Planning Enforcement – Complaint to Stratford District Council
In August 2021, following discussion on a number of occasions at meetings of Ettington Parish Council a letter, highlighting shortcomings in the planning application and enforcement processes was sent to Robert Weeks, Head of Development at Stratford District Council. The letter and his email response can be found in the additional documents section below.
Additional Documents
Coventry Solihull and Warwickshire Broadband News
FREE mobile Wi-Fi routers for those with super-slow broadband speeds
If super-slow broadband speeds are having a negative impact on your household or business, we may be able to help you through our Mobile Broadband Connectivity Project.
We’ve recently been testing a number of mobile Wi-Fi broadband devices in areas that are yet to benefit from a fibre broadband upgrade and the uplift in speeds has been very impressive in some of these areas.
CSW has now bought a limited number of these devices and we are now looking for residents and businesses in Warwickshire to help. Under the terms of the project, we would provide you with the equipment free of charge for a period of at least six months.
Those who are experiencing the slowest speeds are the ones who are most likely to benefit from this project, so if you are getting speeds of 5Mbps or less then please get in touch. (You can check what speeds your business can currently achieve using the the BT Broadband Availability Checker. Our How to use the BT Broadband Availability Checker webpage will help you make sense of the Broadband Checker results).
Simply email gavintristram@warwickshire.gov.uk with your name, address, postcode and landline number as well as a very brief description of how slow broadband speeds are having a negative impact on your household or business.
Once we have received this information, we will need to check the mobile coverage with the different mobile network operators in your area to see whether we will be able to provide you with a solution.
Applications will be assessed for suitability on a first come, first serve basis.
Ofcom’s End-of-Contract notifications deliver broadband savings for customers
Research from the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has found that 1.3 million broadband ISP customers have secured better deals as a result of their new End-of-Contract Notification (ECN) system.
ECN was introduced in February 2020 for all fixed broadband, mobile, home phone and pay TV providers. It was designed to help tackle the so-called ‘loyalty penalty’ by keeping customers informed about the best deals and encouraging switching or moving to a better broadband package at the end of their contract, when staying with their existing ISP would often see prices rise, often significantly.
Enough time has now passed that Ofcom can finally assess the impact of these changes and the results appear to be broadly positive.
For example, Ofcom stated, “There is evidence that indicates that these time prompts from providers are working. In our research, two thirds of customers who were sent an end-of-contract notice recalled receiving one. Of those, 90% found it helpful and a fifth reported that they were prompted into action they would not have otherwise taken.”
Further information on this research study can be found in the ISP Review’s Ofcom’s End-of-Contract Notifications Deliver Broadband Savings article. More information on End-of-Contract Notifications can be found on Ofcom’s website.
New Ettington Self Build Site Added to Revised Preferred Options Plan- Your Views are Important!
Public consultation on the Revised Preferred Options version of Stratford District Council’s Site Allocations Plan (SAP) commences on Thursday 16 June and runs until 5pm on Friday 29 July.
The Site Allocations Plan is an additional Plan that will sit alongside the existing Core Strategy and will enable residents, businesses and communities to know where new development may occur in the future. It includes a range of policies and proposals relating to:
· Reserve Housing Sites
· Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding- including the addition of a new site South of Banbury Road, Ettington
· Built-up Area Boundaries
· Employment Enabling Sites
· A46 Safeguarding
· Specific Site Proposals
A revised approach has been taken to identifying Reserve Housing Sites in the new version of the Plan. This takes into account the scale of housing development that has already taken place in settlements across the District in recent years. As a result, reserve housing sites are not identified in those settlements that have already significantly exceeded their dwelling provision identified in the District Council’s adopted Core Strategy Development Plan.
Specific reserve housing sites – on the edge of Stratford-upon-Avon and at Mappleborough Green on the edge of Redditch – are proposed for immediate release to meet the housing needs of Birmingham. These sites are the most appropriate for this purpose due to being in the more sustainable locations and with good accessibility to Birmingham.
A number of reserve housing sites identified in the previous version of the Plan, published in October 2020, have not been included in this version. However, three such sites have been added:
· East of Snitterfield Street, Hampton Lucy
· South of Alcester Road, Stratford-upon-Avon
· East of Banbury Road, Stratford-upon-Avon
A further two sites for self-build and custom build housing have also been identified:
· South of Banbury Road, Ettington
· East of Welford Road, Long Marston
The housing proposal at Meon Vale near Quinton has been replaced with a Local Green Space designation.
What is the Preferred Options consultation?
Preparing the Plan involves a number of stages. Preferred Options is essentially the draft stage. The District Council published an initial version in October 2022 but in light of changing circumstances has decided to produce a Revised Preferred Options Plan for public consultation. A Proposed Submission version will then be produced for statutory consultation before it is submitted to the Government for independent examination.
How to View and Comment on the Consultation
The best way to view the consultation documents is online at www.stratford.gov.uk/sap22. Information on how to comment is included within the Plan itself and on the website.
The Revised Preferred Options Plan is also available to view at the District Council offices (Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6HX between 9.00am and 2.00pm Monday to Friday) and at public libraries across the District during their normal opening hours.
Copies of the document can also be purchased from the District Council on request.
Letters are being sent to properties that are located within and in close proximity to sites identified in the Plan. The distribution of this letter has been automatically generated based on applying a standard distance between properties and the site boundary.
For further information or if you have any queries regarding this consultation please emailplanning.policy@stratford-dc.gov.uk or ring the District Council on 01789 267575 and ask for Planning Policy.
