Lightmoor Village development

Residents of Lightmoor Village will all too aware that substantial development has been halted for some time. For once this is not a matter of economics, but relates to the presence of Great Crested Newts, a species protected by law. It is an offence to kill or injury a Newt, which obviously makes building work impossible where they are present, or indeed anywhere within 500 metres of a newt. Recent surveys have shown that the little fellows have taken up residence in every pond and pool in the village, varying in number from just one to 119!

The plan is to make an application to Natural England to relocate the Newts and allow construction to get back on track. This is not a quick or simple process and will involve fencing off all of the newt areas with a newt-proof barrier, before trapping and moving them to new habitat. All of this must be complete before the onset of winter weather, as newts will then go into hibernation, making them impossible to remove until spring 2013.

Despite these problems some progress has been made with other development concerns. The isues raised on the Lightmoorlife blog post of 29th May I will list and address here:

Q. Newts

A. See above.

Q. Site compound to the rear of Ellens Bank.

A. This is still in use by Crest who are due to return to it.

Q. Poor road signs.

A. All the current signs are temporary. BVT are discussing with the T&W council exactly what type of sign will be acceptable once the roads are adopted.

Q. When will the temporary playing field on the Stocking Park Road footpath be made good?

A. This is due to be removed. The area will be given over to grass and a limited number of trees and will also host a new play area, due circa 2014.

Q. When will the roads be properly surfaced?

A. Some of this is dependent upon the newt situation, although the central village area will be complete this summer. Road House Park has already been transferred to Bournville control.

Q. When will the missing street lights on Stocking Park Road be installed.

A. This work is in hand and should be complete within the next eight weeks.

Q. What's holding up the transfer of Crest and Stocking Park Road to Bournville.

A. These developments are not yet complete and there long "snagging" lists to be addressed.

Q. When will the bus come through the village?

A. This has been discussed in detail and more news will follow soon.

Q. What businesses have made offers for the shops?
A. There has been some progress with this. The nursery is due to open in August ready for the Autumn term. A GP surgery and dentist is at an advanced stage of discussion. The other shops have also attracted interest, but nothing firm yet. The relatively small number of residents and the high cost of fitting out the shells doesn't help the commercial case.