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Transition New Mills

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Transition New Mills

Tag Archives: HPBC

Dialogue Opens between Borough Council and Transition New Mills

22 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by Michael Daw in Economy, Local plans

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Energy, HPBC, regeneration, totally locally

Transition New Mills was very pleased to meet last week with two prominent members of High Peak Borough Council (HPBC): Godfrey Claff, who’s in charge of Regeneration policy, and Caitlin Bisknell, leader of the Council. We, along with other groups such as Sustainable Hayfield, Visit New Mills and Torr Vale Mill Preservation Trust, were invited by the local Labour Party to hear about HPBC’s strategy for local regeneration and offer our views and comments.

I thought it would be useful to share what could be the start of a very open, informative and constructive dialogue. There may well be initiatives that we can tap into to further our aims as a Transition initiative and it was good to network with other like-minded groups.

Godfrey began by presenting the HPBC’s Regeneration Growth Strategy which focuses on “poverty, people and sustainability”. There are five main strands to the strategy:

  1. Increasing local employment. Godfrey and Caitlin are visiting the 100 biggest businesses as well as a number of smaller businesses to understand their issues and see how HPBC might help. HPBC intends to improve its communication with business via an e-Newsletter.
  2. Maximising investment in High Peak. The main element of this is the establishment of a Growth Fund whereby the council will borrow money to stimulate growth. Investment is available for private sector projects that will provide an income stream to the council and new jobs, such as housing projects. I asked Godfrey whether this could include renewable energy projects; I don’t think this had occurred to him, but his reply was “come and talk to us”.
  3. Working more closely with partners on projects such as Glossop library. HPBC intends to look much more towards Manchester as our nearest thriving city and engine of growth, such as on transport to take traffic off the roads. Working together on health issues and with the Peak District Park Partnership to access EU funds was also mentioned.
  4. Maximising opportunities for residents such as encouraging the employment of local people through the planning mechanism, upgrading skills through training and a micro-finance loan scheme.
  5. Town centre development. Market towns – such as New Mills – are “hubs for change” so there will be dedicated workers assigned to these towns to help with regeneration with the aim of promoting distinctiveness. It was pointed out that these towns already receive a regeneration grant: for New Mills, HPBC allocates £4,000 which the town council is expected to match resulting in an annual fund available for regeneration of £8,000. It was further pointed out that for the last couple of years, none of this was spent…

Godfrey was keen to stress that there is no new money for regeneration; in fact, it’s being done in a time of a severe financial squeeze. Therefore, this strategy is all about a redirection of current staff and the use of existing or borrowed money. However, HPBC is keen to overcome blockages to projects, e.g. due to lack of land, money (where there is a possible income stream for the council) and/or planning issues.

The discussion afterwards covered a number of topics:

  • The different stress on very small businesses (e.g. sole trader or just a couple of employees) vs. larger businesses (100+ employees, such as Swizzels Matlow). Our own Barry Bate (there representing Visit New Mills) suggested that a business incubator space may be fruitful.
  • An EU programme for the support of small businesses and community enterprises known as ‘Leader’. This is for ‘innovative’ projects (though this has a very broad definition) and could be worth up to £1m or so.
  • Would a Traders’ Association be useful for promoting dialogue between HPBC and local businesses, and offering shared services and advice? For Hayfield? For New Mills? Or for both?
  • Totally Locally Glossop is launching this coming Monday (24 March) at Bradbury House in Glossop and everyone is welcome to go along and network and see how they’re doing things.

Plans for new houses in New Mills

03 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Michael Daw in Local plans

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Green belt, Houses, HPBC, Local plan

You may be interested to know that there are plans to build a reasonably significant number of new houses in New Mills as part of High Peak Borough Council’s Local Plan.

If you’d like to have your say in the ongoing consultation, then read on…

High Peak Borough Council has launched a new High Peak Local Plan consultation that seeks your views on potential changes to Local Plan Preferred Options that was published in February 2013, including:

  • The number of homes that should be built across High Peak up to the year 2031
  • Options for sites that could be allocated for housing development
  • Minor Green Belt amendments
  • Other changes to land designated for employment, retail, education or their environmental value
  • Significant changes to policy

The potential changes are proposed in response to previous consultation feedback and new evidence.

The consultation includes a number of potential sites that were not included in the Preferred Options Local Plan. It also includes some potential sites that have been consulted on previously, during the consultation held in Autumn 2012, but removed from the Preferred Options consultation in February 2013. Some new sites that have not previously been subject to consultation are also included.

How to respond
To view the consultation, people can call in at Buxton Town Hall or Glossop Municipal Buildings, visit any of the borough’s libraries or view the details online:
http://highpeak-consult.objective.co.uk/portal

Consultees have until Monday 10th February to respond:

  • Online: http://highpeak-consult.objective.co.uk/portal
  • By email: LDF@highpeak.gov.uk
  • By post: Regeneration, High Peak Borough Council, Town Hall, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6EL

What happens next?
In March/April 2014 the Council will publish the submission version of the Local Plan and invite representations on this final version. It is intended to submit the plan for Examination to the Planning Inspectorate in July 2014, with the estimated date for Examination Hearings being October 2014. The Local Plan is expected to be adopted in February 2015.

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