Plympton Pathfields, The Latest News

17. December  2001 - Pathfields blighted by concrete 'nuclear bunker'

Residents of the new Redvers Grove housing development on the historic Pathfields may be forgiven for thinking that their expensive new homes come complete with a communal nuclear fall-out shelter!  In a startling flourish of inept and insensitive civil engineering, the once planned open and unengineered water feature favored and requested by the Environment Agency in their planning approval conditions, has mysteriously manifested into a concrete carbuncle of hideous proportions.  The stark concrete culvert resembles other concrete formwork within the site that has been constructed to divert water from the surrounding floodplain.  The Pathfields group reached an agreement several months ago with Persimmons engineers to 'soften' the harsh bare concrete surfaces - but as yet no such work has been done.  "This final monstrosity is not only incredibly over-engineered in complete disregard to the wishes of the Environment Agency, it is plonked on what is shortly to become a Conservation Area"  (see news item 16).

This is what the City Council wrote in their Planning Conditions based on advice from the Environment Agency :

"The watercourse within the site should be diverted to the western side of the proposed Devon Bank/Hedge; this measure seeks to retain the watercourse as an open feature that has ecological, amenity and aesthetic value, and will remove any associated maintenance problems that may arise by it flowing though a garden. The plan and section of the new watercourse should:

i) mirror existing features, or

ii) be non-uniform (i.e. with variation in bank slopes and incorporating meanders), or

iii) include banks with a broken profile to form ledges, thus creating a two stage channel.

The diverted channel should be of the same area as the existing, preferably larger. The Agency recommends the relocation of any aquatic vegetation from the existing channel to the newly excavated to the newly excavated feature (their [Environment Agency] Conservation Officer will advise if required). The watercourse should be retained as an open feature and the bank left in an unengineered form; the aesthetic and ecological aspects of the riverbank can be enhanced by the adoption of positive landscaping measures. The use of native species is preferable for this, as they tend to have a greater conservation value".

The Pathfields Group has contacted city council planners, conservation officers, elected councillors and Plymptons MP Gary Streeter to demand that the unwanted concrete construction is removed and an open water feature is restored in accordance with the wishes of the Environment Agency and the local community.

If you are new resident of Redvers Grove, don't put up with such environmental eyesores and complain to the developers, the city council and your MP.  Have your say at the Plympton Area Committee meeting due to take place on Monday, 14th January 2002 at 6.00pm in the Main Hall, Mudge Way Community Church, Mudge Way, Plympton, where the Pathfields development is due to be discussed.

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