Who are we and what do we want?

In 1685, the Duke of Monmouth and his supporters were confronted by a Royalist force. Armed with farm implements and simple weapons, they fought for their principles against an unjust monarchy who imposed unfair taxes and levies upon the poor and in an attempt to stabilise England during religious unrest. In this crucible, at the very heart of the English Nation, near the site that Alfred the Great at last beat the Danes, we find ourselves again under attack from a government and those who seek to profit at the expense of the environment and the inhabitants of this village.

This is a call to arms. We are just normal people who are being trampled upon by money and power grabbing developers who expect us to accept the disproportionate expansion and development of our village, one of the most beautiful villages not only in Somerset but in the UK .

Because Mendip District Council failed to identify enough new housing stock to meet their Government target within the next five years, we do not have an adopted ‘Local Plan’. This means that all planning applications within Mendip are currently being evaluated against the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which clearly states there must be a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’.  It could be June 2014 before the revised Local Plan has been accepted by central Government. This window of opportunity has been seized upon by ruthless developers, with the potential for Norton St Philip to double in size over the next few years.

This is not just about a planning seige in our back yard, but across the Mendip District and indeed across the country. Millions of people will find themselves in the same situation as ourselves, abandoned by their District Councils to the outright greed of developers. We aren’t against development, we’re against the antics of the select few who have the power to push through disproportionate, and utterly inappropriate housing schemes. It is only a matter of time before this could happen to you and as a nation we must stand firm and protect our heritage and our way of living.

We need YOUR support. Please help us in any way you can:

  • Object to Mendip County Council Planning Officers for individual applications  – please find details on the Prospective Developments pages of this website.
  • Put up a Campaign Poster – email us to obtain one.
  • Tell your friends and neighbours about this website, encourage them to get involved.
  • Email nortonstphilip.planning@gmail.com to sign up to our e-newsletters to keep up to date with the status of planning applications, meeting dates and more.

6 thoughts on “Who are we and what do we want?”

  2. Well done mtnescapes (whoever you are!) for getting so motivated and for being so articulate and informative in your arguments. We have owned a house in NSP since 1980 – that’s 33 years. We have seen lots of changes in the village but none so great as what is happening now. Whilst the country needs more houses, that does not mean that they should be built on every available bit of spare land without careful thought on the impact it will have on the environment and on communities. Building in a country village does not mean more jobs as someone previously claimed. Whilst it does mean temporary work for building companies to erect the houses, it does not mean that there will automatically be a creation of new jobs in the village for new residents. It is far more likely that they will need to travel to work to Bath, Trowbridge, Frome or even further afield. They will also need to travel for shopping, entertainment, doctors surgery etc particularly as the local Budgens is only a convenience store. Thus more pollution, congestion of roads etc is created and as a result my view is that this new development is not sustainable.
    We have now moved into Bath. I was in my late twenties when we moved to NSP and now I am in my 60’s and the convenience of living nearer a town is fantastic. This is important as you get older. Village life is completely different from town life and to rapidly expand the community will doubtless have significant consequences. Living in a town is far more impersonal and there is not such a ‘family’ feel about it. Village life is completely different from town life and to rapidly expand the community will doubtless have significant consequences. With this rapid expansion in NSP I suspect that the once tight community will gradually draw apart far more. We should take note of serious mistakes made decades ago when extended families were torn apart when it was decided to rehouse families and demolish the slums. Fragmentation led to social disintegration which also led to an increasing sense of not belonging and poor patterns of behaviour and vandalism. large new housing developments far easier than a village.
    I think NSP is a precious little jewel which is seriously in danger of being ruined just as Peasdown St John was some years ago. It was a small village community. Now it is a sprawling impersonal mass of houses.
    Fine, introduce new blood and new houses here and there – but considering we have the Fortescue Fields development (which will end up as 60 homes by the time the offices and market hall are converted to living accommodation because nobody wants to have businesses out in the sticks) I think that is quite enough for a few years and, interestingly, so did the planning department in their forward planning up till 2026, before the ‘planning free for all’ came into play.
    Finally, our house is opposite the old chicken factory site. We have years and years of experience with fighting planning applications. Unfortunately a massive petition will count for nothing – well, it will count as one letter of objection actually, so please do not waste your time and energy getting signatures. Much better to get a team of people on the case to motivate the village. If letters of objection need to be written then give everyone the exact details of email addresses, planning applications, a list the planning reasons for objecting and finally a sample letter as some people won’t write becaUSe they are unsure how to do it. Also get people to help others who are not confident in writing their own letters. If the household has a couple living in it then both should write letters. One letter from two people counts as one letter. Two letters from two people counts as two letters. The more letters received the greater the impact.
    We still support NSP – of course – and will continue to do so and we hope the magic of the place will never be lost.

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