The Governors of Wheatfield Primary School and a number of residents of Wheatfield Drive have registered concerns over the proposed construction of a new MS Therapy Centre on land off Bradley Stoke Way.
An organisation known as The Moonstone Appeal submitted plans for the new centre to South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) in June.
Those plans showed access to the site being from a new “left turn-only” access road off Bradley Stoke Way, supplemented by pedestrian-only access from Wheatfield Drive.
The applicants have told SGC that they need to commence building on the site by Spring 2010 in order to retain funding that has been secured for the project. They have also asked that some conditions agreed in an earlier planning application be waived or relaxed so that construction can commence without delay.
In a six-page response, the Chair of Governors of Wheatfield Primary School lists eight “observations and requests for further clarification” and says that the Board of Governors “has chosen not to pledge its support for the proposed planning application at this time”.
Three residents of Wheatfield Drive have also registered concerns, which include the loss of a protected hedge, light and noise pollution, vandalism and traffic congestion.
One resident claims that the diversion of an underground oil pipeline, said to be necessary in order to construct the new access road off Bradley Stoke Way, would cost between £150k and £200k.
Both Governors and residents air a suspicion that construction traffic will have to access the site from Wheatfield Drive whilst the centre is being built, which they say will create a safety hazard for residents and school children.
The Council’s own Highways Department has also been critical of some aspects of the plans, describing the submitted design for the new access road off Bradley Stoke Way as “sub-standard”.
SGC has set a target date of 14th August for a decision on the planning application.
