Western Gazette - Parking Penalty Threat to New Jobs
Proposals to penalise a developer if too many people drive to work at a major new business park in Yeovil are threatening to halt the project. It is hoped 6,000 jobs would be created on the 50-acre Bunford Park but the developer, Abbey Manor Capital Partners, said an initiative designed to stop people using their cars could “totally compromise” the scheme.
Somerset County Council is demanding a legal agreement forcing the company to pay a cash bond, which could be more than £200,000. The money would be repaid after five years if targets aimed at keeping car use to a minimum are met. But if too many people drive to work the county council would spend the money on encouraging other forms of transport.
Jason Mills, managing director of Abbey Manor Capital Partners, said the proposals were “effectively to tax people to drive to work”. He said: “A change in how people get to work is pretty unlikely to happen somewhere such as Yeovil, a market town surrounded by countryside.” Mr Mills also said businesses moving onto the site who would eventually bear the brunt of the penalty may seek to relocate.
The county council said the scheme was “not a tax or a fine” but financial sanctions to encourage alternatives to using a car. The idea follows Government guidelines and has been agreed for a development near Bridgwater as well as being used by other councils in Cumbria and Hampshire, according to the county council. They could also be used on other developments in the future. It is not clear how it would be monitored or enforced.
A statement from the County Council said: “To date, the developer has refused to take part in negotiations as they disagree with the principle of the sanction. The sanction in total could be upwards of £200,000 depending on the cost of the remedial measures agreed should the targets not be met. The county council will be looking to apply similar systems of enforcement for all major developments coming forward, however these do not occur every day.” The County Council also warned that if sanctions are not used now future transport solutions would fall on taxpayers.
Abbey Manor wants to develop fields next to the A3088 Western Relief Road and is trying to secure a planning agreement and revised conditions from South Somerset District Council to get the scheme on track. According to council papers released last week, progress has been held up by the travel wrangle.
In a letter to the district council, Mr Mills said the planning application had reached an impasse.
He said: “This Green Travel Plan issue is now directly frustrating the unlocking of the Bunford Park section 106 agreement and hence delivery of Yeovil’s identified key strategic employment site. We are concerned that such a strategic project appears to be held to ransom like this by the county council. Whilst we remain totally committed to delivering the Bunford Park business park project and to transforming it from a strategic employment site allocation into a bricks and mortar reality this issue really is a commercial showstopper unless it can be satisfactorily resolved.”
The proposed business park has been identified by planners as the key location for new jobs in Yeovil. The site is next to one of Yeovil’s busiest roads, connecting Lysander Road and the Cartgate link, and is part of a trunk route from the M5 motorway through to Dorset and the south coast. District councillors gave the scheme approval in principle last August, although planners and the developer have continued to work on the finer details. The plans were strongly opposed by Brympton and West Coker Parish councils. Both were concerned about traffic problems around the site being made worse by the proposal.
As part of the development, Abbey Manor says it will carry out £3M of improvements to nearby roads including a new design for the “Agusta Westland” roundabout at the Yeovil end of the Cartgate link road, allowing traffic to drive on a new road through the middle of the roundabout. The roundabout at Bunford Hollow would also be changed and a new junction controlled by traffic lights built between the two to allow access to the new site.
The district council area south committee was due to look at the proposals yesterday. Planners were recommending changes to small print in the planning permission to get around the requirements. David Norris, district council development control manager, said: “The Bunford Park development is a high-profile scheme that will contribute significantly to Yeovil’s economic future. Although we are supportive of the county council in reducing the reliance on the car, we do not consider it to be reasonable or justified to insist on all of the requirements that have been put forward.”
