Thursday 29 January 2015

Committee Meeting Minutes for 27th January 2015

Committee Meeting minutes for 27th January 2015 can be viewed HERE

Monday 26 January 2015

Marple College Development - Public Exhibition

Morris Homes are holding a public exhibition of their proposals for the Hibbert Lane site of Marple Sixth Form College on:

25th February 2015, between 2pm and 7.30pm in Marple College Library

The pre-application consultation period ends today (26th January). The planning application will have been submitted to the council by Morris Homes when the exhibition takes place on 25th February.  However, Morris Homes would welcome feedback from residents.

The Civic Society position is that, in principle, we do not object to housing on the site.  However we are anxious to ensure that the development fits in with the ideas behind our proposed independent urban design study.  

We have responded to the pre-application consultation and our response will be published here in the next few days.  In the meantime we will continue to monitor the proposals as the scheme evolves.

Friday 23 January 2015

Civic Society Chairman at No 10 Reception


Civic Society chairman, Gillian Postill, attended a reception for Community Champions at no 10 Downing street in recognition of her community work on behalf of Marple Civic Society. It was a great opportunity to fly the flag for Marple and explain to the Prime Minister our aspirations for a Neighbourbourhood Plan to Regenerate Marple Town Centre.


Friday 16 January 2015

Neighbourhood Plan for Marple

The Civic Society's hopes for a neighbourhood plan* for Marple town centre took a step forward with the formation of a steering group to prepare the way for the creation of a neighbourhood forum.  The forum will consist of a minimum of 21 representative people who will create the plan.  Once the forum is created the steering group wil be disolved and the civic sociey's direct involvement will cease.

Meeting notes of the steering group's first meeting can be viewed HERE.

* What is a Neighbourhood Plan ?

The Localism Act 2011 introduces statutory Neighbourhood Planning in England. It enables communities to draw up a Neighbourhood Plan for their area and is intended to give communities more of a say in the development of their local area (within certain limits and parameters).
These plans will be used to decide the future of the places where you live and work giving opportunities to:
  • choose where you want new homes, shops and offices to be built
  • have your say on what new buildings should look like
  • grant planning permission for the new buildings you want to see go ahead.
  • protect and enhance the High Street
  • decide how infrastructure funding is spent
  • define and secure what makes up our local heritage
  • Protect the green spaces we value most
  • protect gaps between our towns and villages
  • improve the quality of public spaces
  • and much more....................
For more information on "real life" Neighbourhood Plans see HERE


and HERE for how to do it!

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Morris Homes Development of College Site on Hibbert Lane

The Civic Society has been in contact with the Northern Design and Planning Director of Morris Homes, the company developing the college site on hibbert Lane.

The company are preparing a planning application for submission to Stockport MBC w/c 26th January and are inviting comment and feedback by 23rd January.  We were told that brochures have been sent to nearby residents but a quick check amongst members indicates patchy coverage.  However Morris Homes are keen to receive feedback from Marple residents and a copy of their information brochure can be downloaded HERE

The society will respond on behalf of members but any member or resident can respond individually using the form on the attached brochure.

The Civic Society position is that, in principle, we do not object to housing on the site.  However we are anxious to ensure that the development fits in with the ideas behind our proposed independent urban design study.  

One of our charitable objects is to campaign for good design, so that too is important to us. Finally, we will seek to secure for Marple some of the s106 money likely to go to the council.



Thursday 8 January 2015

Civic Society Early Days - Oral History

Our president, Angus Yeaman, has agree to provide an oral history of his memories of the early years of Marple Civic Society.
Society President Angus Yeaman

At a meeting on 7th May 2015 with Aimee Teare and Margaret Myerscough of Stockport MBC, the possibility of a "Skills for the Future" trainee carrying out the interview was discussed.  

They agreed that this could be a trainee project for later this year when the new intake of trainees are in post. 

"Skills for the Future" is a Heritage Lottery Fund Programme, run by Stockport MBC, to provide paid training placements of one year to people looking to work in the heritage sector. 


Wednesday 7 January 2015

Marple Civic Society Document Archive

Marple Civic Society has a large collection of archive documents including minutes, newsletters, newspaper cuttings, miscellaneous reports and correspondence.  

We also have an extensive collection of photographs which have been digitised and uploaded to our website. The originals are on long term loan to SMBC Library Services.

At a meeting on 7th January 2015 Alan and Gillian Postill met with Aimee Teare (Senior Programme Management and External Funding Officer) and Margaret Myerscough (Senior Librarian, Heritage and Archive) to discuss a project to sort, collate, evaluate and preserve our other documents to make them available for research and general interest.  It was agreed that a "Skills for the Future" trainee could carry out the work starting later this year.

"Skills for the Future" is a Heritage Lottery Fund Programme, run by Stockport MBC, to provide paid training placements of one year to people looking to work in the heritage sector.