holds Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence xxx (xxxxx) which was granted by the Oil and Gas Authority in the 14th Onshore Licensing Round and is exclusive in terms of hydrocarbon exploration. We would like to carry out exploration work for hydrocarbons on your land near Bleadon, Weston-Super-Mare. This limited exploration process(?) does not include any drilling or fracking but a walkover xxx using a small team that can carry equipment over the land, is a non-intrusive and would take around 3(?) hours to complete. Following the results of this test we would have a much clearer picture in terms of the presence of hydrocarbons or otherwise. This work does not need planning permission. There is xxxx from this xxx xxxxx xxxxx to agree the best location for the exploration work. Please see attached the following location plan: xxxxxx Location Plan [Ref: xxxxxxx] From our initial geological modelling the site shows good potential for the production of hydrocarbons. Initially we would like to gain a temporary licence from you to carry out a walkover test. If this test xxxx positive, we would like to reach an agreement with you to drill a well and negotiate a long term production related rent payable to you which will represent a long term, stable income for you if production is successful.

Signed by Gerwyn Williams

Previous Fracking Blog

We have been informed by a resident that "The relevant council committee are meeting on 13th Feb to consider the Devils Bridge planning application. The planning officer's recommendation is that it GOES AHEAD. Would ... anyone ... be willing to address the meeting on behalf of those who are opposed? Three minutes are allowed for this"

Previous application information and some resident feedback can be found at https://www.bleadon.org.uk/beinvolved.html?post_id=26136

If you can help please contact us or send an email to bob@bleadon.org.uk and we will pass your feedback onto the resident concerned.

"TAKE PART: 2 February - 23 February

Help us reclaim our dark skies

Dark, starry skies are one of the most magical sights the countryside can offer. But light pollution means many of us can’t see the stars. We want to reconnect people with the wonder of our glorious night skies.

You can take part in #StarCount2019 and help us find our darkest skies, to ensure more of us can experience this natural wonder.

Our Star Count will take place this February, with support from the British Astronomical Association, and we’ll be asking you to look up at the night sky and tell us how many you can see in Orion. You can do this from anywhere in England.

Your results will help us to create a map showing the best places to enjoy the stars. And it will also support our work to combat light pollution and reclaim our dark skies.

How to take part in Star Count 2019:

Try to pick a clear night for your count, with no haze or clouds, then wait until after 7pm so the sky is really dark. We’ll be accepting results taken from Saturday 2 February until Saturday 23 February, but the best time to do the count is from 2-9 February, when the moon is smallest, so the skies are darkest!"

More information on how to count the stars with the naked eye for the 2019 count survey and to submit your count.

Current CPRE Map for North Somerset Light Pollution

Other Information:

• 2014 count information
• CPRE and light pollution
• Night Blight Interactive Map
• Visit the CPRE website

Bleadon residents are not the only ones concerned with how local councillors are respresenting and/or misrepresenting them. Below is an open letter from a Sedgemoor resident who has  "... lodged a complaint about the Sedgemoor decision to allow that appalling application ...to build 18 houses so close to the A38."

OPEN LETTER TO JAMES HEAPPEY, MP

 

Dear James,

 

You are the MP for the residents of Brent Knoll, and we need your help.

 

We need you to ask the Secretary of State for Housing & Local Government to call in the application by Coln Residential to develop 18 houses at 2 Brent Street – a wholly inappropriate site for development of any kind.

 

We have demonstrated, at every one of the three attempts by Coln Residential to secure planning consent for this site, that we are united in our opposition to their plans to build houses at the junction of Brent Street and the A38.

 

We live here, so we know that this location (outside the approved development zone) is wholly inappropriate for house-building.

 

The access to this site is perilously close to the already dangerous junction between Brent Street and the hugely busy A38.  Indeed, the Parish Council supported an earlier application (having previously discounted this site for development) solely on the basis that the developer was offering a traffic-lights solution to that dangerous junction.

 

That application proved too costly, so the developer (Coln Residential) went back to the drawing board and came up with this P4 application, on the basis of delivering 7 “affordable homes”.  Our Parish Council was, for the third time, split down the middle, so sent a message to Sedgemoor District Council of “No Observations” – which belied the true picture.

 

On every one of the three occasions that Coln Residential submitted a planning application, the Parish Council was split in two.  The defining issue is that one councilor, who happens to be our District Councilor, our County Councilor, and the Chair of Sedgemoor’s Development Committee, chose to abandon his long-held policy of absenting himself from planning matters at the Parish Council.

 

[The counillor] chose, for some reason, to remain in those Parish Council meetings, to speak, and to vote, in favour of every one of Coln Residential’s applications.

 

This meant that we, the objectors, were limited to just one speaker and just three minutes when Sedgemoor’s Development Committee met to decide the matter last Tuesday.

 

[His] actions meant three things:

 

• He steered the Brent Knoll Parish Council to back this disastrous application, ignoring the overwhelming opposition of the residents;

• He engineered the “No observation” response from the Parish Council that the Sedgemoor Development Committee told us would be interpreted as acceptance of the application;

• He robbed us of our right to have our District and County councilor to speak for us:  he had to absent himself from the Sedgemoor meeting because he had taken part in the Parish Council discussions.

 

This is outrageous.

 

What is worse, the planning officers at Sedgemoor District Council chose to promote this application – in order to tick the box of having provided “affordable housing” in Brent Knoll – and twisted the rules in order to do so.

 

They were minded to have this application dealt with (and approved) under delegated powers, until your predecessor (Tessa Munt) introduced us to another County Councilor (Bill Revans), who insisted that it be brought before the Development Committee, having seen and agreed with our deep concerns.

 

Indeed, every one of the Development Committee members who spoke (we have an audio-record of that meeting) voiced many of the concerns that we have for that site.

 

They were batted aside by the two planning officers, who were not restricted to a three-minute time limit.  They spoke for ages!

 

When it came to the crucial issue of this being a P4 application, that must be community-led or supported, those planning officers decided to change the rules and say that they were treating this application under the yet-to-be approved T5 formula, that will (if approved) reduce community engagement from vital to “be encouraged”!

 

This application was opposed by more than 80 detailed objections submitted to Sedgemoor’s own planning consultation website, and more than 100 signatures on a petition.  Just six people supported the application.

 

We have now submitted a complaint to the Local Authority Ombudsman, and hope that you will recognise the need for you to ask the Secretary of State for Housing & Local Government to call in this application.

 

Very best wishes

 

David

Appeal date set as 23 July 2019

The decision will now be made by a planning inspector following a public inquiry. Planning Inspectorate webpage link to appeal reference here  APP/D0121/W/18/3211789 and NSC application number 17/P5545/OUT

See BAT (Bleadon Acting Together) page for links to futher information on the appeal process.

Also, previous blog posts below for more background information:

• NSC Decision on Sanders Fields Housing Appealed
• NSC Refuses 200 Houses in Bleadon
• Bridge/Bleadon Road 200 Houses plus other facilites
• School and 250 Houses Planned

UPDATE: 12 FEB 19 email from Bleadon Parish Council's Clerk following Monday's public meeting, "Fracking – no discussion at council, not mentioned by any resident on any of the surveys I have seen (which is only about 100 of the 281).  You ask ‘why’ fracking was not on the survey – well, your email requesting it be put on the survey was noted but the issue was not considered relevant to this early stage survey.  The [Bleadon Neighbourhood Development Planning Working] Group decided the questions – you were not on the group.  No other resident requested any particular question."  

UPDATE: 11 Feb 19 (Mins 319.3 & 319.11) Frack Free North Somerset speak at BPC public meeting and BPC's response.

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There are over 1000 residents in Bleadon living in approximately 500 dwellings, with approximately 325 houses within in the village Settlement Boundary and an additional 175+ throughout the remaining parish. As of 10 Jan 2019 all residents within the parish should be recieving a copy of the Bleadon Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) 'Questionnaire Survey'' in paper format, but they can also fill out the survey online.

This is a BPC project undertaken by a working group and we assume that BPC will be publishing its project information soon, answering resident's questions and ensuring that they are fully informed as to the project intentions and progression.

Residents only have three weeks to respond to this NDP Survey i.e. by 31 Jan 2019. You may wish to consider the following topics in your response: 

• BPCs ongoing long-term projects e.g. A370, Play Park, Public/Bleadon Rights Of Way, Bleadon in Bloom, etc.; and of course the NDP project itself which may need to be repeated every 2 years
• local projects, developments and potential business expansions/applications e.g. fracking, the Quarry, leisure expansion on the levels - Wake Park, Caravan Parks, etc,, Sewage Treatment Works and  Bleadon Level's Nature Reserve
• regional projects e.g. Bristol Airport expansion.
• consultations that will affect Bleadon's NDP e.g. NSC Local Plan 2036, (Settlement Boundary Review) and JSP, which directly influences NSC's Local Plan and this NDP
• cleanup projects to help rid our environment from litter and plastic 
• along with any potential project funding questions and other suggestions you may have

The NDP is primarily a development plan, as compared to Bleadon's adopted Parish Plan, and consultation will "engage and consult those living and working in the neighbourhood area and those with an interest in or affected by the proposals (eg service providers), and talk to land owners and the development industry ...". There are many stages to the NDP process, which should be an open and transparent process ending with a Bleadon electorate vote/referendum on the final document.

This Questionnaire Survey is your opportunity to indicate what you DO and DO NOT want to happen in the future of Bleadon.

UPDATE 14 JAN 2018: BPC "AGREED to submit a neutral response, with the comments noted."  Jan 19 (Min 318.7)

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A large-scale application "operating within a rolling annualised cap of 4,000 night flights between the hours of 23:30 and 06:00 with no seasonal restrictions;"  How will this affect Bleadon if it is on any known or proposed flight paths, either for general flights or maintenance flights said to be in Wales?

"Outline planning application (with reserved matters details for some elements included and some elements reserved for subsequent approval) for the development of Bristol Airport to enable a throughput of 12 million terminal passengers in any 12 month calendar period, comprising: 2no. extensions to the terminal building and canopies over the forecourt of the main terminal building; erection of new east walkway and pier with vertical circulation cores and pre-board zones; 5m high acoustic timber fence; construction of a new service yard directly north of the western walkway; erection of a multi-storey car park north west of the terminal building with five levels providing approximately 2,150 spaces and wind turbines atop; enhancement to the internal road system including gyratory road with internal surface car parking and layout changes; enhancements to airside infrastructure including construction of new eastern taxiway link and taxiway widening (and fillets) to the southern edge of Taxiway GOLF; the year-round use of the existing Silver Zone car park extension (Phase 1) with associated permanent (fixed) lighting and CCTV; extension to the Silver Zone car park to provide approximately 2,700 spaces (Phase 2); improvements to the A38; operating within a rolling annualised cap of 4,000 night flights between the hours of 23:30 and 06:00 with no seasonal restrictions; revision to the operation of Stands 38 and 39; and landscaping and associated works."

Comments deadline is Sat 26 Jan 2019 . Here is the link to the application 18/P/5118/OUT on North Somerset Council Planning website.

If you prefer to post your comments then the postal address is:  

North Somerset Council

Development Management

Post Point 15

Town Hall

Weston-super-Mare

BS23 1UJ 

If you do make comments on this BOB blog (below), please also make sure that they are made to, and appear on, the North Somerset website link as above. As otherwise they will be ignored by NSC.

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Unfortunately, BPC do not appear to have submitted comments for the Local Plan Consultation Section 7 after their 10 Dec 2018 (Min 317.12) meeting, or the two previous Airport Consultations for Stage 1 (Jan 2018) or Stage 2 (July 2018).

See NSC Local Plan 2036 Consultation Section 7 - Bristol Airport - "The Airport wants to double permitted air traffic to 20 mppa by the 2040s. In the short-term it seeks a relaxation of existing limits to allow for growth to 12 mppa. Its longer-term ambitions for growth will be set out in a new Airport Master Plan. Through the JSP, North Somerset Council recognises the existence of additional growth opportunities at the Airport but many detailed local issues remain to be resolved." 

Unfortunately, BPC do not appear to have submitted comments for the Local Plan Consultation Section 7, or the two previous Airport Consultations for Stage 1 (Jan 2018) or Stage 2 (July 2018). Also BPC made no reference to their views on this issue in their 10 Dec 2018 (Min 317.12) Local Plan 2036 response to NSC. BPC's expansion response to NSC Jan 19 (Min 318.7):

• "18/P/5118/OUT – Bristol Airport – expansion. Cllr Hemingway attended a presentation about the expansion and Cllr Baines had reviewed a considerable number of the 270+ documents on the website. This phase is to add 2 million passengers per year to the current permitted 10 million per year. NSC is working with the airport to develop the operational plan to 2036. Current plan is to relocate the DHL unit and staff buildings; and to add two storeys to the existing multi-storey carpark. The current restriction on flights between midnight and 6am will remain. The airport is ensuring that small and local business / contractors are able to win contracts for the various project elements.
• Concerns raised by Councillors were that traffic would increase on the A38 and there would be ‘rat-running’ through the village; air pollution may increase due to the traffic and also due to more flights going over the village. Positives raised were that Bleadon residents use the airport and/or are employed there; and an increase in employment opportunities is welcomed. It was AGREED to submit a neutral response, with the comments noted."

RESIDENT COMMENT 26 JAN 19

There are a number of "Planning Applications/Appeals/Enforcement not yet decided" on BPC's Jan 2019 Agenda (Min 318.9)

• 18/P/4105/FUL – Land South Of Purn Road – storage barn.
• APP/D0121/C/18/3201332 - Land to the South West Of Bridgwater Road Bleadon.  Alleged Breach: Without Planning Permission the erection of a building for B8 general storage.
• 18/00515/BCN - Marshalls Mono Ltd. Breach of planning condition relating to operating hours. Under investigation.
• 18/00544/NAP - Purn Holiday Park. Non-compliance with approved plans (17/P/1502/F). Siting of caravans and associated works extended beyond application site boundary.  Breaches identified. Requested planning applications.
• 18/00557/UAW - Field Behind Southerly, Purn Way. Construction of a road into a field.  Site visit due.
• 18/00576/NAP - Land at Accommodation Road. Development not in accordance with approved plan 16/P/2471/F - number of static homes.  New case, to be investigated.
• 18/00577/BCN - Land at Purn Holiday Park.  Breach of condition on planning application 17/P/1502/F - increase in number of caravans. New case, to be investigated

A new "Outline application for the proposed erection of 16no. dwellings with matters of appearance, landscaping and scale reserved for subsequent approval", outside the Settlement Boundary.

Comments deadline is 14 Jan 2019. Here is the link to the application 18/P/5035/OUT on North Somerset Council Planning website.

If you prefer to post your comments then the postal address is:  

North Somerset Council

Development Management

Post Point 15

Town Hall

Weston-super-Mare

BS23 1UJ 

If you do make comments on this BOB blog (below), please also make sure that they are made to, and appear on, the North Somerset website link as above. As otherwise they will be ignored by NSC.

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Link to previous application.

On 08 JAN 19 Bleadon Acting Together (BAT) sumbitted a commissioned independent Ecology Report to NSC.