The meeting with Bovis Homes about the Lime Road development (it will be called Oak Mills) was Thursday the 1st of August (the day it was 34c!), and I am so pleased with how Bovis Homes and their architects heard your concerns, evaluated and dealt with them fairly.

I’ll send round an email (and printed copy to those who have contacted me who aren’t online). I’m waiting for the draft agreement to be sent by Bovis, outlining what we agreed to at the meeting.

But it may seem to you like I’ve gone dead silent!!

I presented all the categories of concern, chiefly the height of the buildings being built adjacent to existing houses, and the way they will overlook, dominate and affect privacy. Bovis paid attention and are having the architects swap some building locations so that everything near the boundaires with other houses will be limited to two storeys. Big win!

The bridle path will remain a bridle path, not be tarmacked or lit. To address concerns of it becoming a hangout for people who may not behave in a socially acceptable way, the pedestrian path that led out onto this trail is eliminated. Win, win, win!

There will be more landscaping put in next to the bridle path directly across from (sort of behind) the lower-numbered houses on Lime Road. They made the note of our request for evergreen, and the likely solution will be some sort of hedging. Win!

Water drainage. The required plan calls for less run-off than there is now. This is mostly achieved via undergraound storage tanks. Win.

Construction nuisance. There will be a constuction management plan to ensure vehicles are parked on site, work hours are reasonable, noise and mess is minimised, etc. I found out the reason that development at Arrundale is SUCH a nuisance is that it is too small for a Construction Management Plan to be required. Oak Mills will have one, and Bovis will put me in touch with the site manager who will take care of things that (inevitably) go wrong. Another win!

Re: traffic. That isn’t under the control of the develiopers; rather it is a County thing. The several traffic assessment reports are available on the planning website. Details there tell us when surveys were taken and the results in tems of congenstion at all times of the day. If we disagree with the highways agency’s findings, we’ll have to take it up with them. Cllr Janet Godden will be our ally in this.

Re: Parking. The provided parking exceeds the required standard. Each affordable home will have one space. All others have a minimum of two and many have more than that. Bovis expects Brookes’ students to park there and walk to campus. It’s going to have to be something that we address if and when a problem arises. Again, if the standards aren’t adequate, that’s a different problem to the builders not providing enough parking.

That’s the rough result. I felt really pleased with all I was able to get agreement for, and I hope you do to. Consulttion was done in a hurry, but so many of you responded!

Thanks to everyone who responded. The voices were stronger in numbers.

I think I’ll start up a newsletter, to keep everyone informed throughout the development.