Remove all the fencing and return it to the way it was
96% (79 votes)
It's nothing to do with the village it's owned by the Sergeant family
4% (3 votes)
Don't have an opinion
0% (0 votes)
Total votes: 82
- the old chapel
24 weeks 2 days ago - How very sad some of you
47 weeks 4 days ago - Great picture !! Good to see
48 weeks 2 days ago - 'Tis the Season of Peace and
1 year 31 weeks ago - Anybody know what the
1 year 35 weeks ago - The Mountains of Mill Street
1 year 40 weeks ago - It would appear not !!I
1 year 40 weeks ago - Funny how they appeared
1 year 41 weeks ago - Moles reach the Bury !!
1 year 42 weeks ago - A most revealing, well
1 year 42 weeks ago
How very sad some of you are, get a life springs to mind
The Mountains of Mill Street have been disappearing. Yes folks some of the trenches were filled in yesterday. One wonders why a digger was out on a Sunday and one wonders what Timbo and Co are trying to hide. Unless the St Osyth equivalent of Tony Robinson and Co. have been nocturnal, the only activity that has been seen is two blokes surveying and another bloke in a fluorescent jacket that looked as much an archaeologist as I look like an Olympic athlete. with the trenches so close together no doubt any archaeology has now been destroyed. So we all all await Timbo's enabling plan which no doubt will be slipped in under the wire and our beloved Parish council will know nothing or do nothing about it.
i think you should leave s family alone , dont you think they are trying to do the best. i have seen it they are not trying to build houses but right now it looks like giant moles have been in there
Scoot
IOS, are you one of them ??
I suspect you are.....
If they were trying to do their best then they would have started to repair the Priory from day 1 not waited this length of time and not gone out and purcahsed luxuries as new Astons !!
FACT: EH have had discussions with the owners regarding conversion (what to I ask ??) and repair of the historic buildings and a condition survey WITH repair costs was undertaken by the owners architects in 2000.
So why wait this long ??
FACT: In the draft local plan the Sargeants appealed against TDC leaving their Spring Road/Daltes Lane development out of the Local Plan (I for one even though I don't live near there, like many, objected to their appeal). On the day that their appeal was due to be heard the Sargeants and TDC did a 'deal' and the enabling development was put forward in front of the inspector at a DIFFERENT TIME than was scheduled and WITHOUT CONSULTATION of the residents. The inspector ruled in favour of the policy and even though in the final draft there was mention of them building a new road to the beach etc etc, in the final Local Plan it just refers to the enabling development which means they could develop anywhere on their land.
FACT: under the enabling policy a developer can take a margin of profit. So say in 2000 the repair costs were £4mio, but now £12mio. At the basic 10% mentioned in the EH enabling development manual it means the Sargeants have tripled their original profit if they had carried out the repairs originally. (EH Enabling manual even says a developer can expect to take upto 20% profit !!).
FACT: If anyone else owning a listed building or living in a conservation area tried to develop on their own land in order to raise funds to repair their own property they would be prevented from doing so under two policies in the Local Plan !
____
I have read the article in the St Osyth News and I must admit Mr Sargeant has put enough spin on it that I think if the bottom falls out of the property market he'd easily get a job with one of the political parties.
He rattles on about EH but nobody should feel confident that EH will always do the right thing. They can favour a developer if the political climate is right. If anyone doubts this I could possibly make available a file which makes interesting reading regarding the development of a site (a worldwide unique listed building) in London.
He mentions archaeological studies and investigations - As I understand it these are not INDEPENDENT studies but are being carried out by a company appointed by C&C group. Surely if Mr Sargeant wanted to be upfront and honest he would hav approached at least the Parish Council and appointed a mutually agreeable Independent survey company (I have to in my job). My neice as part of her degree carried out geophys surveys and she is very bemused why the trenches are concentrated at the backs of properties in Mill Street. She would have only put in a trench at certain points where an anomalie appeared to establish whether there was anything of archaeological interest or not. it is also concerning that since all these footings, sorry, trenches appeared that nobody has been seen. So will TDC, ECC, and EH be presented with a report stating that in a god knows how large a field 35+ trenches were dug and nothing was found ? I would suspect so.
Mr Sargeant also mentions visual impact assessments. I take it these will be for the Priory only and not for the residents of Mill Street.
He also mentions transport and highways reports. Well as he now owns the first 3 properties one sees on Mill Street he can make a wide enough junction. This is also the right time of the year to conduct a traffic survey as we are nearing the end of the holiday season.
Before he goes any further Mr Sargeant should agree to stand up infront of an open meeting and take questions from the residents of the parish. The Parish Council should, rather than sitting on the fence, DEMAND this,. He may say no but at least we, the majority of the Parish, would know that the Council is in support of the majority rather than pussyfooting around the 'Squire'. Guy Smith had the guts to stand up in front of the parish and take questions over GM, but I guess he's tenfold the man that Tim Sargeant is.
Finally, in his article Mr Sargeant mentions that reports of building starting are premature and other sites are being looked at. So one wonders why he has allegedly approached an owner of a property asking if he could purchase/move an outbuilding. Also when purchasing one of the properties it is rumoured that he told the previous owner that unless the property was sold to him he would notify the buyer of his plans.....
In conclusion, our Parish Councillors need to take the bull by the horns and act NOW not wait until a final decision (is published) by the Sargeants is made.
If not does anyone know the process of getting a vote of no confidence in the PC ?
All the best
SCOOT
(which if anyone hasnt worked out stands for: Sargeants Clear Out Of Toosey)
A most revealing, well researched and erudite post there, Scoot! :)
Funny how they appeared AFTER my message on Sunday. Come on Timbo we are not all country yokels, you insult our intelligence. There has, apart from the surveyors the other day, been little activity in the trenches that have appeared in the field at the back of Mill street. So why start on the Bury ? Hasn't the Council and Government Planning Inspectors agreed to (Hopefully SHAG will prove ILLEGAL) fencing off of the Bury and ordered no development there ? Come on Tim this is a show piece dig because you have taken so much Flak over the Mill Street development. Its funny how these trenches are not joined and in the outline of houses like the ones at the back of Mill Street.
Also does he really expect us to believe that its pure coincidence that he has opened up the Chapel again for St Osyth Day ? Funny how some of the village bigwigs went along and got to see the priory in poor repair.
It appears to me that he is trying to pull influential people into his web. Before its too late the Parish Council should call a public meeting to test the waters. If they don't then how will they know how the residents really feel, and how can they be trusted to give the parishoners real views in meetings they most likely will have prior to anything really being made public . Its funny how when rumours started about the Spring Road, Daltes Lane development a meeting was called almost immediately, but after all this would have affected some of the parish Bigwigs.
If action is not started NOW then before we know it St Osyth will not be a village but will be a small town and the Sargeants will be heading off into the sunset with a few million in their back pockets.
STOP PRESS
Ok so building hasn't started, but what were surveyors doing in the field this afternoon ?? So much for looking and carrying out archeological digs elsewhere !
These moles must be HUGE !!!
Perhaps you would like to explain your comment a little more. Some might say that it would be something of a surprise if a property developer didn't want to build houses. These giant moles that you speak of, are they just looking for worms?
The PPFT have done a good job in bringing this issue to public attention and exposing City and Country Group (let's give them their full title - this is not a "family home", it's a greed-driven investment by property developers)and their lies.
The time has come to take the fight a stage further, we now need a legitimate platform from which to raise funds and take the vilage wreckers on on a political level, one which all parts of the community can openly support.
The intention is to do just that, through this site and a public meeting to be announced shortly, that we expect will be of great interest to everyone in St Osyth.
Meanwhile, the PPFT have some relevant information and documents that can be viewed at; http://groups.google.co.uk/group/ppft
If it wasn't for PPFT I suspect that the Bury would by now have been totally fenced off and restricted to the owners of the Priory - who are not the owners of the Bury. Earlier in his dealings with the villagers (900 new houses) Sargeant stated that a huge amount of money was needed to shore up the back wall of the Gatehouse (or something similar) I believe he purchased the Priory at a 'knock-down' cost of around £1.83 million in in the full knowledge of his obligations towards the buildings so why hasn't the local Council written to English Heritage asking them to carry out an inspection and then if necessary to issue an enforcement notice for Sargeant to have the work done at his own costs, or to have the work done for him by EH and subsequently invoiced to him? Such a course of action would reflect the greatly reduced purchase cost of the Priory from Lady Juliet's Trustees. Sargeant was and is a very accomplished developer who would have been fully aware of his obligations when purchasing. I urge people to write to English Heritage alerting them of the situation (not just The Bury)
Sargeant's actions lead me to a personal opinion that here is a greedy developer whom it would be unwise to trust, and one most worthy of our full opposition - whatever he does.
Notwithstanding the fact that all action should be kept within the law. How can we contribute towards a fighting fund for PPFT? Perhaps a DeFence medal for those concerned
Philip Wells - the Old Vicarage.
PS I hate protesting without having an opportunity to display my name/address, Mr Plod has enough to do without having to search through ISPs etc. One last thought - why not build a new kiddies playground on The Bury? We could all then keep our eyes on all the equipment far easier. I'm sure Sargeant wouldn't mind doing something for the young people of Toosey, after all, it's not his land!