Wykeham Homes

Barnes Meadow Development

Inspite of strong local objections The Uplyme Parish Council recommended the go ahead of this development, originally for 44 houses. It was East Devon District Council who reduced it to 41.

Run mouse over pictures to see description and click for larger picture.

Progress Report before October 2004

(Reports since October 2004)

News on Barnes Meadow As many people have predicted a disaster has happened beside Barnes Meadow. Three homes off Gore Lane had to be evacuated on Friday with the suggestion that they will have to be condemned. Two widows and a young family have had to leave their homes and have been lodged in the Black Dog and a nursing home. One of the widows, Mrs Holmes is a lady who has confronted John Steven on a number of occasions before at the parish council meetings about her fear of ground movement without much sympathy being shown. What seemed to have happened is that an extremely large mound of soil had been heaped in the vicinity of these dwellings and the weight of the soil caused a movement in the existing ground causing a rift between wall and roof in one building and serious cracks in the others. Seldom has a recent parish council meeting taken place without John Fowler telling of his suspicions of an imminent disaster waiting to happen in this area. 18th May 2003 Amongst the fifty members of the public attending the June Parish Council Meeting, many called for an extra-ordinary meeting dedicated to discuss this matter at which the local Member of Parliament Hugo Swire will be invited. See report. 13th June 2003

This is not an official website but a collection of notes once mainly obtained from the monthly meetings given by John Steven that preceded the Parish Council's meetings in the village hall. He no longer attends meetings and we now rely on other sources such as the official parish council meetings, local and national newspapers as well as village gossip!

Loss of a Mature Oak Tree It has been reported in the two local newspapers that a mature oak tree protected under a Tree Preservation Order has been felled on the site. The parish council was told that it was necessary to fell the tree because of instability of the roots caused by the building work. The East Devon District Council, the administrators of the tree protection scheme, was not informed of the condition of the tree before it was felled. So after all the negotiating and the subsequent agreement between the district and parish councils and the developer, all it needs for a builder to fell a protected oak tree in it's prime, growing in an inconvenient situation, is for him to say that the roots are damaged. Damage caused by himself and not beyond the realms of possibility, intentional. Three flowering cherries beside the war memorial have also been taken out to work on the village green. The scene around the memorial is reminiscent of a First World War scene on the Somme. Something that the men whom the memorial commemorates may well have been familiar. 9th Sept 2001 John Steven Accepts Responsibility Full responsibility was accepted by John Steven for the loss of the oak tree. At the parish council meeting on 12th September he admitted that an oversight at the planning stage resulted in this mistake. The meeting was informed that a Tree Preservation Order on a tree is lifted once planning permission has been granted for a site. A tree can then be retained after negotiation between the district council and the developer. Mr Steven did add that he could not guarantee that a similar incident would not happen again. 13th Sept 2001 No Sooner Said Than Done Twelve days later on the 25th September another group of retained trees were cut down. Will any survive this onslaught? 26th Sept 2001 Site Visits by Tree Officers It has recently come to light that a Tree Officer has no right to visit a site for which planning permission has been sought, unless he is specifically invited to do so. It is the Planning Officer dealing with the application who should have invited the Tree Officer to visit the site. The officer even though knowing of the history of local disapproval of this development, particularly concerning the issue of tree preservation, obviously decided it was unimportant. 8th October 2001 The Oak Discussed at October Meeting of UPC The demise of this tree was given considerable attention. Although the Tree Officer did not attend the site until after the tree had been felled, by inspecting the roots he declared that because of waterlogging of the soil the tree was showing signs that it was dying. He assumed that the waterlogging was a recent thing probably caused by the erection of a bungalow during the last two years or so. Later in the open forum Tony Cook said that the area where the tree grew to his knowledge had always been waterlogged. The Tree Officer justified the felling of the tree because of this problem with the roots, but of course the contractor prior to the felling could not have known this. To his knowledge the tree was completely healthy, it just happened to be in the way. Brian Mason proposed that the parish council recommend to the district council that legal action be taken against the contractors. David Sole objected to this view and accordingly proposed an amendment. His argument was that as there is no longer any preservation order on these trees the exercise is futile. Mr Mason's proposal won the day, this would if nothing more, emphasis the strong feeling the council had on the felling of this tree. The general feeling of the council was that there is a serious flaw in the planning law regarding Tree Preservation Orders. As soon as planning permission is granted to a site then TPOs on that site are no longer valid. The previously protected trees can then be felled with there being no legal redress for such action. It was quickly realised by the councillors that an unscrupulous developer could easily manipulate a situation to his benefit. In the open forum that followed the meeting John Fowler voiced his concern that this very loophole could be used to remove many of the trees in the Glen on the site behind the Devon Hotel. Barbara Pearson whilst noting how this TPO flaw had taken all the councillors by surprise in the first few months of work on the Barnes Meadow site, with a long slog ahead she wondered how many more of these kinds of problems will surface. An interesting but unanswerable question. 11th October 2001	Site History Progress Reports to October 2004 (this page): 9th September 2001 Lost Oak 13th September 2001 John Steven Owns Up 11th October 2001 Death of the Dormice 13th October 2001 Quintessential Sales Catalogue 15th November 2001 Caught Red-handed Going Like Hot Cakes Could it be 42 OK? 9th January 2002 Gas Leak 21st January 2002 Sunday Telegraph Article 3rd May 2002 Developer Not "Bust"! 10th May 2002 No John Steven 18th May 2002 Council Repudiates "Rumour" 13th June 2002 Early Hand-over of Millennium Copse 14th August 2002 Incorrectly Placed Parish Council's Change of Attitude 11th September 2002 John Steven Comes Clean 1st Occupation 9th October 2002 John Steven Walls, Pavements and Occupancy Parishioner's Letter Diversion of Stream Traffic Calming 8th January 2003 John Steven Braves the Weather Front Retaining Wall Saga De-watering! More on the Waterfront Suburbia by Sea 12th February 2003 Whalley Lane Slippage UPC not in on Materials Choice Development Lost it's Way 12th March 2003 Sunday Working Whalley Lane Slippage Front Retaining Wall Saga Smaller Footprints! Award Winning 9th April 2003 Sunday Working Continues The Wall Footpath 12 Badger Set 14th May 2003 That Wall will be Finished. A Summer Break for the Badgers. Site Activity. Footpath 12. Starter Homes Traditional Bungalows 11th June 2003 Angry Meeting, but no JS 9th July 2003 No JS, badgers and broken promises. 13th August 2003 Goodbye to JS?. 19th January 2004 That Wall Again Nigel Marsh on footpath, house prices and the consequences for Barnes Meadowers of an unfinished site The Lone voice 10th March 2004 John Steven faces the village Peter Burton in a hurry Time table Houses sold at premium Why leave site? JS takes full blame Last word on the wall? Why Plot 7 was delayed 14th April 2004 Final cosmetics Wild flowers? Railway cutting infilling 12th May 2004 Final Broken Promises The Wall 14th July 2004 Wild Flower Meadow Latest Progress Reports: 8th December 2004 There will be a Phase Three The Wall 7th January 2005 Why was phase three shelved? 13th January 2005 UPC disillusionment with John Steven 10th February 2005 Irretrievable break down 18th April 2005 Amended plans, the wall windfall? and maintenance scheme reversal. 14th May 2005 Soil levels to be investigated. 15th July 2005 Parishioner demands action on damaged homes 14th September 2005 Start announced for Phase 3 14th October 2005 The Saga Continues 18th November 2005 Phase 3 Go-ahead 15th December 2005 Liaison officer to keep watch 12th January 2006 Barnes Meadow drainage 12th January 2006 Dogs fertilizing Millenium Copse 9th March 2006 Meeting with John Steven Site drainage The Wall Homeless Millennium footpath Landscaping commitment Millennium trees 12th April 2006 Breach of conditions 11th May 2006 Another fruitless meeting with JS 19th May 2006 Landslide victims 19th November 2006 Phase three progress 11th October 2007 NHBC Scheme, Site Maintenance 14th December 2007 Mr Steven's New Company and Millennium Weeds 14th August 2008 Where have all the flowers gone? 20th November 2008 Lym Valley Society to pay for trees. 20th November 2008 Mr Steven and administration UPC Meetings: 11th December 2002 8th January 2003 12th February 2003 12th March 2003 9th April 2003 14th May 2003 11th June 2003 9th July 2003 13th August 2003 10th September 2003 8th October 2003 12th November 2003 10th December 2003 14th January 2004 11th February 2004 With Links to: Other Pre-2003 Meetings Other Relevant Pages Introduction Page to Parish Council Meetings Rhode Hill Gardens Home Page Go to Top of Page
And the Loss of how many Dormice? I have always been of the opinion that the populations of dormice and badgers and in fact many of the other unheralded species living on what was to become Barnes Meadow would disappear. In response to the glossy brochure on the "merits" of the development that the developer produced during the summer of 2000 I wrote a letter to the developer and had a similar letter printed in the Pullmans. In those letters I wrote: Dormice are not mammals that thrive in a garden situation and this is what will be thrust upon them when houses take over their habitat. In this situation with probably an unsuitable food supply it is very unlikely that the population will be sustainable. Click to read whole letter. This extermination of the local population of dormice has already begun. Driven out by the disturbance and eradication of their preferred habitat, cats have already killed at least one dormouse in a garden in Whalley Lane, and two in Venlake. Of course finding themselves in an alien environment without the dense cover that they prefer they are very susceptible to predation by cats. I predict that when this development is completed dormice will have become extinct on this site. This is a species that is listed in the Red Data Book of Endangered Species, a species given special protection under the law. But all the same English Nature has allowed this development to proceed. 9th Sept 2001 In the information booklet on the current National Dormouse Survey published by English Nature there is a section "What do they eat?": They feed on flowers, pollen, fruit, insects and nuts. These are available in turn as the summer progresses, so dormice need a habitat containing a good variety of shrubs and trees to ensure a continuous supply of food. Hazel, honeysuckle, bramble and oak are probably the most important food sources. Blackberries are an important source of food supply filling in the gap before hazel nuts are ready. As large amounts of brambles have been removed from the site can you be surprised that dormice are turning up in gardens? Also in the above mentioned publication is the following: Dormice rarely go more than 70 metres from their nests and don't like running across open ground. That they are crossing large areas of bare ground and ending up in gardens is an indication of how desperate they now are. I think that the only chance of saving this small population of dormice was to catch them, a fairly easy operation I believe, and release them in a suitable habitat that had no dormice, there are many because of isolation. Hopefully they would breed and increase in numbers, then perhaps after four years or so a number of the descendants could be caught and taken back to Barnes Meadow by which time the habit would have recovered and the new plantings matured to produce plenty of dormouse food. This also has the advantage that the same gene pool would be returned to the site. It has been reported by the EDDC Tree Protection Officer that many of the dormice nest boxes installed on the site have been damaged or destroyed by the contractors. 15th Sept 2001 English Nature's Decision I have often wondered why English Nature agreed to such an unlikely scheme to attempt to save this dormouse colony. I now think that it comes down to the fact that they did not want the hassle and confrontation with the developer that a complete refusal would have brought. If they admitted that the dormouse colony was doomed, then they would have no choice other than to prohibit development. By going along with Dr Chanin's scheme no matter how unlikely it was of obtaining the desired results and making the developer jump through hoops they would be seen to be carrying out their duty, and at no political cost to themselves. 11th Oct 2001 Dormice don't like the rain. BBC News Story
Quintessentially English That's the sub-heading of the Barnes Meadow sales catalogue, now available for prospective buyers from the sales office. A very plush publication as is only too necessary to fit the descriptions of Uplyme and the site therein. "A Setting Beyond Compare", "a collection of just 41 luxurious homes" thanks only to East Devon District Council, "a new focal point in the heart..... of Uplyme" thank you Mr Steven, "one of the country's finest and most desirable locations". It goes on in similar vein. It includes what you would expect, a plan of the site, designs of the first phase of houses and of course prices. Definitely missing from the plan are the promised pond, the gazebo and the boules pitch. Prices are given for the fifteen houses in the first phase. They range from £155,000 for a three bedroom terraced cottage to £385,000 for a four bedroom detached house. These prices compare with the original £80,000 to £250,000 given during the early days of planning. 13th Oct 2001
Caught Red-handed! John Steven arrived on site recently to find that a group of contractors had just finished flattening a red car with a digger. Of course they weren't going to bury it, just preparing it for the breakers yard. Mr Steven is invoicing them for use of the digger. 15th Nov 2001
Going Like Hot Cakes Twelve of the first thirteen houses due to be built in the first phase have already been sold. Reserves have also been placed on eleven other houses being built in a later phase. I wonder if the houses would be selling so well if some of the prospective owners knew that there may be a fish and chips shop opposite the entrance to Barnes Meadow. Go to UPC meeting of 14th November 2001 for story. 15th Nov 2001
Could it be 42 OK? The housing association that will be operating the three low cost houses have approached Mr Steven with the idea of building an extra one on the site. Mr Steven has no objection, surprisingly! The fly in the ointment here is the Parish Council who were completely against it. 15th Nov 2001
Not Much to Report at the 9th January Meeting That was John Steven's opening statement. The first houses in the village green terrace should be completed by May or June. The final phase of the traffic calming work should be finished by Easter. Traffic Control Signals - Not Again We were assured that the lights were nothing to do with the Barne's Meadow development, but that Transco are having a problem with a leaking gas pipe. I wonder why! Wasn't there something about land slippage last autumn? 9th January 2002
Sunday Telegraph Article The development was featured in the Sunday Telegraph review on 13th January 2002. If it hadn't said otherwise you could be lead into thinking that it was written by John Steven himself, for it spoke in very glowing terms of the project. Mr Steven is stated as saying that "When people in the village first saw the proposals they were not keen. And some would still rather there was no development. But the site already had outline planning consent and the parish council approved the application unanimously" If this is what Mr Steven believes, then I am afraid that he has been mislead by the parish council. There was one persistent objector to the project. The treatment of this one objector by some other members of the parish council was far from civil. It may be added here that in the original outline planning consent the number of houses referred to was just 27, the new application was for 44. Beryl Denham, the chairwoman of the parish council, says: "...we have no objection to integrating new people into the village." If only this was what happens. The vast majority of newcomers to the village do not integrate. Those that are still working usually commute out of the area often to London and use their Uplyme base just at weekends, and sometimes even then not on a regular bases. "The butcher has already spruced up his shopfront in readiness for more business." States the article. Wrong. The shop has not been spruced up to attract more business but to attract a buyer. For the fact is that in spite of an increasing population made up by incomers (children tend to leave the area), with the advent of Tescos in Axminster people use the butchers shop in decreasing numbers. The East Devon District Council has just refused an application from a prospective buyer to change the use of this shop to that of a fish and chip shop. more on this. "He has put in a wildlife conservation corridor peppered with dormouse breeding boxes." No more by putting in an Osprey nesting platform will he get Ospreys to breed then will dormice breed by putting in breeding boxes if they are no longer present. For it is my view that the small population of dormice have either been killed or driven away into unsuitable habitats by the re-landscaping. Last autumn several dormice were killed by cats in surrounding gardens where they had never been seen before. More on dormice on this page. 21st.January2002
Barnes Meadow developer "not bust" So read an article in the Lyme Regis News of 3rd May 2002. View article. View article.
Barnes Meadow Without John Steven Heeding John Steven's announcement at the last meeting, that he would not be available to give his usual update at the May meeting, I leisurely ambled into the village hall on Wednesday evening at 7:25 pm straight into an extremely lively discussion. Could the inhabitants of Whalley Lane have marched on the village hall and demanded to be heard. I never did find out what arrangements had been made for the start of the evening but whatever, the parishioners were up in arms. The newspaper article referred to in the preceding paragraph may very well have sparked peoples imaginations for there were suggestions that the contractors had pulled out, not "a commercial decision to switch contractors" as stated in the article, that there was a serious possibility of land slippage and that the developer was going to sell the site. Now where had I heard that before? Of course it was a question asked some two years ago by the sole parish council dissenter against the development, Carole Halden. She asked John Steven what would happen to all the promises that he had pledged he would carry out if he should come up against problems and have to sell on. He answered that he has never sold on once he had obtained planning permission. How long had the company been going? Four years! Let's hope his short track record holds up. Ironically a number of the promises that he made have already been broken without him selling on! I refer to the "village pond", the "gazebo" and the "bolles pitch" all facilities that were to be for the use of the whole village. I seem to have missed the official apology. Now the Facts I have now been informed what did actually happen during the earlier part of the meeting. Beryl Denham read out a letter from John Steven in which he said he will complete the first 13 houses of stage 1 including the roads, with in-house labour. This does suggest that contrary to what was stated in the cutting, cutting, that he will advertise for a new contractor to complete the next two phases, he has already lost the original contractor for the completion of stage 1 and is now having to use in-house labour, pointing toward the likelihood, as rumours have it, of the contractor actually having walked out. Also completion of pavements and walls in front of the site will be delayed as EDDC are monitoring potential slippage problems. There was a nice personal touch in the letter for he also said Mr and Mrs Cook should be sent a letter of apology and a bunch of flowers over the incident of their back fence! They still eagerly await their arrival. In passing it may be added that Mr Steven is not new to problems with contractors. From "The Times" 28th January 2000 I quote: "More than 200 small contractors found themselves £1.2 million out of pocket when Mr Steven pulled the plug on the construction company building the flats on the shore opposite Burgh Island in the South Hams a short while before the development was due to be completed. He claimed the construction company had failed to meet agreed dead lines and it immediately went into administration." Later in the parish council meeting proper the councillors showed that they were not completely happy with the situation. Fearful that they stood a chance of loosing the land ear-marked for the millennium copse if the project was sold on, the land is due to be handed over at the end of the year, they have contacted the developer asking for an immediate hand-over of the land! 10th May 2002
Parish Council Notice The parish council have posted a notice on their notice board outside the post office shop. It repudiates the "rumours" that are circulating around the village suggesting that the development company has serious financial troubles. But if the company really had serious problems would the parish council be privy to them? 18th May 2002
Millennium Copse Hand-over to be Brought Forward John Steven, at the June meeting, confirmed that the hand-over date would be brought forward, but because of the delay now in completing the estate the sales office is likely to be in place longer than was originally planned. The Parish Council would therefore be entitled to some compensation, he suggested £500 a year. Sounds a bit cheap to me when you consider it is on a site where the starting price for the smallest terraced house is about £180,000. Come on UPC you can get more. Although the company has made a statement that they are seeking a new contractor to complete stages 2 and 3, we have not been told why, they are still maintaining that they will not sell on. On this Mr Steven did mention that he had several offers for the remaining site. There must be a price he could not refuse.That price appears to be £4M. More Boundary Problems Mrs Holmes of Gore Lane having shown John Steven her boundary with Barnes Meadow that very afternoon, now went over it again but this time in front of witnesses. Mrs Holmes having tended a strip of land 2 or 3 metres outside her property for twelve years, is assuming that the land now is legally hers. Mr Steven's henchman cut down a number of young trees in this strip without her permission, also coming down with it was one of the dormouse boxes. He described the trees as scrub! Mrs Holmes was also worried that the lowering of the water table on the development site would also affect her property's foundations by drying out the land. Mr Steven confidently assured her that this would not be so! Seems that he has rewritten the laws of nature. 13th June 2002
Stan Williams' Question Was regarding the retaining wall along the footpath opposite the Devon Hotel. Beryl Denham answering for the absent John Steven said that the wall had been constructed in the wrong place. It will prove an expensive job to move it and it was rather urgent for phase one houses could not be occupied until it was finished. Change of Attitude? Do I detect a slow dawning in the minds of the parish councillors regarding Barnes Meadow? Did I really hear Beryl Denham say that the developer has financial problems? Three months ago this would not be entertained coming from a parishioner. She also said during the evening "The second phase is on the market" Does this mean that houses in the second phase are now being offered to the public. But the second phase was almost a sell out months ago. In fact the buyers were offered their deposits back some time ago. It could possibly mean that the developer is now seeking a buyer for the rest of the development? During the open forum after the main meeting a question was asked "Wasn't the village green area of the development rather small and could not Hacker's Mead help out in this respect"? The lady was told that Hacker's Mead was not available at a reasonable price. Of course the village green has not shrunk, in fact the reverse has happened, there is even more space available now that the village pond, the gazebo and the bolles pitch have been abandoned. 14th August 2002
John Steven Comes Clean. Beryl Denham read out a letter from John Steven in which he helped to dispell the rumours regarding the future of the site. In the letter he restates the problems that he had with his contractors and that he is having to complete Phase 1 with in-house labour. A review of the options open to him included finding another contractor, completing the site on an in-house basis or disposing of the site to another developer. The decision has been made to finish the complete project with in-house labour. This should result in a start on phase 2 being made in October with completion in June and July next year. Phase 3 will following on with completion sometime in early 2004. First House Now Occupied?. In the open forum it was rumoured that plot 22 was already occupied. Indeed if you click on the left-hand picture at the top of the page or here, or here you will see curtains already installed by 7th September. What was the 106 requirement that road and pathways must be finished before any properties were occupied? The developer must be desperate for cash. Also on studying the picture do I see something sprouting on the roof? Could it be a TV aerial? I should think not, for they were due to be prohibited as referred to in the glossy sales publication glossy sales publication the developer produced. 11th September 2002
John Steven Returns in Fine Form. Mr Steven apologised for missing a number of meetings, which was due to having bought a new business in Portugal. In future this interest will make him only available roughly on alternate months. On this occasion he gave a comprehensive update on on-going and future work on the site. A start on phase 2 is imminent with associated sheet pile driving commencing on Monday of next week - 14th October . This phase includes most of the houses running along the back of the site, numbers 1 to 9 and also numbers 41 and 42. Eight of these properties have already been reserved. There seemed a little uncertainty regarding the start of phase 3. He said it would probably be next June but may be as early as February. The three housing association properties are included in this final phase. Walls, Pavements and Occupancy. The current situation of the front retaining wall was fully explained. This wall was built 9" to 12" too far towards the road, limiting the pavement to less than the statutory 1.8 metres. A long tangled legal battle will entail but even though the developer is probably not responsible for the cost they will go ahead and carry out the work and hope to recover the cost later once the legal turmoil is over. The likely technique that will be used is not to remove the existing wall and rebuild, but to strengthen the existing wall by driving metal shuttering into the ground behind the wall and then "shave" off the offending inches! Later, on the same subject Colin Pratt questioned John Steven regarding the occupancy of the houses before the wall and associated pavements were finish. One house has been occupied for about four weeks and another will probably be so this weekend. Mr Pratt believed, as many others did , that an agreement had been made between the developer and the district council that no houses were to be occupied until the pavements were finished. Mr Steven then gave us the correct story. An agreement had been made, but it was that if occupation was required before the pavements were finished, consent to do so must first be obtained from the district council. Mr Steven failed to confirm that consent had been obtained. In Answer to a Parishioners Letter. Mr Steven having received a letter from a parishioner, went through the several points contained in the letter. Diversion of Stream. The letter brought attention to the fact that a stream running down the wildlife corridor was being piped when it was supposed to be left open. The explanation to this is that as the roads cross the stream in a number of places construction work has to be carried out to carry the road over. Whilst this work is carried out the stream is diverted temporarily in pipes Traffic Calming. The writer could not understand why now that the "pinch point" at the north end of the scheme is finished the temporary barriers are still there? The answer to this was that it is to accustom drivers coming from Hunter's Lodge that they must pull over to the right for they may not see the low kerb stones sunk into the road. Once drivers are familiar with this arrangement the barriers will be removed. I fail to see the logic here. If it was deemed necessary to bring to driver's attention the fact that they must move out, then what happens in future when a stranger drives down to Lyme? There again as the temporary barriers have been in a position that narrows the road even more for the last five weeks or so, why couldn't a solid stone wall have been built in that position? This would both protect pedestrians and the smaller gap for traffic would inhibit drivers from increasing their speed on coming past the post office shop. Brian Mason has observed drivers increasing their speed here knowing that they have the right of way through the relatively wide single track section.. I for one as a pedestrian will feel no more secure crossing the bridge , for that's where we are, with the present layout, than I did before the traffic calming. 11th October 2002
John Steven Braved the Weather and Drove up from Plymouth. On this occasion he filled us in on the current progress. Completion of the sale of all the properties in phase one have now taken place apart from one of the terrace of three thatched houses to the right of the village green. Work continues with the pile driving for the phase two houses but not without some problems. The two pile driving machines should be completing 15 piles per day but are only achieving five and a half. These houses will begin to be finished from July. A start should be made on phase three with the pile driving at the end of April or May with a target finish date of November or December. Phase 4, yes it was new to me also, has been created to accommodate the three housing association properties. Work on these should commence in September 2003 with completion around about March 2004. You can see where the priorities lie! The Front Retaining Wall Saga. By a stroke of luck the challenge described by John Steven at the October parish council meeting can now be nicely side stepped. It so happens that the development on the opposite side of the road will require a slightly different line for the kerb, taking it more towards the hotel. To maintain the width of the road the Barnes Meadow kerb can be taken out away from the wall, and surprise surprise the resulting width of the pavement is just the measurement that we are looking for. Well that's what we were told. Now perhaps we can at last see the job finished. De-watering!. This is what has been taking place to remove water from this very wet site, what I think most people would call drainage. Mr Steven told us that the scheme is working very well and tests have shown the water pressure in the ground is within the design parameters. Having said that he did mention that one of the areas at the bottom of the site is not draining as it should. Incidentally after the meeting someone did point out to me that the outflow into the River Lym beside the Talbot Arms, where all this drained water should be seen gushing, never shows much more than a trickle. Only time will show where this water will eventually surface! More on the Waterfront. People driving past the site entrance in the last few days will have been aware of a nasty icy patch originating on the site and flowing across the road. This was due to a bank of earth forming a bund and allowing water to collect behind it. The pressure of this water eventually became so great that it broke through and caused the problem. But isn't this the very thing that the extensive and dry drains referred to above should be coping with? Suburbia by Sea. On landscaping John Duffin voiced his fears that the estate may develop a suburban flavour. His chief worry is that plantings especially around the village green will be of mainly pretty little shrubs and flowering cherry. Mr Steven's response included the fact that the original landscape designer had never been on the site! A meeting is being held later this month to discuss tree planting etc., and some parish councillors will be attending. 9th January 2003
John Steven being out of the country . I only have rumours to report. One was that a serious slippage of land has taken place where the site borders the gardens of Whalley Lane. Somewhat more reliable was the news from the parish council that the district council have agreed with the developer on materials to be used on phase 2. The EDDC did not consult the parish council on this, for the PC have laboured long and relentlessly on thrashing out these points. The general feeling of the PC is that the development has "Lost its way" and that the development is no longer what they envisaged. 19th February 2003
Sunday Working . Tony Cook questioned Mr Steven regarding Sunday working on the site. Even though Mr Steven had promised in July 2001, that Sunday working, particularly pile driving, would not be allowed. Over recent weeks considerable disturbance has been experienced from this activity taking place on Sundays. Mr Steven was his usual apologetic self saying that it was beyond his control and that apart from the following Sunday it would not happen again. From then Sunday activities would be restricted to those that did not generate noise such as decorating. We have had these apologies, delivered with his inevitable charm time and again and the parish council remains as from the very beginning of these negotiations with Mr Steven beguiled by his on the surface accommodating ways. Could not the parish council have insisted on a private agreement between the developer and the parish council, whereby the parish council would be given a payment if these agreements were infringed? Land Slippage Some landslippage had occured (see last month) A geotechnical investigation will take place and we were assured it is all under control! That Wall to be Finished. During the Transco road closure the wall alongside the road will be finished as was outlined at the January meeting. The paving will also be completed. Smaller Footprints! . The footprint being the area of land a building occupies. These are being reduced for the remaining houses, which will result in a financial saving by reducing the number of piles necessary for each dwelling. This saving will be £300 per pile. Award Winning Mr Steven told us that the site had won an award saying modestly that it was the setting that won it for him. 20th March 2003
Sunday Working Continues. John Steven's promises on this that he made at the March meeting have been well and truly broken. Noisy activities continue unabated, but there is now a promise that even reversing vehicles with audible warning sirens will be banned on Sundays. We've heard it all before. It seems that the messages are not getting through and Chris Sellers thinks the weak link is John Steven's deputy. The Wall. Colin Pratt has an inkling that the front retaining wall will now be faced not in individual stones but in preconstructed blocks of stone, which never look quite right. As to it being finished during the road closure period as promised at the March meeting, well. A Footpath runs through the Centre of the Site. The original closure of footpath 12 for six months having long expired, the public are quite legally entitled to use it. But suggested one of the councillors if you intend to use it take a ladder with you. The site staff are looking into an extension of the closure, if a bit late in the day. On collecting the latest sales brochure from the sales office Mrs Cook was told that the footpath that ran between plots 3 and 4 has been permanently closed. Badger Set. John Fowler said that work near the set has not disturb it but it could not have been any closer without doing so. The RSPCA have the set under observation. Mr Fowler also mentioned an earth dam in this same area. This could be the cause of a small river flowing in an adjacent garden. He also thought that if the dam should give serious flooding would result. 9th April 2003
That Wall will be Finished. The front retaining wall of the site is due to have the facing stonework applied commencing on 26th May and will take three weeks to complete together with the tarmacing of the pavement. Stan Williams suggested that the footpath was not the required 2 metres wide. A long discussion then ensued as to whether 1.80 metres was all that was required. Mr Williams was under the impression that the Devon County Council would come to the site and give the go ahead for the beginning of the work. Peter Burton had to put him right on this, it is not until the work is finished that the council will inspect the work. If it is not then according to the plans it will have to be redone. The plans having been passed by the council previously. A Summer Break for the Badgers. The badgers are in for a surprise. The area in which they have their set, now fenced off, in the old railway cutting whilst being ideal for badgers will offend the eyes of prospective buyers, so the area will have to be fully suburbanised. This will be achieved by filling the cutting and general landscaping and installing an artificial set. To enable this work to be carried out the badgers will be "removed" temporarily to an undisclosed location and once the work is completed will be returned to their new accommodation. This scheme is fully supported by English Nature as was the dormouse scheme. It is my opinion as it was concerning the misguided dormouse scheme that English Nature will go along with any crackpot scheme to save them using their political clout and saying no to a development. The mind boggles as to the logistics of this operation. Will the badgers, the parents and their young of this year, together with any other individuals present, all be caught and released at another site or even held in captivity with the resulting distress to these very wild animals. If released will, when their new "accommodation" is ready, the same individuals be caught and returned to Barnes Meadow? I know that I did suggest a similar option for the dormice but badgers are a different kettle of fish. Wouldn't it be a more humane idea to block up the set one warm mid summer night when the set is empty and the young are independent. The decision as to whether the artificial set is acceptable to badgers will be their decision for there is no shortage of badgers looking for suitable sites and they will come across the set I am sure. But this would again not fit in with English Nature's scheme of things. The parishoners and the councillors at the meeting were taking the plight of the badgers on the site to their hearts. Why can't this area be left alone? Chris Sellars wanted to know why outsiders -English Nature- should impose their ideas onto Uplyme and their much loved badgers without any consultation. He insisted that the proposal be submitted to the council before any decision on the badgers is made. If English Nature is short of work I wonder why they are disinclined to visit the Devon Hotel now deep into the turmoil of development on the other side of the road. This building or more precisely its catacombes are the hibernation site for the much scarcer, than either badger or even dormice, the Lesser Horseshoe Bat. I have on several occasions brought to their notice the work proposed both to the hotel itself and the surrounding land but never do they visit the site even though they are aware of the importance of the site and it is officially under their guardianship. But what would they do? In the light of their previous record that question is best left unanswered. Site Activity. Stan Williams began a series of questions to John Steven by hoping that Mr Steven had a pleasant and peaceful Easter, which he said was more than the people living around the site had. Mr Sellars spoke about the work being carried out over the Easter weekend. He quoted the agreed times and days of operation, he was particularly concerned of the disturbance on Easter Monday. Beryl Denham the chairman had to inform him that the agreement said nothing about bank holiday working and Easter Monday was just a Monday. I would have thought it was in the nature of the agreement that bank holidays were considered a Sunday and that the work force would respect this. Footpath 12. Stan Williams wanted to know how long must it be that the people of Whalley Lane must face the hazards of walking the lower narrow section of the lane, because of the closure of footpath 12. Of course the footpath is no longer officially closed and anyone wanting a bit of cross country adventure is lawfully allowed to use it. I did venture down it on the spring bank holiday and although a ladder is no longer required it is far from recommended, it is hardly suitable for parents pushing their toddlers to the pre-school playgroup. Last but not Least Arrangements are now being made to build the three starter homes on the site. I wonder why they had to be left to last, perhaps that's a silly question. The land has been purchased by the Signpost Trust, who will operate the scheme. The builders accommodation will be removed from the site and located where the sales office is at present and the sales office in turn will go across to the other side of the site entrance road. Don't ask the obvious question. Traditional Bungalows Mrs Cook wanted Mr Steven's definition of a bungalow, for the ones being built immediately behind her garden are on two floors. He assured her that as the main living accommodation was on one floor they can be termed bungalow and these split level examples were traditional bungalows!. Whatever next ground floor penthouses? What Mrs Cook was delicately leading up to was the actual height of these buildings. After endless promises by the architect to supply her with the eventual height of the buildings came to nothing she with the physical presence of the buildings is gradually beginning to realize her worst fears that much loved views of Uplyme are going to be lost. She also maintains that the garages, what I thought were African granary stores, are on land that has been built up above the original contours. Of course Mr Steven refuted this, but judge for yourself. Many of these problems would be alleviated if we adopted the system of countries on the continent whereby the developer must rig up a structure of battens outlining the actual position of the proposed roof. 14th May 2003
Luckily for John Steven he was at his other business interests in Portugal, for the atmosphere at the meeting over the damaged properties in Gore Lane could have resulted in him being lynched. The parishioners forming this large - record? - turn out for a parish council meeting had to wait until the open forum at the end of the evening to vent their anger over the development. See report of the June parish council meeting. 11th June 2003
John Steven not being present at the July Parish Council Meeting, chairman Beryl Denham read a brief report. The man-made badger set has been completed but contrary to what we were lead to believe would happen, the intended occupants have not yet taken up residence . Stan Williams wanted to know why John Steven has not acted on his three promises. The cycle path, the footpath and the wall in front of the site. Mrs Denham said that these points would be answered later in the official meeting. 9th July 2003
Will Barnes Meadow ever be Completed? If so. By whom? That was many people's thoughts after the Lyme Regis News 18th July reported that John Steven has written to the Uplyme parish council saying that he will be calling a temporary halt to work on the site once phase two is completed shortly. Although I am told phase two is a long way from completion with work on some of the houses hardly started. The halt will take place once phase two and the infrastructure to phase three are completed and the site probably levelled and grassed over. The concern now being that the unfinished site will then be sold on. How the remaining properties would then be finished would be anyone's guess. The first thing to suffer would probably be the three starter homes. Why am I continuously in a state of déjà vu regarding this development or has it really happened before? Mr Steven anticipates that they will return to the site in the spring of 2004 to complete the site. I would have thought that the wrapping up of the work for the temporary withdrawal would take us beyond that date.
John Steven's reports discontinued? With the announcement, at the August parish council meeting, that future meetings will revert to the pre-Barnes Meadow report session starting times of 7:30, it must be concluded that John Steven will no longer be giving his progress updates. Even though the reason for this change was given that it will allow the public more time to get to the meetings, one can't help but come to the conclusion that the parish council have had news that JS will not be giving these sessions anymore. 27th August 2003
Thought provoking letter. Very little in the way of concrete news comes forth at the Parish council meetings. We are progressing towards what was outlined in the report of July 2003. Squabbling continues regarding the site facing wall with the development company appealing against the EDDC order to construct the wall in chert. See January 2004 parish council report. Following the above mentioned parish council meeting a letter appeared in the Lyme Regis News by Nigel Marsh. Mr Marsh's letter ranged from the dangers of the across site footpath to some interesting statistics on house prices on the site compared with the national averages. Far more serious for the present owners of houses in the development is the financial consequences to them if phase three is never finished. This seems an opportune time to inform new residents to the parish that these very same problems were foreseen by the then parish councillor Carole Halden when John Steven first proposed his development to the parish council some four or five years ago. She was worried that with his record for leaving contractors without payments and his history of bankruptcy there was a danger that Barnes Meadow would never be finished and fingers would be burnt. For these views she was treated appallingly by her fellow councillors for she was quite alone in her prophetic views. Mr Steven offered the parish various sweeteners including financing of village traffic calming measures, the millennium copse, and for community use a gezebo, a village pond and a bolles pitch. Some of these have fallen by the wayside, others are still doubtful and the traffic calming has transformed the road through the village for the worse. Apart from Mrs Halden the parish council took Mr Steven's spiel on board and even went along with his desire to increase the number of houses on the development to 44 from the 27 mentioned in the outline planning permission. See also above (10th May 2002). The rest as they say is history. 19th January 2004
John Steven faces the village. After Mr Steven declined several invitations from the parish council to attend the parish council meetings he appeared as promised at the March 2004 meeting. The turnout was less than expected, probably because no one really expected to see him again. He first gave a run down on progress since his last visit, which appears to have been last May, and then invited questions from the parishioners. Acting chairman Peter Burton cut short many questioners and consequently the session did not live up to the promise of getting to the bottom of some matters. Mr Burton thought the session was over-running and that the parish council meeting had to be proceeded with, a shame, for not having had a chance to question Mr Steven since the damage to the three properties in Gore Lane the supply of questions was no where near exhausted and also that this would probably be the last chance of questioning him.This brought up the accusation that Mr Burton was not interested in the plight of the people of Gore Lane who are still unable to return to their homes and have to live in temporary accommodation. Schedule. You may recall that the John Steven was reported last July as saying that after leaving the site with phase three "mothballed" they would return in spring 2004 to complete that phase. At that time I predicted that this was very unlikely as it would take until then to complete the rest of phase two and prepare phase three for "mothballing". Mr Steven now informs us that phases two - except for plot seven - and phase four - low cost housing - will be completed at the end of April. The landscaping of phase three will then have been finished and the site should be vacated. Plot seven because of piling problems will only be finished to the first floor level at this time. It will be completed by the end of July by a local third party builder. Mr Steven said it is inefficient for the whole organization to remain on site with only one house to complete. The sales office will be dismantled in the next two or three weeks. The millennium copse area will be regraded and completed (including tree planting for which it is getting rather late and watering in their first summer may prove a problem) by the end of April. The portacabins will be moved to the area of the phase three development in readiness for the eventual start on the final group of houses. At the end of April the responsibility of maintenance of the estate will be handed over to the "Owner's Group". Nigel Marsh in a recent letter to the News pointed out that this burden will now rest on the shoulders of some 14 fewer home owners , which will result in an increase of a third in each owners contribution to these costs. Mr Marsh also raised the question of how the parish council will be involved in these costs once they are in ownership of the millennium copse. Other volunteered information The future of the three damaged Gore Lane properties was now in the hands of the individual insurance companies including his own. The badgers were now in their new accommodation, but no mention was made of the current situation regarding the dormice, perhaps best left unsaid. He was quite pleased that many of the properties were reselling before ever being occupied. In particular plot 2 had resold for a premium of £45,000. He later mentioned a couple of operators who have bought a number of the properties as investments and sold on making a nice little earner. He seemed to accept that this was quite an acceptable operation and appeared to encourage it. I would have thought having seen this happen once or twice he would realize that he was under pricing his properties, unless of course he himself was the couple and the whole operation was a selling ploy. Questions from parishioners and councillors. Mrs Holmes, no stranger to Mr Steven, one of the unfortunate people forced from her house by the land movement, was first on her feet. She wanted to know if the ground level on the other side of her boundary fence with Barnes Meadow will be restored to its original level. The level is now some six feet higher, and level with the top of the fence, than the original level on her side of the fence. All Mr Steven said to this was that the levels are as approved by the East Devon District Council. Peter Burton made the first of his interventions in the proceedings and un sympathetically and abruptly shut up Mrs Holmes. Tony Cook wanted to know if after the mothballing of phase three will he be selling on the unfinished part of the site to another developer. Mr Steven answered this and another similar question from district councillor Ken George by saying that after the damage to the properties in Gore Lane the then ongoing interest in the sale of plot five dried up and it was obvious that further sales would be difficult in the climate then existing, and he had decided to put a temporary hold on the phase three development. This rather contradicts what he said about the properties selling at a premium. If plot 2 was sold at a £45,000 mark-up then surely he would experience little trouble selling them at the original prices which he seems quite happy with. If there is still a profit to be made by a wheeler dealer then it indicates that Mr Steven should experience little problem selling the properties at the lower prices and that he is being slightly economical with the truth.This indicates that we may not have been told the true reason for him leaving the site. A solicitor from Scott Rowe of Axminster, acting for one of the Gore Lane property owners, asked what proportion of the blame for the damage should rest on Mr Steven's company. He answered that the blame could not be put elsewhere and he stood 100% behind his obligations. Stan Williams said that Mr Steven had no understanding of the problems that the owners of the three properties were facing and that he should fully support these people. John Steven, having said that it would be very expensive to finish the facing wall in chert stone as requested by the parish council, was questioned by David Sole as to the whereabouts of the stone of which the original wall was built. Mr Steven said that it had disappeared and besides reclaiming it would have been time consuming. He also said that with proper jointing of the precast blocks the joints are not then obvious and suggested that the internal block walls on the site, which he gave as an example of what the finished wall will look like, were far superior to those made of similar materials on the Devon Hotel wall opposite. He eventually agreed to work with the parish council over this and to get local knowledge regarding the availability of a supply of suitable stone. David Sole said that with the re-contouring of the land profile in the area of the millennium copse as suggested by Mr Steven the levels would not be as they were originally. Someone standing on the site in this area will then be on the same eye level a person in the kitchen of one of the houses in Whalley Lane. Mr Steven brushed this aside saying the area will be reinstated as it was before the development. Chris Sellers wanted to know what the problems were that set plot seven apart from the rest of phase 2. Mr Steven said that it was because certain aspects had been overlooked at the design stage and due to side forces at that particular location straight "up and down" piling was insufficient and that an additional horizontal linking component had to be included in the foundations. Mr Sellers wanted to know what guarantee there was that this problem had not been overlooked on other properties. Mr Steven said that on going site inspections would have flushed out these problems. On being asked, again by Mr Sellers, how many trees had now disappeared from the site and who are signpost seeking applications from for the affordable housing on the site, Mr Steven admitted that he did not know. Mr Burton then brought the interrogation to a close and Mr Steven walked away probably for the last time. See Lyme Regis News's report on the meeting 10th March 2004
Parish Council Meeting 14th April 2004 Confirmation was received from the development company that landscaping and tree planting will be completed by the end of April. Responsibilities for maintenance will then be in the hands of the residents of the estate. Councillor Whiting has been to the site and reports that stone has begun to be delivered for the site facing wall. Will it really be finished? He also reports that "good" topsoil has been delivered in which a wild flower seed mix will be sown. Let's hope that someone knows what he is doing here and that the topsoil in fact is not too "good". For wild flowers to flourish and not be suppressed by weeds such as dock, nettle and course grasses fertility in the soil should be low. A fertile soil will also require much cutting adding to the maintenance costs. Colin Pratt commented on the state of the old railway cutting which is now apparently being used as a site dump for all manner of rubbish. Water running down the cutting is now pooling up and he is fearful of a sudden giving way of the retaining soil resulting in flooding. He considers that it is an absolute disgrace. He added that John Steven had said that there would be no infilling of the cutting and questioned Mr Steven's honesty. Later in the public forum John Fowler wondered if there was a change of use point here in that the cutting is a nature reserve. Councillors declared that this was not so. Mr Fowler added that according to the glossy booklet, that was delivered to most parishoners, it was to be a nature reserve. But of course there were many other statements in that publication which have turned out to be complete fiction. Chairman Beryl Denham said that the council will write to the enforcement officer regarding this matter. 15th April 2004
Parish Council Meeting 12th May 2004 Promises promises have largely been broken, except for one! It was reported that the low-cost housing due to be finished by the end of April is far from completed. The tree planting not having been completed at the time of writing, it can now only be assumed that the earliest planting date will be November. The exception to the broken promises is that progress on the bottom retaining wall is ongoing and the materials are individual chert stone - large!. But there praise must end for the craftmanship is far from perfect. John Duffin was very critical of the finished sections, saying that the stone is not being laid to a line, that gaps between large stone was being filled by mortar rather than small stones and that pointing was being neglected, the finish being done with a brush on the wet mortar resulting in mortar being dragged over the face of the stone. Perhaps prefabricated blocks would after all have been preferable. 14th May 2004
Parish Council Meeting 14th July 2004 It was reported that weed killer has been used on the millennium copse area set aside for the wild flower sowing. Apparently this is because the newly top soiled area produced a vigorous growth of weeds. This indicates that the top soil used was, as cllr. Whiting reported at the April parish council meeting, a "good" one, and probably a fertile one. If this is so the hope of sowing, at an appropriate time, the expensive bag of wild flower seed to produce a wild flower meadow in future years will be thwarted. It may be remembered that a similar exercise was attempted on fertile soil at Hacker's Mead by sowing another expensive bag of wild flower seed donated by the late Lexie Sumner. The weed cover was removed and children from Mrs Ethelston's school broadcast the seed on bare soil one spring Saturday morning. For a year or two some wild flowers did appear, but there is little or no indication now that such an exercise took place. I hope that I am wrong but I fear that this latest attempt will also prove a failure. Instead what we could see is a rank growth of perennial weeds and coarse grasses. This unsightliness will lead to complaints for regular cutting and result in the demise of any surviving wild flowers. Several letters, on various subjects, to John Steven from the parish council have failed to obtain responses. 16th July 2004

Parish Council meetings will now again revert to their usual starting time of 7:30pm. as John Steven has now probably made his last appearance at a parish council meeting.

Disclaimer: This page cannot be guaranteed to be void of mistakes. It is sometimes, in the village hall, difficult to hear some of the councillors, for a number are determined not to use the amplification system available. An example of what can happen was at the September 2002 meeting when I heard the word "included" as "include" when a letter from John Steven was being read out. This threw an entirely different meaning on the sentence. The interpretation that I came to was so important that I put the news on the website as soon as I could. It was not until I read the Lyme Regis News that I realized how wrong I was. I even more speedily removed the offending story. If you were one of those that read the original then I apologize. If you have any doubts concerning the validity of anything you read please check with the parish clerk.

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