Wednesday 13 March 2013
Planning Application Approved.
We are extremely grateful to the Councillors at Forest of Dean Council for their clear support in granting Planning Permission for the Dymock scheme yesterday 12 votes to 2.
The scheme has been led by the Canal Trust’s Legal & Project Development Team at The Wharf House and will provide a key stretch of Canal, village car park, play area, 14 affordable homes, 5 Open Market homes and a property to be acquired by the Canal Trust at the same rate as the affordable properties but as an Open Market rental to give a long term income. All the Open Market properties will also contribute £250 a year index linked in perpetuity towards the maintenance of the Canal and we will receive a small percentage of the end value of those units as well.
PIC HERE
Revised Planning Application at Dymock
The H&G Canal Trust leads a partnership of Dymock Parish Council, Two Rivers Housing Association and the Landowner to restore the Canal in the centre of the village and deliver 15 social housing and 5 open market housing units – as well as a new village car park and play area. The H&G CT is committed to deliver the Canal on the site within 12 months of the transfer of the land once planning consent has hopefully been granted.
The original planning application, submitted by the H&G CT and registered in March 2012, was subsequently withdrawn to permit changes to be made to reflect further discussions with the planning authority and other interested parties. Revised proposals led to further detailed discussions which have resulted in the new plan reproduced here.
Provision is made for a 20 space car park to meet the severe shortfall in the village as well as a new play area to replace the one that is on the line of the Canal. A key part of the application is the development of affordable housing to keep Dymock a vibrant community and ensure the survival of the village school and other facilities. A vision was formed between the Parish and Canal Trust that all this could come about with the Canal as the axis upon which it all hinged.
All of the land comprising the green area around the Canal, and the Canal itself, will be transferred to the Canal Trust with the development making annual contributions towards the restoration, maintenance and management of the Canal, and in addition, the Canal Trust will secure a small percentage of the end value of the open market properties to assist with the delivery of the Canal elsewhere in the village.
This is yet another example of the H&G CT working in partnership to deliver not only its own vision of a vibrant Canal for the benefit of all to enjoy but also facilitating much wider benefits for the communities through which it passes.
David Penny
