Dear All,

Following the latest response from Mr Mansbridge at STMBC Development Services, and a letter received by some residents from UK Docks I have booked St Stephens Church Hall to allow us all to update ourselves on the latest developments concerning the slipway, and to discuss options.

The Petitioners meeting will be at 6.30pm this Thursday 22nd May. Why not come along after voting in the local elections, just around the corner from the polling station at Hadrian School. Vehicular access from Mile End Road opposite the Bee Hive Pub. Sorry for the shift in meeting venue but this was beyond our control and is now our most accessible option.

Politicians again are not invited.

Hope to see you all there, it has been suggested that we have to act swiftly.

Kind regards,  Melanie

After two months of waiting for a response from the South Tyneside Council to our petition and promise of a meeting for them to explain their actions over this inappropriate development all they do is to send a letter to residents affected by the noise repeating the deceit that it is built to approved plans.

In the letter the Head of Development Services says:-

The approved dimensions of the steelwork are:
Proposed height 15.5m at the River Drive end. The gradient of the slipway is 2.66m over the length of the shelter. This would mean the height at the riverside end would be 18.16m above the slipway;
Proposed length 22m;
Proposed width 12.2m.

This is not true, there is no supporting documentation held by the Panning Office to support the  statement that the proposed height of 15.5m at the River Drive has been approved.

From: Melanie Todd
Subject: Re: Breach of Grant of Planning Permission and Conditions, UK Docks, River Drive
Date: 29 April 2014 20:18:31 BST
To: Head of Planning
Re: Breach of Grant of Planning Permission and Conditions, UK Docks, River Drive

Dear Head of Planning,

With regard to my last e-mail to you of the 7th April 2014, and your reply of the 9th April 2014, both of which are copied below, I am still awaiting answers to the questions I posed.
You stated you needed to talk to the Head of Development Services in order to reply. Have you had the opportunity to talk to the Head of Development Services yet, and are you able to give replies to any of the questions I raised? I believe your unwillingness to answer questions and the continuous lack of clarity over the situation, despite eight months of correspondence, to be unacceptable. I and other residents have a right to ask questions; voice concerns; be heard; and to receive comprehensive replies from local authority officers to reasonable questions and concerns.
In shared correspondence received by a neighbour in Harbour View from the Head of Development Services dated 04/04/14, the Head of Development Services states that the the planning permission requires that “the ends of the structure are fully enclosed when works are being undertaken”; “the approved plans require that mono-flex end panels are attached to the structure”; “The structure is however being used operationally by the applicant and these end panels have not been attached”; and, further, the Head of Development Services goes on to say that it is his intention “to write formally to the operator instructing them that all operational works within the shelter should cease with immediate effect until such a time that the end panels are installed”.
Today, 29th April 2014, we see another vessel being worked on inside the unfinished structure at the UK Docks, River Drive site. End panels to the structure have not been installed.
Strangely, you have stated that “The council in its role as planning authority cannot act to stop work which relates to the lawful use of the site for general industrial purposes. The status of the structure can have no bearing on the continuing use of the site”. I have asked you to explain this and you have not done so. Your statement appears to ignore your own admission that the structure is not built to plan and is in breach of a Grant of Planning Permission which you are charged with overseeing. Furthermore, your position of 18th March 2014 appears to be contradictory to the position of the Head of Development Services, as quoted above from 4/4/2014.
Could you please as a matter of urgency address this further breach of planning permission by UK Docks, and give some clarity to the position of STMBC with regard to the status of the development at UK Docks River Drive site and address the legitimate and serious concerns that have been raised by myself and fellow concerned residents over an 8 month period since the unannounced start of this development, and still not fully addressed.

Your sincerely,
Melanie Todd