The End

Delay on Tesco Brixham Regeneration Site due to contaminated land

Seems it isn't only in Seaton that contaminated land is holding up regeneration (click headline for link). In Brixham Tesco is the "preferred partner" for the regeneration of the town centre, which has now been held up because the old car park appears to be on contaminated land.

Exmouth gets special treatment

A note on the EDDC website's Corporate Overview Committee meeting agenda for 26 March 2009

QUOTE
"Members to note that if required there will be a special meeting on 2 april 2009 to consider the design and enhancement of the Strand, Exmouth"

Anyone ever heard of a special meeting about the design and enhancement of the Esplanade, Seaton at EDDC - no, thought not.

Who has the crummiest seafront - Exmouth or Seaton? Who gets the "special meeting"?

EDDC's Chief Executive gets a close shave

Article about a stunt for Comic Relief whereby EDDC's customer care people shaved off the Chief Executive's sideburns and raised money. Nice.

What is interesting is that they list the companies that donated services or prizes for a raffle:

46 Sidmouth companies
8 Honiton companies
3 Newton Poppleford companies
3 Beer companies
5 "other" companies (Exeter area and around Sidmouth, eg Bicton)

If anyone ever wondered if EDDC considers itself part of Sidmouth, there's the proof!

Seaside resort to get new image

No, sorry, not Seaton - Blackpool.
Read about it here.
Amazing what a council can do when it has the vision.

How Tesco bypasses opposition to its stores

An article from the Daily Telegraph of 27 January 2007 about how Tesco has arranged for another retailer to apply for planning permission for a new shop on its behalf. Once the local council has given the go-ahead for a new retailer, Tesco moves in.

Click here for the story

The other shop was a nominee company called "Carpets 4 Less".

Environment Agency apparently considers regeneration area contaminated land

The Environment Agency has submitted a letter to EDDC dated 06 March 2009 concerning the Tesco planning applications. It is available to view on the EDDC Planning Portal website.

It says, in part, that they have reviewed Tesco's geotechnical report and they have identified elevated concentrations of metals in a number of groundwater samples (but not soil samples) that exceed relevant guideline values for arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc and vanadium. They now require further groundwater sampling prior to any excavation or construction work and they want to be consulted on the results of further testing.

They go on to say that they have already requested that "Contaminated Land" conditions be applied to the outline planning application for the majority of the site to protect controlled waters and to ensure that any site investigations and remediation will not cause pollution of controlled waters. [Not sure why they don't apply this to the full planning application - it is the same site].

They also say that they need more detail about the method to be used to raise/infill the site and that, although it was previously stated that the importation of sea-dredged material was unviable they gather that this is still being considered. As such they want further information regarding the contamination potential of any fill material, how the foreshore will be protected against scour and how water quality will be protected upon return flushing of any sea water and how fauna and flora will be protected from netative impacts of flushing.

They also point out that the Environmental Impact Assessment covers issues regarding protected species that they would expect to be raised for this site and they support concerns raised regarding the effect of increased disturbance from noise and lighting.

They recommend a "buffer zone" to protect Seaton Marshes and provide a wildlife commuting corridor on either side of any water course around any waterbody or wetland [presumably this includes the north to south containment area (monsoon drain) on the site] and they say that this zone should extend at the very minimum seven metres (preferably more) from any bank top or waterbody/wetland edge. It should be protected by the erection of fencing of sufficient specifications to protect physical, plant and animal features within the buffer zone and all physical features, plants and animals within the buffer zone must be left undisturbed by the development and/or associated works though they do add that the buffer zone could be incorporated sympathetically into an overall landscape scheme.

Back to the drawing board then ..........

Anyone seen the Tesco handout?

Has anyone seen the Tesco handout qasking people to write in with their support for "a supermarket" in Seaton? Some people seem to have received one and others don't.