As you will be aware, there is significant concern within the Abbey Estate itself and wider Thetford community about these regeneration proposals. All eight Breckland Councillors wrote to yourself as Leader in May of this year about these concerns, a position unanimously agreed with by Thetford Town Council
Whilst there is widespread agreement that investment and support is needed for this community to thrive, it cannot be overstated that the scale of the proposals being discussed, if delivered badly, have the potential to destroy this community and cause issues for generations to come.
There are three main concerns;
Firstly, the number of homes that may need to be compulsorily purchased – in some reports in excess of 300 homes. I’ve had hundreds of conversations with Abbey residents about the regeneration proposals. On doorsteps, in living rooms, on the street and at meetings. The people who are often most anxious and distressed are home owners. Often they are the people who have lived in their properties for many years and feel most rooted. I’ve sat in numerous front rooms where people have made their properties and their gardens their own, they’ve been proud to show me their bit of the community and talk about what it means to them. I’ve listened to stories about people being born in a property, where children have been raised or where a loved one has died. I’ve heard how one family member lives on one street, but is supported by another in the neighbouring street. I’ve discussed people’s connection to the local school and how they desperately don’t want to upset their child’s education or how being able to walk to work is important for them.
Understanding the reasons why people don’t want to leave their home and why they don’t want to leave the community, a community that they feel safe in, is crucial.
This Council, indeed lots of organisations strive in many areas to try and create a sense of community spirit, we want to get people talking with their neighbours and to have passion for where they live. Councils spend great sums of money on this very laudable aim. For all its challenges, the community spirit on the Abbey Estate has always impressed me – it is something we should acknowledge, work with and develop with this regeneration project. But it is also something that could very easily be destroyed too if these plans do not progress in the right way.
People are understandably anxious and nervous and frustrated. People need reassurance and certainty about financial recompense where relevant, about moving costs, about where they will be if they are forced to move, they need to know when and confidence in what is being said – not engage in a constant game of trying to nail jelly to the wall. Above all else, they need to be respected and they need to be listened to.
Section 6.4 of the MOU coldly refers to Councils being mandated to use their compulsory purchase powers under this agreement. Compulsory purchase should be an absolute last resort, it needs to be handled sensitively and with trust at is centre. We’re a long way away from that at present.
Secondly, there is great concern at the sheer quantity of additional homes – the Abbey is already one of the more densely populated areas of Thetford, indeed the whole of Breckland. There’s going to be a net gain of something like 500 homes if this goes ahead – a 50% increase. Tell me a community in Breckland that wouldn’t be alarmed if this was happening to them. People are rightly concerned about infrastructure – 6.4C of this MOU gives a commitment for there to be no commuted sums and no section 106 contributions – I understand the sums must be tight to make this whole thing stack up financially, this is a regeneration project afterall, not a private profit scheme, but infrastructure is crucial, particularly in a community like this and will be for generations to come. Breckland Council needs to scrutinise this point in particular and make sure, on behalf of these residents, that they get what they need and that the number of additional homes, and the tenure of homes, is right for this community, not necessarily what is right for Flagship, or indeed anyone else. It is widely known that Breckland has significant housing challenges, an ever growing housing list, rising costs for temporary accommodation – we cannot allow the pursuit of new homes here to cloud our judgement on whether they are the right homes, in the right place and right for that community.
Lastly, green spaces – from all my conversations with people about the Abbey Estate there is near universal appreciation of its green spaces. Nearly all of these green spaces on the Abbey are owned by Breckland Council but this agreement commits you to transfer them at nil value. Again, if Flagship had to pay for this land, the sums probably wouldn’t stack up – but people want these green spaces, they do not want to see infill. Breckland Council needs to appreciate these green spaces too and make sure there is balance when it comes to new housing.
I would conclude Mr Chairman but saying that I fully expect Cabinet today to support this MOU. I am greatly heartened by section 9.1 that states that it is not legally binding in any case. I do hope however that you and your Cabinet colleagues hear the concerns of Councillors and recognise there is a significant risk with this project and we must collectively move forward with improved co-operation and collaboration to ensure we get this right. We owe it to the residents of the Abbey Estate to get this right. These are their homes, their community afterall.
Many of the people directly affected may be Flagship tenants, some may be owner occupiers, landlords, private renters – a whole mixture – but they are ALL Breckland residents.
Chairman, residents from the Abbey Estate are here today at this meeting. Standing order 41 of the Council’s constitution gives you the power to allow members of the public to address the meeting and I would ask that you do so today so that the views of local people can be taken on board when you consider this item
