Agony and angry as Mogul plans rejected

​ANGER has greeted the rejection of a project to demolish the former Federal Mogul factory and build 143 new homes.

Sedgemoor District Council said the joint application for the 1,700sq m (20,000sq ft) site, submitted by Concise Constructions and Barratt Homes, was not feasible.

Residents have contacted the Bridgwater Times to tell of their dismay after enduring six years of fights, fires, break-ins and loud music at the derelict eyesore, occupied by squatters and drug addicts and recently the subject of an eviction order.

The application stated the two development companies wished to build residential units on the site after demolishing and decontaminating the land in Colley Lane.

Sedgemoor officers believe the plans would not meet the needs for affordable housing in Bridgwater, would not provide a children’s play area, increased traffic would cause problems and that the site would be lost for industrial and employment use.

It also states it is at risk from floods, not enough information about the application had been submitted by the developers and it was worried about contamination.

Concise Construction’s managing director, Tony Lawson, said: “Sedgemoor officers refused to meet us to discuss our plans, they didn’t answer correspondence, they refused to put the matter before the planning committee where residents could have had their say and now the officers have declared we didn’t give enough information.

“All of this after we have talked to them for three years now and paid them thousands of pounds for their ‘planning services’.”

“I have been involved in property for almost 40 years and I have never experienced anything like it.”

The site was owned by Federal Mogul – an American firm supplying products and services to the motor industry and operating in 36 countries.

The Bridgwater base closed down in 2003 and Federal Mogul, which is worth $6.9 billion (£4.2 billion), relocated overseas.

About 100 families signed petitions and wrote letters in support of the application.

Residents, who have found needles and other detritus in their gardens and been kept awake by fighting and loud noise, say the council’s decision should be reversed.

Doreen Tullet, who lives opposite the site, said: “I can’t believe it. When we want to keep something, like the swimming pool, the council knocks it down. When we want something knocked down, like this eyesore over the road, the council insists we keep it.

“Only a couple of weeks ago my local councilor told me not to worry and that we would get the houses, then he went and wrote a report that helped get the application thrown out. You wonder why you bother to vote at all.”

Lesley Watson, who lives next to the site, said: “The council maintains there is a flood risk - but we are in a protected area. They maintain it’s close to a bend in the road - but the council is happy to have lots of new factories there. They have just stuck their heads in the sand and refused to listen to anyone.

“No wonder they can’t get it sorted out. If we can’t change the planning, we’ll just have to vote to change the council and see what happens then.”

Lawson said: “One of Sedgemoor’s main objectives seems to be to secure some factories on the site. We have provided them with an independent report by a national firm of surveyors that demonstrates that it’s not feasible.

“The site is polluted. Just cleaning it up will cost more than you pay for good, better-located industrial land next to the motorway. In addition, insisting on putting factories next to new homes and children with all of the trucks and the like is to our minds illogical.

“However, that’s what they are demanding. Meanwhile, Sedgemoor hasn’t come up with anything to refute the evidence we submitted to support our case. It’s very frustrating when they won’t respond to our claims in any substantive way or have a discussion.”