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Houses to go on Cadbury’s old factory site BY LAURA TREM wdnews@b-nm.co.uk Councillors have voted unanimously in favour of plans for 700 homes on the former Cadbury factory site in Keynsham. At a meeting of Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Development Control Committee, councillors gave the green light to the plans. The Taylor Wimpey scheme will see the 220-acre site transformed into a town extension with more than 700 new homes, a 70-bed care home, a
Councillor Bryan Organ, says the new housing will be a major development for Keynsham
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k to g 210-place primary school, medical facility, shops, office space and sports facilities. Councillor Bryan Organ (Con, Keynsham East ) said: “This is a major application for Keynsham, the biggest in a long time. We have to do the best for the people of Keynsham, and I would approve it. “With regard to traffic the
main road into the site has coped with all the traffic over 20 years when a lot of people worked at the site. “Is there going to be that much more traffic now? I am not convinced that there is going to be a major problem with the one entrance.” Councillor Martin Veale (Con, Bathavon North ) said: “If we turn down this application it will send the wrong message out to developers across the country.” It is expected that the site will create 1,000 jobs in addition to the 1,277 jobs during its construction. One company hoping to relocate to the site is waste distributor Matthew Clarke. Director Graham Donald said: “We are looking at possible locations for our new head office, and this is one site we are considering. It’s an attractive option for us, as it’s well located and buildings can be designed around our needs. We want to make a definite decision soon.” Avon and Somerset Police had registered concerns over the fact that the site will only have one access point off Keynsham Road, which will also serve existing homes. Officers said one access route for such a large mixed development had the potential to lead to congestion and an increase in collisions. Avon Fire and Rescue did not raise any objections to the development. Chair of Keynsham town council Gill Hellier said: “The town council’s aware of how important this development is for Keynsham, creating jobs.”
Bankers say consumers feel more confident Banks are seeing annual growth in credit card and personal loan borrowing for the first time in four years, in further evidence that households are starting to feel more confident. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage approvals made to home buyers in August reached its highest level since 2009 as life returns to the housing market, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) reported. Credit card borrowing has grown 6.7 per cent over the last year, rising at a faster rate than that of personal loans and overdrafts at 5.1 per cent. Consumers spent more on credit cards than they paid
£8.4bn Level of new spending recorded on UK credit cards last month
The former Cadbury factory site in Keynsham, near Bath. Councillors have approved plans for a development including 700 homes, sports facilities, a care home and primary school to be built on the 220-acre site
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back in August, in a break with a trend of more cautious behaviour which has been seen in recent years of repaying more than they spent. Some £8.4 billion of new spending was recorded on credit cards last month, higher than the recent monthly average, while £8.3 billion worth of repayments were also made. Several studies have recently indicated people are starting to feel better about the economy, including a report published by Lloyds Bank this week which found consumer confidence has risen to its strongest levels in at least two-and-a-half years. The BBA’s report suggested increased demand for borrowing on credit cards, personal loans and overdrafts was also down to “more competitive offers available” in the low interest rate environment.
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