PROPERTY: Clanville Grange developer offers free estate agency service

HOUSING developer Barratt is offering to act as a free ‘estate agent’ for anybody who wants to buy one of its newly-finished homes in Minehead.
The firm will sell a buyer’s existing property to ‘save them time, money, and hassle’ if they want to move to the new Clanville Grange estate, on Minehead’s North Hill.
Barratt sales director Caroline Hill said: “Appointing Barratt as your ‘estate agent’ to sell your house when you want to buy a brand new Barratt property may seem unusual - but more and more people are discovering it can be a smart way to buy and sell in one easy move.”
The housebuilder’s completely free agency selling service includes obtaining full market value for the buyer’s old home, and Barratt will also arrange and pay for a Home Information Pack and legal fees.
With the Clanville Grange development, Barratt is offering the service on a range of contemporary one and two-bedroom apartments.
Barratt arranges for an independent professional valuation of an existing house and agrees a realistic asking price before marketing it professionally, preparing sales literature, arranging advertising, and putting up a ‘For Sale’ board.
Once a buyer has been found, the sale is smoothly progressed, and when the new home is ready, the move goes ahead.
Mrs Hill said: “Our agency selling service has been popular for many years as buyers can secure the new Barratt home they want, on the plot of their choice, while we get on with selling their old one.”
Current availability at Clanville Grange includes one-bedroom apartments from £155,000.
More information on the agency selling service is available by calling 01643 709738 or logging on to http://www.barratthomes.co.uk/.

• Our photographs show (TOP) some of the Clanville Grange homes recently completed by Barratt and (BELOW) a typical bedroom on the estate. Photos submitted.

Vulcan Road - what you think about council plans

WEST Somerset Council has received a Statement of Community Engagement report from Consensus, the independent consultancy company appointed to consult with local people on the future of Minehead's Vulcan Road Car Park.
Consensus met with interested parties including the Minehead Chamber of Commerce, local pressure group DIRECT and students from West Somerset Community College.
There was also a three-day public display and consultation in The Avenue, one of Minehead's busiest thoroughfares, where local residents and groups such as Minehead Conservation Society had their chance to state their preferences on the car park's future.
The six options put forward included a range of uses and all included affordable housing, an hotel and parking for coaches, with the exception of Option 6. Nearly 400 people responded to the survey and the overall indications are:
OPTION 1. Mixed retail and industrial units 4.8%
OPTION 2. ASDA 15.6%
OPTION 3. Open A1 retail 8.8%
OPTION 4. Sainsbury 24.1%
OPTION 5. Tesco 7.3%
*OPTION 6. None of the above, but… 34.1%
Multiple Choice. (More than 1 option selected). 5.3%
*However, the report gives a health warning relating to the outcome of Option 6.
It states that people should note that the response to Option 6 is not a simple 'no' vote.
Instead, Option 6 aimed to provide respondents with the chance to reply to the question - if none of the above, what would they like to see on Vulcan Road?
The responses to Option 6 showed that some people wanted a 'hybrid' of one or more of the options, while others did not object to developing the site in principle but would like it to be used for a different purpose.
Very few respondents voted in favour of keeping Vulcan Road in its present form.
The aim of the report was to provide West Somerset Council with a qualitative insight into local people's concerns and aspirations for Vulcan Road.
The report also states that there is scope for a further 'hybrid' option, which may involve a combination of aspects of the current proposals and the exclusion of other aspects.
The council's acting head of paid services, Adrian Dyer, said: "The report is a useful insight into how the community would like to see the site developed.
"It also gives us a wider view of topics and issues that influence and impact on the community, and it may help us not only in this decision-making process, but may also help inform future choices in Minehead.
"The report has been sent to members and will be considered by cabinet on April 2.
"Full council will then debate any recommendations arising on April 16 at a venue to be confirmed."
The report is easily available on the 'popular pages' section on the front page of West Somerset Council's website at www.westsomersetonline.gov.uk.

Town motorists braced for railway turntable return

A LONG-awaited locomotive turntable will be delivered to the West Somerset Railway, in Minehead, next weekend.
It is due to reach the Minehead station on Sunday, February 10, and highways authorities have warned of traffic delays on the A39 while it is transported.
The turntable forms part of a controversial £6 million Somerset County Council industrial development alongside the railway station.
It should reach the town by 10.30 am after an early-morning journey which has been timed to minimise disruption on the roads. Installation is due to start the following day.
As preparatory work for the installation continues, historical evidence of the former Minehead locomotive shed and the people who worked there has been emerging from the diggings.
WSR general manager Paul Conibeare said: “We will not be rivalling ‘Time Team’ for the range or excitement of the discoveries, but the diggers have been turning up a range of artefacts from the shed site, which was closed and demolished in the 1960s.
“As expected, engineering bricks and items of track work have featured, but the biggest engineering relic is the original central mounting pin on which the former turntable was mounted.
“A new pin will carry the replacement turntable but we will preserve the original for future visitors to see.
“On a smaller scale we have found plenty of evidence of the former locomotive staff and other lost bits of Exmoor, including a beer bottle from the long-closed Arnold and Hancocks, in Wiveliscombe, a milk bottle from D Dansie, of Minehead, and another bottle about which we would like to know more.
“It is a half-pint one and stamped into the glass is ‘Bray Valley Clapworthy’ and we would be curious to know what it held and who produced the contents.
“Once the work is complete, we plan to have a display case on the station to house these small items from the past of Minehead and Exmoor.”

• Our photographs show (top) a bottle being uncovered on the turntable site, and (below) the former turntable central mounting pin. Photos submitted.
  

Council planners asked to approve New Horizons despite no money for it

DISTRICT councillors will be asked tomorrow, Thursday, January 31, to grant planning approval for West Somerset’s £50 million New Horizons project – even though the council has pulled its financial backing for the scheme.
New Horizons was intended to provide the district with a new hospital, sports centre and leisure facilities including a swimming pool, business support and training, and housing, including affordable homes for local people.
Now, an outline planning application will be put before tomorrow’s meeting of the council’s planning committee, with a recommendation for councillors to allow it subject to no substantive objections being received from organisations which have still to make comments.
The planning application has been submitted by the council itself in order that the principle of the development can be agreed.
But a deepening financial crisis which has hit the council since Independent councillors took control in last year’s elections has forced the authority to withdraw its £11 million share of the funding.
However, Somerset Primary Care Trust (PCT) is still looking at the possibility of going ahead with the £26 million hospital element of the scheme on its own, because almost all of the cost will be met by the Government.
Work is planned to start on the hospital during the summer of this year and it should be ready to accept patients in mid-2009.
Staff in the existing Minehead hospital recently shared their views on the design of the new community hospital.
The developers, Laing O’Rouke, met with clinical staff to discuss the design of the new facility, which is being planned on a site off Seaward Way, Minehead.
PCT project director Simon Corrick said: “We held a very successful project launch day which allowed the hospital developers, Laing O’Rouke, to meet with the staff who will be working in the new hospital.
“The meeting provided a good opportunity to allow our staff to discuss their thoughts on how the hospital should be designed and operated, and for Laing O’Rouke to introduce members of their team who will be working with us over the next two years.
“The event was very useful and enabled our staff to fully understand the process that will be followed.
“In particular, I think it provided reassurance that staff will be fully involved in the process.”
Laing O’Rouke was appointed by the PCT and will take full responsibility for all aspects of the design and construction of the new hospital.
The company has considerable experience in the development of public buildings and is presently completing a new hospital in Frome which will receive its first patients this summer.
Mr Corrick said: “This is the first part of the design process and we now face a very intensive three months which will result in a design which will be submitted for a full planning application later this year.
“In the meantime, we continue working with the other partner organisations which are collaborating on the development of the town’s New Horizons project.”
Members of the Somerset Patient and Public Involvement Forum - which is an NHS watchdog - this week expressed their concern at the district council’s withdrawal from the New Horizons project.
The forum recognised the council’s financial constraints but urged it to think again, in order to allow New Horizons to go ahead as planned.
Forum chairman Maureen Lloyd Williams said: “The shared site would foster links between all sections of the community. It will be a huge boost to the area.”

New homes go on show in picturesque Stogursey

SPECIALIST developer Strongvox has opened a show home and a view home in a picturesque rural development in West Somerset.
The development in Stogursey has been named Lonlay Meadow and comprises 59 two, three, and four-bedroom homes in detached, semi-detached and terrace styles.
The houses have been carefully designed to create attractive homes which complement similar properties in the ancient village.
The detached, four-bedroom show home features light wooden and painted furniture and stylish accessories to create the look and appeal of a traditional English cottage. Another property, a three-bedroom house, has been fitted out with all floor coverings and lighting and is available to see as a view home.
Sales adviser Francis Hedicker said: “The show and view homes are attracting considerable interest as they provide a tangible example of both the style and quality of the properties being built at this development.
“Lonlay Meadow benefits from its rural setting and its position within this attractive and friendly village.
“Many potential purchasers have been impressed with the development’s open layout and the inclusion, when completed, of a number of green spaces and play equipment.”
A variety of four-bedroom homes are available to purchase on the current release. These include the Taw, a three-storey, four-bedroom detached house which offers two family bathrooms plus a study and a garage.
Another house type, the Isla, includes a kitchen and breakfast area, plus a separate dining room, as well as a study and garage.
Prices for the four-bedroom properties start from £249,950.
Also for sale are a number of three-bedroom properties known as the Helford.
These are available as either a detached or semi-detached house with a ground floor cloakroom, an en-suite to the master bedroom, and a garage.
Prices start from £211,950.
Strongvox is committed to building high quality homes and, in keeping with the company’s ethos, each property is finished to a high specification.
Design touches include wooden double glazed windows, Porcelanosa ceramic tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, chrome plated taps, and kitchens by Moores Furniture Group.
For more information on Lonlay Meadow contact Francis Hedicker on 01278 734779, or visit the sales information centre, which is open Thursday to Monday from 10 am to 5 pm, or log on to http://www.strongvox.co.uk/.

• Our computer-generated images show (TOP) a Swift four-bedroom house which is being used as a show home, and (BELOW) a three-bedroom Helford which is a view home. Images submitted.
  

More public consultation on new supermarket for Minehead

A NEW public consultation exercise is to be carried out to again test residents’ views on the future use of Minehead’s Vulcan Road car park (pictured).
The move comes as Independent councillors on West Somerset Council look for justification for backing out of an agreement for a supermarket and other units to be built on the site.
The Independents were elected on the back of a Direct-orchestrated campaign to stop shoppers in West Somerset being given greater choice of supermarket shopping.
Now, despite previous consultation showing people wanted Vulcan Road to include a supermarket - preferably ASDA - councillors have demanded development partner Chelverton Developments Ltd should further research the public’s views on six possible options for the site.
The consultation will be carried out by independent specialists, Consensus, which is owned by former Minehead student Mark Crosby.
Mr Crosby said: “Our task is to provide local stakeholders groups and the wider community with an opportunity to examine each proposal and then record their views.
“The feedback from the consultation will then be collated in a statement of community involvement and submitted to the council for their scrutiny and deliberation.
“It will be for them to determine which option, if any, best meets the future needs of the community.”
The exhibition will be open to the public at the former Ceci fashion shop in The Parade, Minehead, from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, December 1, and from 10 am to 1 pm the following day, Sunday, December 2, and again from 10 am to 5 pm on Friday, December 7, to coincide with the farmers’ market in the town centre.
Four of the options involve Tesco, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, or ASDA, each of which also includes an hotel.
A fifth option is for a smaller scheme of mixed retail and employment units.
All of the options contain some affordable housing.
There is also a ‘none of the above’ option.
All options will be displayed with a plan showing how the development would be laid out, together with an indication of the amount of money that each proposal would generate for the council.
Mr Crosby said: “I believe people want to be provided with accurate and straight-forward information about each option in order that they are able to make a properly informed decision.”
Consensus is also meeting with representatives of Direct, Minehead Chamber of Commerce – which is run by ex-Direct chairman Graham Sizer, Minehead Town Council, West Somerset Railway, and the West Somerset Community College.

County starts work on controversial railway site

WORK has started on a controversial industrial and business development next door to the West Somerset Railway Station, in Minehead.
The £6 million scheme by Somerset County Council will deliver modern workspaces for businesses and a 110-space car park.
When it was first mooted by then-Conservative controlled West Somerset Council in partnership with the county council, the scheme provoked huge protests by the Lib Dem-sponsored pressure group Direct to the effect that it would ruin the railway as a tourist attraction.
No such protests have been evident since the Lib Dem county council took over the scheme.
The project is being funded by the county council, South West of England Regional Development Agency, European Regional Development Fund, and the West Somerset Railway.
It aims to support the expansion of the West Somerset economy by providing jobs, encouraging investment, and boosting tourism.
County council portfolio holder for economic development, Councillor Alvin Horsfall, said: “We have been delighted with the level of public interest and participation in this project, and the council put a great deal of effort into ensuring that the design will provide what the local community wants.
“It is satisfying to reach this important milestone and I look forward to it opening in July next year.”
The South West RDA has invested in the project as part of its support for market and coastal towns, which often have vulnerable economies.
RDA development manager David Rees said: “It will help create a more vibrant economy for Minehead by providing new high quality workspace for small and medium companies, including start-ups.”
The railway is also planning to install a turntable while the work progresses, on which to manoeuvre its famous trains.
There will be a public viewing area for people to watch the steam trains turn, as well as a café and retail opportunities.
The scheme also includes the facility for different events to be held at the site, such as farmer’s markets and trade fairs.
Railway general manager Paul Conibeare said: “This is a turning point for Minehead and the West Somerset railway and will attract excursion trains from all over the UK.
“It is also a tribute to the dreams of the pioneers who, 30 years ago, brought back the turntable from north Wales.
“We are pleased to be working with our partners to turn their dreams into reality.”

• Our photographs show {top} county council chairman Councillor Alan Gloak (front, centre) with officials at the start of work on the project, and {below} work underway on the site. Photos submitted.