The letter reproduced below is pages 10 and 11 of planning file reference 01/01430/COU and can be found here. If you have an interest in Badger's Cross, either as a resident or as a developer, then I suggest that you read the file very carefully and give special attention to para 3 of this letter. (As ever, click on the image and it will open in a larger version.)
Now, I'm no planner, or planning consultant, but para 3 of this letter seems to be pretty unequivocal so, maybe, this is why the current application by (District Cllr) A H Canvin is ambiguous. Maybe this is why (District Cllr) Canvin's planning consultants, Boon Brown, made the application in the way that they did. (District Councillor) Canvin isn't asking for any Change of Use because his consultants, Boon Brown, are claiming that there is an existing use on the site. The issue that their plan raised for Somerton Town Council was that the drawing seemed to indicate that a significant part of the site would be covered by a B2 use. However, this letter proposes an altogether different situation, one where (District Cllr) Canvin should actually be applying for a 'Change of Use' for the site, something that this same letter suggests would be opposed by SSDC. Its a fair question to ask if (District Cllr) Canvin and or Boon Brown are trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes because, if they know about this letter, then they must also be aware that, in the view of Mr Frost, there is no established use on the site. Had the Household Waste Recycling Centre gone ahead, then the structure would, most probably, have been swept away and the issue would never have arisen. But the HWRC ran into a storm of protest and (District Cllr) Canvin is now trying another tack to achieve his longer-term ambition which is to redevelop this site at Badger's Cross as a second industrial locus in Somerton. But it would seem that (District Cllr) Canvin is basing his planning application on the assumption that there is B2 use for the building when, in the view of SSDC Planning, there is not.
So maybe someone should write to SSDC Planning and enquire if the current application is rather more flawed than some people thought. Maybe (District Cllr) Canvin should withdraw this application and make a formal application for 'Change of Use'. And, as something of an afterthought, it might be useful to contact 'Matt Frost', a Town Planner for Boon Brown, and get his take on things. He might want to contradict his doppelganger's view.
UPDATE
I have now confirmed that it was Matt Frost who, as a member of staff at Boon Brown, presented the Canvin/Badgers Cross application to the Land & Property Committee on 27th July. I am assuming therefore that the 'Matt Frost' who wrote the letter reproduced above and the 'Matt Frost' who addressed the Land & Propery Committee are one and the same person. This obviously leads me to the conclusion that Canvin & Boon Brown know all about the letter and the view it presents.
Till next application, I'm still Niall Connolly