by David Smith | Apr 17, 2019 | Uncategorized
SOS attended the annual village meeting held on 10th April 2019 along with many other local organisations. Clive Gowers, vice chairman of SOS made the following report: Over the past year we have had to spend a lot of time fundraising, but we must not forget what SOS is all about. Our secretary David Smith keeps watch on the TDC web site for any new developments that might harm our village. As we are still committed to our mission statement, I would like to remind you all what it is. To preserve the beauty and tranquillity of St Osyth for posterity. To safeguard the local wildlife and the natural environment. To ensure that there is no overloading of local facilities such as doctors, the school and other local amenities. To prevent further congestion of existing roads and the village centre. To oppose any housing development within St Osyth which would affect any of the above. At the start of the year we had a deficit of approximately £50,000 so a lot of fundraising had to be done to reduce this. We had two dances. a quiz night. garage trail sale, a garden party. The Rotary Club of Clacton-on-Sea organised a race night and Steph Smith a wine tasting quiz. I would like to thank everybody who helped run these events and everybody who supported them. A special big thanks go to Sonia Grantham and the Parish Council who produced a letter for every household in the Parish explaining the situation SOS was in and what had caused it. I would like to thank everybody who made a contribution so...
by David Smith | Apr 13, 2019 | Priory Applications
As part of the agreement to permit the enabling development reached at the second public inquiry, the Priory owners were required to submit a Business Strategy to TDC detailing how the main heritage assets at the Priory would be restored over the agreed period of 10 years. It includes funding from the approved enabling development, grants and commercial funding matched against restoration costs. The Priory owners, in conjunction with the St Osyth Priory and Parish Trust, submitted this strategy for approval by TDC Planning Committee at its meeting on 12th March 2019. At the start of proceedings, the Chief Planning Officer stated that following a number of meetings over the past 18 months they were in agreement on the proposed use of the buildings for a number of enterprises but there was no agreement on how the financial shortfall should be funded. This amounts to between £26.5M and £32,4M depending on the amount of grant funding that might be obtained. The strategy as submitted relies heavily on further enabling development throughout the District to raise sufficient funds. However, the strategy did not identify the sites or scale of any such developments or the associated funds that would be generated. The one site identified was Foot’s Farm on the outskirts of Little Clacton where a proposed 245 dwellings would contribute £1.76M which gave a measure of what would be required. Committee members expressed concerns that if this were scaled up it might equate to several thousands of houses and if they approved the Strategy, they would be morally compelled to grant permission for these houses on sites as yet unknown. ...
by David Smith | Mar 14, 2019 | General
Application 18/00958/OUT: This application was made in June 2018 and resulted in numerous objections as well as a few supporting comments. TDC notified previous objectors on 9th March 2019 that a revised application had been received and details were posted on their website and available for comment. Briefly, a new plan was appended to the original application showing the housing moved behind the car park on the field to the left of the lane when walking towards the Mill Pond. This occupied most of that field down to the farm buildings. However, after two days, the application (original one and the amendment) completely disappeared. When asked about this, the planning department of TDC said this was because it was “invalid for the fee“. However, that does not explain why the original application, together with all documents and comments is no longer displayed! Watch this...
by David Smith | Mar 13, 2019 | Priory Applications
The Planning Committee of Tendring District Council rejected this application to approve the Business Strategy to raise further funds for repair of the Priory at its meeting yesterday evening (12th March 2019). It was a unanimous vote.
by David Smith | Mar 9, 2019 | General
The AGM is on Monday 11th March (NOT 4th as previously advertised) in the village hall annex starting at 7.30. The agenda is given below. AGM Agenda Introduction by Chairman. Minutes of Previous Meeting – Monday 12th March 2018. Matters Arising from Minutes. Report of Treasurer and Presentation of Audited Accounts. Report of Secretary. Report on Fundraising Activities by Vice Chairman. Consideration of Resolutions. Resignation of the Current Committee. Election of Executive Committee for the coming year – Chairman, Vice Chairman/Events Organiser, Secretary, Treasurer. Any resolutions or nominations, duly endorsed, for posts on the executive committee (Chairman, Vice Chairman/Events Organiser, Secretary, and Treasurer) should be sent to ‘SOS Secretary, 27 Mill Street’ or via email to saveourstosyth@btinternet.com. These should arrive by Friday 22nd February. Following the AGM there will be the opportunity for questions and an informal discussion on the current situation and future fund-raising events. We hope as many people as possible will be able to attend. Any volunteers who would wish to join our Working Group will be welcomed. We meet approximately once a month on a Monday...
