Councillor Mark Horn statement

AS THE TWO county councillors representing Bourne, Charlotte Farquharson (Bourne Castle) and myself (Bourne Abbey), met Karl Hick, the managing director of the Bourne based property developer, Larkfleet Homes, to discuss their proposal in regard to a bypass on the west side of town along side Bourne Wood [on Friday 18th April].

These proposals have aroused a great deal of consternation and heated public comment. As elected councillors, we can take no view on the merits of the situation but our concern was merely to ascertain the facts.

Following our meeting with Mr Hick, it was agreed that Larkfleet Homes will put out a press release in which they will briefly set out exactly what has occurred in terms of discussions and where they are in the process so as to deal with the concerns expressed in the local press. It is hoped that this will put an end to rumours and speculation as to a conspiracy to withhold information that should rightly be in the public domain.

Under planning regulations, a developer has to be able to show that the scheme is technically feasible before it is submitted, hence Larkfleet Homes have needed to have certain discussions with the Forestry Commission to see if their proposal was feasible. There was, therefore, nothing conspiratorial about these discussions; they need to have them before they consider whether a scheme is potentially feasible or not.

From what was revealed by Mr Hick, I do not think any critical information that should be in the public domain has been withheld and from a commercial perspective they are legally entitled to a certain degree of confidentiality at this phase of the process.

It should be noted that the scheme is still at the very early concept phase, as such, the detail some have asked for in regards to access etc will not be available until much later in the planning process. At that phase of the planning process, there will be a public consultation as is required by law, and people will be entitled to ask all the questions they would like, to raise objections, to comment etc.

It should also be noted that part of Bourne Wood is ancient woodland, and part of the wood is managed woodland. The small strip of land in question is managed woodland. The Forestry Commission are well aware of their obligations and appear to be seeking to extract maximum benefit in terms of a commitment to provide additional facilities and amenities.

The discussions that have taken place to date between Larkfleet Homes and the Forestry Commission are private. They are not part of any S106 Agreement which would be a different set of discussions altogether, and as such neither South Kesteven District Council nor Lincolnshire County Council have authority in these matters.

In terms of public consultation, as this project is still ten to fifteen years away from even being considered, it is to far too early for that, though Karl Hick would be prepared to meet with representatives of the media and concerned groups in order to allay some of the concerns, and I would be happy to facilitate any such meeting.

There are two potential bypass routes around Bourne, one to the east and one to the west. Any scheme still needs to be incorporated in the Local Plan, and until the Elsea Park development is completed, it is unlikely that additional new housing will be allocated to Bourne. Thereafter, you have the whole planning process to go through, including public consultation, S106 Agreements etc. As such, a bypass, whether it is the scheme to the west, around Bourne Wood, or to the east, will be very far in to the future.

As any bypass scheme will considerable increase the value of the associated land, there are significant vested interests at stake and therefore it is essential that all elected councillors remain absolutely neutral.

I hope a press release from Larkfleet Homes in due course will help put all the facts in the public domain and allow this matter to be considered in a more reflective way.

Mark Horn
County councillor (Bourne Abbey)
Town Councillor (Bourne East)
Saturday 19th April 2008