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Stoughton Community Centre Project

 

SCCP chair Maureen Bell,

27 Bryanstone Ave, Stoughton, GU2 9UN,

Tel: (01483) 570275

 

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This is what we were promised in 2002:

a whole building of 390sqm with an outside undercover play area!

 

The building being constructed next to Budgens is similar in style but longer and almost twice this size at 627sqm.  However only 390sqm on the 1st floor and attic has been suggested for community use, with the entire ground floor only for retail use, such as a licensed restaurant or estate agent.

 

The practicality of this arrangement has yet to be determined as we are all are still waiting to see definitive design plans, as well as a lease.  Once we have these we can determine if community use will be viable and set about making firm plans.

 

The current owners (whoever they are?) have failed to submit adequate building regs applications and so the building is proceeding in short bursts.  If they continue building without listening to SCCP there is a risk the community part will not be as good as it could be.  Therefore we urge all residents, especially those who are concerned about the viability of the community centre, to unite and demand the developers and Council should listen.

 

Surrey Advertiser Article about SCCP 2nd May 2008

Surrey Advertiser Letters about SCCP 9th May 2008

Other Public Letters

 

Support letter for Community Centre

Please use the above link to download a copy of a support letter.  Please print off as many of these as possible and deliver them to as many households as possible, as soon as possible, and don't forget to sign and post one back to us today!

Community Centre Questionnaire / Survey.

Download a copy of the questionnaire from here

To update our records, and Stoughton Community Association (SCA) would like to find out more about what types of activities and services residents of Stoughton would like to see in a Community centre. So please would you help by filling in this questionnaire. Please inform or pass on a copy to any friends in the area who would be willing to fill it out.

 
On 4th April 2006, planning approval was given for the community centre and offices situated next to Budgens in QE Park (05/P/02467).  Thanks to everyone who gave their support.  This now appears to be lost as the developers have decided to revert to plans approved in 2002 for a 627sqm 2.5-storey building (02/P/01632) of which we are told we can have the upper floor and attic, and the developers will profit from leasing retail units on the ground floor.

It should be noted that the November 2002 plans referred to a 'mixed use' building of 627sqm to be used entirely as a doctors' surgery.  This was a late change as it was originally a much larger 1720sqm building with a restaurant the developers had promised.  However the developers claimed they could not find anyone interested in running a restaurant.  Furthermore the legal agreement between the developers and council said that if the developers were unable to secure its use as a surgery within 3 years then they could do what they wanted with the building, including turning into apartments or offices.  Please draw your own conclusions.  However, please note that councillors tried hard to persuade the local PCT to help doctors purchase the building leading up to the November 2005 deadline.

SCCP has very little detail of what the internal arrangements of the current building will be like.  Ivan Ball is acting on behalf of the developers Laing Homes (now Wimpey);  Ivan used to be a project director for Linden Homes and SCCP have been dealing with him from the outset of the project.  Ivan has not kept us informed other than to say we can have the middle floor and attic, with the ground floor being used for retail. 

SCCP is waiting for the developers to provide details of building specification, maintenance costs and an agreed lease, which we need to allow us to apply for various funding.  We haven't even seen a draft lease, and have no idea what the maintenance arrangement will be, although we do not support the obligation for QEP residents to maintain the external parts (or surrounding grounds).  However the November 2002 S106 says the rent should be peppercorn.

A partial cause of the delays are the ongoing objections from QE Park Residents Association (QEPRA) and some residents.  A valid concern of theirs is the developers' insistence that residents pay towards the upkeep of the outside of the building, which the developers inserted into their legal agreement with the council and into residents' deeds.  SCA/SCCP has requested the developers and the council remove this 'obligation', but they are unwilling to discuss and we have had no positive response.  Another concern is the lack of a business plan.  SCCP has not published its business plan because of the uncertainty over the facilities and the space the developers will allocate within the building, the lack of cost information from the developers and lease.  A further concern is the facility may attract users causing vandalism and associated costs which are borne by QEP residents. SCCP does not see why residents should pay for this.

GBC Legal Dept is trying to mediate between all interested parties (developers, council, SCA/SCCP, QEPRA and who knows who else) to come to a mutually agreeable arrangement.  In December 2007 GBC commissioned an independent consultant from the Leisure & Tourism Organization (LTO) to write a report to assess the need for the community centre.  The final report was published in March Stoughton Community Centre Needs Assessment Report (Final) which conclusively established there is a need for a new facility in Stoughton.  Shortly after SCCP wrote SCCP's Response to GBC re Needs Assessment Report.

View of the Mixed Use Building from Railton Road

(Budgens on left) January 2008

Building has stop/started while GBC wait for proper building regs applications

On Monday July 2nd 2007, the developers unilaterally started building.  A letter drop to neighbouring properties in QE Park on the same day informed them building would start immediately.  The council said it was a surprise to them but they cannot stop it.  However at the end of January GBC Building Control stopped building because the developers had submitted incomplete plans.  The same thing happened again in April.

Our aim for the Community Centre is that it should provide a valuable, viable and enjoyable facility for all of Stoughton, including of course residents of QEP.  It should provide complimentary facilities to those provided by others in the area.

 

QE Park Developers' latest proposal

Community centre and Offices in the QE Park 'town square'

(from plans drawn up in 2002)

 

QE Park Developers' latest proposal

in the QE Park 'town square'

(from plans drawn up in 2002 when the mixed use building was intended as a doctors surgery)

 

LATEST DESIGN 2008:

Retail units on the ground floor

Community Facility on middle floor and attic

 

See below for details of the long drawn out saga of the planning approval process and ongoing battle to get building started.

SCCP's Purpose

The community facility will complement other facilities in the area, for the benefit of residents of all ages from the Stoughton area.

SCCP's purpose as part of the Stoughton Community Association (SCA) is to build the facility and establish a management committee to manage and run it.

When SCA was constituted in November 2003 it was synonymous with SCCP, being one and the same committee, and often referred to as SCA/SCCP.  SCCP is now a 'Section of SCA'.

Please see Community Facility Activities page for details of what the facility will be used for.

 

Future

SCCP is SCA's project committee for building, funding and setting up a viable community facility or the benefit of all Stoughton residents.  Once set up, it will be run by a SCA management sub-committee and employed staff, overseen by SCA trustees who are elected and nominated according to the constitution.

Application for lottery and other funding is dependant on the formation of a business plan which itself is dependant on the QEP developers providing details of the the facilities we will be allocated and the building costs, so we can fit it out, as well as an agreed lease. 

It is expected that SCA will lease the community space from the freeholders.

 

See here for pictures of the latest design.

Design Saga

The developers and GBC Planning Department have complete control of the external design and location of the building.   SCCP only has some influence on the internal layout of the community  facility, so that it can ensure that all the community requirements fit within the limited space to comply with the design brief

April 2008   GBC Building Control Dept stop the building because of incomplete plans.

March 2008

Stoughton Community Centre Needs Assessment Report (Final)

The needs assessment report says there is a need for a new community  facility in Stoughton:

SCCP's Response to GBC re Needs Assessment Report

January 2008   GBC Building Control Dept stop the building because of incomplete plans.
October 2007   GBC commissions independent consultants to perform a 'needs assessment' in response to QEPRA assertions that there is no need for more community facilities.
July 2007  

The developers started building ... something ... not sure what?

Is it building approved in 2002?

February 2007  02/P/01632 Surgery Sketch

QE Park Commercial Area

The developers tell us they no longer wish to use the plans approved in April 2006 for 'legal reasons' and wish to revert to plans for a smaller 627sqm 3-storey building approved in 2002 as part of the commercial area 02/P/01632 originally intended as a mixed use building, then a doctors surgery and now a combined offices with community facility on top!

Whilst waiting, we learned that the lottery fund for community centres has closed, so now we are looking for alternative sources of funding.

April 2006  

Application 05/P/02467 was approved.  Waiting for the developers and council to finish negotiating the S106 .... deep sigh.  GBC Officers Report Council conditions are here.   

 

Whilst waiting, we learned we had lost our grant for PV panels because it had run out of time.

March 2006  

Application 05/P/02467 has been amended as requested by GBC; now without canopies and a slightly modified internal layout.

SCCP's response to 05/P/02467 (08-Jan-06)

December 2005 December 2005 Design Statement (6MB) Application withdrawn and replaced by a new application 05/P/02467.  Now with offices instead of flats, and includes an external play area (as requested by SCCP).  Has flat roofs - which are not good for PV panels.
August 2005 August 2005 Changes (1MB)

Application 05/P/00192 is slightly modified, with revised roof design and entrance doors further apart. 14 parking spaces have been 'allocated'.  Updated site plan. 

The developers eventually submitted the 'sound/noise report' that GBC Planning Dept. had asked for.

April 2005 ? Revisions have been prepared by the developers, but what is happening?  GBC are waiting for a 'sound/noise report'.
January 5th  2005

Developers Proposal (1MB) - drawings;

 

SCC Site Plan Dec 2004 (out of date and inaccurate)

Application 05/P/00192: Combined community centre 391sqm, management office 20sqm and 6 apartments approx. 70sqm each.   Now situated in place of the mixed use building in the QE Park 'town square'.

 

SCCP Response to GBC Planning Dept. (13th Feb '05)

December 23rd 2004   The developers submit their application for the combined community centre and 6 apartments, but GBC refuse to register it until a design statement is submitted.  A revised floorplan is submitted including a 'management office' and reducing the actual community space to from 411sqm to 391sqm. Detailed applications have not been submitted for either of the play areas shown on the village green in the outline plan.
December 9th 2004 Developers Proposal (1MB) - sketches QEP developers gave SCCP seven days to comment on new draft plans for a combined community centre and six apartments in place of the originally planned mixed use building in the 'town square' next to Budgens food store.

SCCP met with JTP architect to review possibilities for what was considered an impractical layout and sent a preliminary response to the developers and GBC, which was ignored.

November 11th 2004   Trinity Estates, management company for QEP, carry out poll to decide the location of the community centre and bus routes.
September 6th 2004   SCA's letter to QEP Residents
June 28th 2004  

SCCP and QEP residents meet for a Q&A session at Stoughton Youth & Community Centre.

Developers put 'village green' plans on hold following objections from QE Park residents about building on green space.

June 6th 2004   Letter from SCCP to QEP Residents
April 26th 2004 Developer's Planning Application (2MB)

Final 'Village Green' Plans.  Application 04/P/00990

April 25th 2004  

SCCP help organise a community open afternoon at which SCCP learns:

 - many QEP residents are unaware of plans for a community  facility in QEP.

 - some thought it was only 150sqm instead of 390sqm

 - many didn't know the developers wanted to put it on the Village Green;

 - some thought it was only for QEP and not the whole of Stoughton.

Understandably there was a great deal of concern, and so SCCP start planning to hold a public meeting (28th June)

February 2004 390sqm design #3

Following a meeting with architects JTP* and Laing Homes using SCCP's updated design brief.

January 2004 Linden Homes 390sqm floorplans #2

After a meeting in November 2003 with DEPS* and developers at GBC* Millmead.

November 2003   SCA/SCCP is constituted.
October 2003 SCCP's floorplan ideas

An attempt by SCCP to find out if the design brief would fit into an external 390sqm footprint.

September 2003 Linden Homes 390sqm Design #1

After Linden Homes realised the May design was too big and too expensive.

Also, around this time the developers discovered that because of sewers running alongside Railton Road, they could not put the Community building on the corner of the 'village green' with a link to the 'town square' and insisted it was moved to the middle of the green.  Further investigation by SCCP also found that Linden Homes had built 'Phase 1' housing 14m further into the 'village green' than shown on the outline plan.  This meant the developers were very constrained about where to position the building alongside the 'equipped play area' and 'all weather sports arena'.  Site Plan with Drains, Oct 2003

The developers were also reviewing the proposed constitution for SCA.

May 2003 JTP floorplans

Good layout at last!  But nobody realised it was 488sqm external instead of 390sqm!

April 2003 JTP floorplans Sketch

Improving on SCCP's idea to comply with the design brief.

March 2003 Developer's Newsletter No.5  Showing the site layout approved by GBC in November 2002, and an artists impression of the 'town square' including the 'food store' and 'mixed use' building.
January 2003 STAG/SCCP's floorplan ideas

Just an idea to see if the design brief could fit into the Oct/Nov footprint.

November 2002 S106 Amendment 29 Nov 02 (1MB) GBC planning committee approve the detailed plan for the QE Park Commercial Area (02/P/01632).  Including a 627sqm 'mixed use' building intended as a dedicated doctors surgery and a promise for a community building of between 370 and 390sqm (external) on the 'village green'.
October 2002 JTP Floorplans & JTP Elevations

Developers provide plans for a larger community  facility and seek STAG's support for the commercial area.   The  building is 382sqm internal, 448sqm external - used as basis for the S106 amendment Nov'02  (S106) on the corner of the 'village green' opposite Budgens.

September 2002   QE Park commercial area plans were updated to provide a 600sqm 2 storey 'mixed use' building as a doctors surgery and restaurant.  No specific location for a 150sqm community meeting hall.  Where is the hall?
July 2002   Developers submit first version of detailed plans for the QE Park Commercial Area (02/P/01632).  Including a promise that 150sqm of the 'mixed use' building could be for community use, and the remainder as a doctors surgery.
May 2002 Minutes & Draft occupancy plan

SCCP Committee elected by 120 attending a public meeting at Northmead School, with a mandate to establish a community facility.  150sqm is not large enough to support the needs of the community. 

February 2002   QE Park residential building starts - Phases 1 & 2.
December 2001 Draft S106 Outline planning permission granted for 01/P/0881 and 01/P/0882.
August 2001   Plans revised to provide a 1,720sqm doctors surgery and no specific location for a 150sqm community meeting hall space.  In the series of public meetings, the developers also said there would be a restaurant, but this disappeared from the plans shortly before they were approved.
May 2001   Outline plans submitted for "525 dwellings, employment, nursing home, community facilities, retail, health and fitness centre, open space and associated roads." (01/P/0881 and 01/P/0882).  Including a 600sqm  'L' shaped 2/3 storey building as a doctors surgery and community meeting hall space.
August 1999   STAG Committee formed.  See STAG home page.
January 1999 QEPB Development Brief (Draft January 1999) - Main Doc

QEPB Development Brief (Draft January 1999) - Appendices

GBC issue development planning brief, and organise public consultation meetings.

Talk about 1,000 houses, 700 houses....

 

* GBC: Guildford Borough Council;  DEPS: Department of Environmental Planning Services (since 2005 called GBC Planning Dept);  Developers: Laing Homes and Linden Homes consortium;  JTP: John Thompson & Partners Architects for Laing Homes

 

Click here for a full listing of site plans, drawings etc.

 

Page last updated: 25-May-08