“They have pulled some of the heart out of this village, and we should not just ignore that,” stated Theo Clarke, Chairman of Burbage Parish Council, when he captured and articulated the feelings and opinion of many present in the Royal British Legion Hall in Burbage as a hundred or so local residents packed into the hall last night (Thursday 1 February). It was a moment time when the community came together to vent concerns regarding the impending demolishing and redevelopment of what has been Seymour Court in the centre of Burbage for the past forty or so years.
That is his view. He made clear that he wasn’t speaking for the Parish Council per se, noting: “I am speaking on behalf of me, and as a Governor of the school. I’ve heard the stories about the importance of Seymour Court to the village, over time.”
This was the Burbage community coming together, and the meeting was attended by Devizes MP Danny Kruger, as he had already become involved in the Seymour Court issue when, after Aster cleared the elderly residents out, the village made strong pleas that the (empty but habitable) premises be used to house refugees from Ukraine.
That was almost a couple of years back now, and followed Aster’s reluctance to listen to the Burbage community. Eventually one family did get housed there, thanks to Danny’s intervention, but ironically they were forced out by Aster, last year, and relocated to Chippenham just before the end of the school year.
Seymour Court is right next to Burbage Primary School. School Head, Zoe Garbutt explained the concerns of the school and the effect that the development might have on the young pupils. Background noise, certainly (likely to exceed the 35db recommended limit set by the World Health Organisation), large truck and construction traffic movements, and of course, the dust, and general small detritus flying around that is part of any major construction workings. And, at this stage, the estimate is for the works to take forty two weeks, not far off a full school year.
So what are the concerns of the Burbage residents? At the core, one word – trust. Whilst they accept that this development is going to happen, that work will start, inevitably at some point soon and the old former independent living complex, inhabited by many elderly residents from the village would disappear and would be replaced buy seventeen ‘affordable’ dwellings. The concern is that no consideration regarding the impact on the village community – of the development itself or the long and disruptive construction phase – nor the effect on life in Burbage has ever been addressed by Aster. They were informed about last night’s meeting, they were invited, but showed no interest in meeting with the community to explain what they were proposing, nor why.
Danny Kruger voiced his support for the community, and also articulated his belief that the Planning system was broken. He stated that he was very struck by the move to use Seymour Court to house the Ukrainian refugees of a while back.
Aster are a Housing Association. As Danny explained that when the Housing Associations started, they weren’t like “big public bureaucracies, but were locally accountable small charities, responsive to the needs of the community”, adding that in a marketplace that doesn’t work, Aster had merged with other Associations and were now acting “like a big plc that operates like a commercial company”.
What Burbage is experiencing is similar to what Marlborough is experiencing, with the (Aster) development of York Place. That also will likely be going through, as Wiltshire Councillor Stuart Wheeler explained that any turning down of a proposal, that wasn’t backed by strong and clear ‘Planning’ arguments would be open to appeal by the developer and the Council would then likely be liable for the costs of that appeal. Councils don’t have that money.
As with Marlborough’s York Place, Aster moved residents out – relocated – as they did in their West Lavington development (similar), but there – it was reported last night – Sunderland(!) was one of the relocation destinations…….
As a Housing Association Aster, or their recently (2016) established ‘Aster Foundation’ are a charity. They are there to provide housing for those who might not be able to afford normal market rates – rents of purchase. Social Housing and Affordable Housing is the core of what they are there to provide, and the National Housing Federation describes ‘Social Housing’ as being ‘usually rented at about 50% of the average local market rent and affordable rented homes are rented at around 80% of the local market rent.
In the Design and Access Statement of Aster’s Planning Application (PL/2022/06850), the development will comprise ’17no. new affordable homes composed of 11no. 2 bed houses and 6no. 3 bed houses, all with associated access, parking, amenity and landscaping’. One comment from a long time Burbage resident questioned ‘what about the elderly’? All the emphasis of this development was on homes – ‘affordable’ – for families (young?), but what about the elderly of the community for whom Seymour Court was created several decades ago? Where are they to go once they find the pressures of living in their current homes too difficult? Again, a question for Aster to address, but no-one was present to provide any form of answer.
It was a lively and involving meeting, The Royal British Legion Hall was packed – standing room only – and as organiser Sam Olsen stated, this is likely the second of what could become a programme of such meetings (the first took place a year or so ago, organised by Sonia Ryan) given the interest shown and active involvement of so many residents of Burbage in the future of Seymour Court.