Council should look to itself (From Warrington Guardian)

Council should look to itself

HAVING followed the fortunes of Northwich Victoria for nearly 60 years I was intrigued to read in last week's Guardian the article "The Council Strikes Back".

The comments of the Vale Royal Borough Council spokesman make interesting reading.

The reported comments made by the spokesman regarding the Drill Field planning application bear little resemblance as to what occurred. The following sequence of events might help to remind the spokesman and others of what actually happened.

In 1997 Northwich Victoria Football Club, as part of the then plan to update the Drill Field, opened a new stand to replace the existing Dane Bank stand.

Just before the new stand was opened work started on the construction of a Nursing home to the north of the Drill Field.

This development on land that had been taken from the club under a compulsory purchase order by Northwich Urban District Council in 1948 and then eventually sold by VRBC for commercial development effectively cut access to that part of the ground despite requests from club officials to VRBC that access be preserved.

This led to substantial reduction of the design capacity of the new stand because of access and egress restrictions.

Additionally this also meant that the plans to erect a stand with 500 seats at the town end of the ground were no longer viable as indications were that a licence for this stand to be occupied to capacity because of the restrictions referred to above would be unlikely to be issued.

From 1997 to 2000 a number of high profile international matches and cup-ties were held at the Drill Field. These events involved meetings with Cheshire Trading Standards, the police and emergency services, which confirmed the reduction in the number of spectators allowed to attend matches.

In 2000 as a result of these discussions it became obvious that it would not be possible to upgrade the Drill Field to the standards required. At an EGM held in July of that year shareholders voted to move from the Drill Field.

Several national property builders independently prepared schemes for the development of the Drill Field and in conjunction with NVFC presented them to a VRBC planning case officer. Proposals were modified as per the planning officers advice.

During this lengthy period of consultation the club was searching for a suitable site for a new home because the sale of the Drill Field could not be completed until the club had a new site to move to.

In September 2000 a suitable location, a nine-acre site on the Wincham Business Park had been found. Yet more consultation with VRBC planning officers regarding the detailed requirements for an outline planning application for a new stadium took place.

At a meeting in November 2000 with VRBC officials the club, who had stressed the urgency of the situation, was informed that if proposals were submitted before the end of December 2000 then the application would be put before a council planning meeting scheduled for February 2001.

Unfortunately despite the club submitting plans in December as advised this timetable was not met. The application was not presented to a council planning meeting until May 2001 when the planning committee councillors rejected the application despite the site being on an area approved for development and with no objections from the case planning officer.

Following minor changes the outline planning application for a new stadium was subsequently approved at a following planning meeting held in June 2001 - a delay of six months from the initial application.

Resulting from negotiations with potential developers an agreement was reached with Wain Homes for the sale of the Drill Field in April 2001, but this had to be put on hold because the outline planning application for a new stadium was not approved until June 2001, despite being submitted in December 2000.

Had the new stadium application been processed in a reasonable time scale then the contract for the sale of the Drill Field would have been completed in April 2001.

This delay in granting outline planning permission for the new stadium had serious implications with regard to the finalisation of the sale of the Drill Field, which for a small club and business were immense.

At that time the agreement with the developer included a clause which would have allowed NVFC to continue playing at the Drill Field until May 2002, vacating the site by the end August that year.

In the period July 2001 - August 2002 the new stadium would have been constructed thus avoiding the need to ground share.

Following the approval of the outline planning application dialogue to finalise the Drill Field sale with Wain Homes restarted in June 2001.

A further delay then occurred because Wain Homes were taken over by Wilson Connolly Ltd who, in ensuing discussions, confirmed they were anxious to progress the Drill Field development.

Wilson Connolly then prepared and, following further consultations with VRBC, submitted a detailed planning application in January 2002.

This application was deferred to the March 2002 council planning meeting at the request of the planning case officer who, despite all the meetings held previously, required yet further modifications to the plans.

The application was then finally submitted to the council planning meeting held on May 21 2002 when, although recommended for approval by the planning officer, the committee of elected councillors rejected the application.

The reasons given being:

1) Site contamination

2) Inadequate public open space

3) Number of affordable houses in the scheme

4) Inclusion of four storey flats

5) Impact on traffic.

Planning approval could actually have been granted at this stage by the attachment of conditions, which would have ensured compliance with an approved application.

In fact all of these areas had been addressed to the satisfaction of the planning officer prior to the meeting as follows:

1) Two site surveys and analysis had revealed only traces of low level contamination and in fact the material in question, which consisted of domestic ashes, was earmarked for sub base material for the new stadium site roadways and car parks. (In line with Government policy of recycling suitable material, where appropriate)

2) The planning officer had agreed that the proposal from Wilson Connolly was acceptable because of the close proximity of open space particularly the Chinkers and Verdin Parks.

3) The range and type of housing included in the development were considered appropriate by the planning officer because VRBC has over capacity in this area which, incidentally, was confirmed by an independent survey carried out on behalf of the council.

4) The inclusion of four storey flats in the plans was as a direct result of the guidance given by a planning officer involved in the case. Note that permission had previously been granted for four storey dwellings on the site previously occupied by Lookers car show room and workshops.

5) A Traffic Impact Assessment was carried out by Singleton Clamp and Partners Consulting Engineers and was submitted to Cheshire County Council in March 2002 who raised no objections.

The assessment concluded that the installation of synchronised traffic lights in conjunction with some minor road layout alterations would satisfactorily control any potential problems.

Following the rejection of the planning application Wilson Connolly took legal advice, appealed against the council's action and called for a public inquiry. This took place at Winsford on December 10 and 11 2002.

The result of the inquiry was announced January 24 2003.

The appeal was allowed and planning permission granted subject to certain conditions, which were set out in the formal decision.

There was then a further wait as the appeal procedure allowed a period of six weeks for any dissatisfied persons to challenge the decision.

In the event this did not materialise and the club was then able to make an application for full planning permission for the new stadium, which was approved by the council at meeting held on May 20 2003.

The club could then, at long last, implement the process for the construction of their new home. A key part of this was an application for a grant to the football stadia improvement fund, which resulted, in June 2003, of an offer of grant aid of £500,000.

The club, incidentally, was complimented on the quality of the application, which among the application documentation had to include three competitive tenders for all the items of the project and a business plan.

At long last, after frustrating prevarications and delays, work started on the Victoria Stadium site in June 2003.

The shape and format of the magnificent stadium is now clear to see and is a credit to the commitment, hours of work and effort of all involved.

I suggest that the council spokesman peruses the official records before making comments, which do not reflect what actually happened.

It is obvious that there were hours of consultation between the club and developers and officers of VRBC in attempts to make sure that applications were in order.

The report of the public inquiry was an embarrassment for VRBC.

Clearly officers had been placed in an invidious position of trying to defend an indefensible decision made by the council planning committee.

All of the above information was gleaned from reports in the Guardian and information available to the public in council records.

I am disappointed that to date the club has not sought recompense from VRBC for the costs incurred due to the unreasonable delays in the planning application processes and the decisions made by the elected members of the planning committee particularly when compared with other developments which have taken place in the immediate locality of the Drill Field.

NORTHWICHER

Name and Address supplied