Debate denied

A building firm will still not commit to a public meeting about its plans for 37 homes on an historic site at Church Street, Southwell.

Kean Construction failed to reply to a town council email request about a meeting, planned for Thursday, and has since said a meeting would be premature and potentially negative.

Kean’s reluctance to publicly answer questions about its latest plans for the former Minster School site have prompted criticism from town councillors.

Mrs Beryl Prentice, of the town’s planning committee, said: “We are frustrated that we are not getting anywhere with them. The public are being let down.”

It was the committee that gave Kean a deadline of noon on Friday to say whether or not anyone from the company would attend the public meeting.

This final effort by the deputy town clerk, Mr David Slight, to obtain a reply came after Kean previously said they needed to discuss the application further with Newark and Sherwood District Council.

The committee chairman, Mr Brendan Haigh, said: “I am disappointed the developers have not been prepared to commit themselves to coming along.

“We know they have had private meetings with various groups and individuals. That is fair enough, but the public are entitled to know more about the developer’s proposals and to be able to ask questions.”

Mr Haigh said they would not normally request a public meeting with a developer but did so because of the uniqueness of the site.

He said it was of national importance because of its proximity to Southwell Minster and because of the Roman remains beneath the site.

“I think because we are a small cathedral town that sometimes we don’t get the sort of coverage that other places normally have,” he said.

“If this was somewhere like Canterbury The Daily Telegraph would see it as a big story.”

Mr Haigh thought it was now too late for Kean Construction to meet the public as the consultation period on the application, which will be decided by the district council, ends two weeks today.

He said Kean was given plenty of notice and the town council tried to make contact with the firm throughout August.

“They may well feel they would be coming into the lion’s den as the developer, but I am sure they would be able to look after themselves and, in any event, the people in the town are not discourteous. They would give them a fair hearing,” he said.

The town council chairman, Mr Graham Ball, said: “It is very difficult and in a sense I can understand their position.

“They wanted to have pre-application discussions with the council and they wanted those in private. We never do that.

“It is wholly wrong to discuss plans with developers in private. It is also wholly wrong for developers not to have the courage of their convictions and stand up in front of people saying this is what we’re going to do.”

Mr Ball said the onus was on a developer to deal with any public dissatisfaction over a planning application.

“I know developers are in it to make money and circumstances are difficult these days, but in the long-term grand scheme of things they do have a duty to the town,” he said.

Mr Ball said no one he had spoken to in the town thought it was a good idea that the site be developed.

He has set up a group, Friends of Church Street, with the intention of buying the land from Kean Construction for public use.

He said they would be meeting soon to map out a plan of what they were going to do.

The planning committee submitted a strong objection to Kean’s plans after a meeting last month attended by about 20 residents.

They objected to the intensive development, the style and design of the buildings, and the impact on the conservation area.

Residents voiced concerns about flooding, and the impact on the views of the minster and the remains of a Roman village.