Our latest newsletter (published for the November 2011 AGM):
Vitality of Penrith strategy: Following the community event last December the VoP strategy group decided to focus on four areas for further work: a business improvement district; a signage strategy; a marketing and events strategy; and a ‘greening and cleaning’ project in the town. It was unfortunate that the lack of transparency in these choices made it hard for people who had put forward good ideas at the December event to see why they weren’t carried forward, or indeed if they had been absorbed into a wider theme. Still we have to work with what we’ve got, and one of the results is the way finding and signage theme we saw displayed outside the Penrith Library a few weeks ago. We continue to provide constructive advice and suggestions to the design team on the project when we can.
Beacon path project: This project has now come to an end, after a work programme carried out by the Lonsdale Estate managers following useful discussions we had with them. The path has been considerably improved with better fencing and new timber access gates to the plantations on either side. Some thinning of the tree cover at the Beacon site has been done, but the view of the Beacon from the town is still not as clear as we would have liked. We were not able to persuade them to thin any more trees!
Grange-over-sands visit: The G-o-s civic society visited us in July and had an interesting tour of the Church (thanks to Shelia Hadwin) and a tour of the town centre with commentary by Peter. It was a small group and we were able to personalise the tour to their interests, and I think they enjoyed it!
PCS blog and website: To spread the word about our activities and provide a platform for discussion of development issues in the town, we set up a web site : http://penrithcivicsociety.wordpress.com/ – I’m trying to keep it up to date with photos showing problems and annoyances we come across that might interest a wider audience. Take a look – and add your comments as appropriate.
Penrith Cinema: We weren’t directly involved in the campaign to save the local cinema here in Penrith earlier this year but it was a great success, showing than the community can ‘make a difference’ when campaigning to reverse decisions they don’t like. Maybe people will be keener to express disapproval of unpopular developments in future – in areas where the Society has a keen interest.
Building / Development work in Penrith: People will have seen the increasing scale of development activity around the town. Does the Civic Society have a role in monitoring or reviewing such work, as doubts as to the relation of finished projects with the initial ideas and plans had been expressed. These projects include the Booths site, the railway station car park, the plastic window frames on the Bewick Cafe – but these are just examples. The Civic Society should be taking a lead in being vigilant about current developments in the town, and raise concerns where we have them. We can act as a channel for these issues so if others know of similar problems, let me know!
The NPPF – you may have noticed the campaign lead by the National Trust and the Daily Telegraph to try to get the government to rethink if not cancel the introduction of a new National Planning Policy Framework. This is of direct concern to us as it seems to move the ‘burden of proof’ from the planning applicant to objectors to show that a proposed development should not take place. This is the’ presumption in favour’ of development. We have raised our concerns with Rory Stewart (local MP) and through NWACTS at a regional level. Rory unfortunately replied just following the government policy line, so not much hope there.
Sandgate chapel - this long running saga may have come to a head with some development taking place; we have been concerned about the deteriorating condition of the building fabric for some time. The current planning permission for the site was due to run out just after this work began so no doubt that had something to do with it!
Again in 2011 I should record that we generally have had a good attendance at our three-monthly business meetings, and some interesting and (I hope) effective discussion. We would always welcome other members, or prospective members, to come along to these — we have no particular rules on who should attend. If you would like to make more of a contribution, through discussion, or hands on help with outside activities, it would be much appreciated!
( — 1st October 2011)
