Southcott Homes applied to EHDC for permission to build 38 homes on ‘Land to the rear of 191 – 211 Lovedean Lane’ last year. This was rejected at the EHDC planning committee on the 30th October 2014. As was expected, Southcott have appealed to the Planning Inspectorate against the decision and this appeal is now underway with evidence submitted by the applicant, EHDC and residents concerned by the development.

The Public Inquiry will be heard at Napier Hall (next to The Colonial Bar) on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th February starting at 10:00am. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

EHDC has a very good success rate at defending appeals so we are optimistic that the Planning Inspector will support the EHDC decision. In addition we have a 5 year land supply and an allocations plan which shows how the housing needs for the district can be met. The Parish Council objected to the plans and residents felt so strongly that they logged very clear objections as well as a 216 vote petition opposing them.

If you are interesting in the outcome of this appeal then the public inquiry, as well as being an experience, is worth attending.

Click on the link below to see the application details on the planning portal and if you select the ‘Documents’ tab then you can see the submitted plans and the appeal documents.

Southcott Homes Planning Application

Horndean Parish Council are holding a public consultation on improvements to the play areas in the area, and would like your views. They are holding events around the parish during the week and then at Jubilee Park on Saturday 21st. More details below.

Press release from the Horndean Surgery Patients Group:

We are delighted to announce that after almost 5 years in the planning, the new Horndean Surgery will be ready for Doctor Mark Coombe and his team to move into in the Summer of 2015.

Following a recent tri-party meeting with Mark Carrington, MD Linden Homes, Julia Potter, EHDC Planning Officer, Guy Shepherd, Horndean District Councillor and Derek Chard, Chair of the Horndean Patient Participation Group, the final obstacle of funding has now been overcome and an agreement reached. The clear guarantee of funding now enables Linden Homes to go ahead with the fit out of the new surgery ready for occupation by August 2015.

The tri-party participants have faced many difficulties along the way but have never lost sight of the fact that Horndean is in great need of a new surgery, especially given the ever increasing patient list which can no longer be sustained in the outdated Blendworth Lane surgery. It is a known fact that Doctor Coombe and his team are recognised as a leading teaching practice in Southern England, despite the limited facilities at the current site and the new surgery will provide the structure to further expand the teaching capability of the practice which will be a leading facility in the South.

It is also a testament of Dr Coombe’s commitment to Horndean and its residents that his plans for the new surgery will offer scope to provide a wider range of treatments currently not available at the old surgery. However, it is acknowledged that despite working in very limited conditions, Horndean Surgery has continued to offer excellent medical care and support to the community, alongside an important and well recognised teaching role.

Horndean Patient Participation Group wishes to thank in particular District Councillor Guy Shepherd, Mark Carrington MD Linden Homes and his management team, Julia Potter EHDC Planning Officer and her team, Doctor Coombe and partners, along with Jean Smees, Practice Manager for all their hard work and dedication in bringing this project to fruition for the benefit of Horndean and its residents.

Derek Chard
Chairman
Horndean Surgery Patient Participation Group

Sunley Homes brought forward some plans in December 2013 to develop two fields off Blendworth Lane in Blendworth. This was a difficult one to call as the development would have brought some accommodation for disabled servicemen and women, and also rebuilt Napier Hall. This new building was to house the Parish Council and also create new hall space replacing the tired and asbestos riddled building. In doing so it would reduce costs for the community by eliminating rent on the current offices and also the financial burden of rebuilding Napier Hall at some point. Remember, HPC is our community asset. On the down side it would add traffic along the narrow Blendworth Lane, significantly affect the character of the village and also set a dangerous precedence of building on a field in the conservation area.

The plans went to a planning committee in October with a recommendation for Approval, but the planning committee overturned the decision and recommended refusal. EHDC had just approved the draft allocation plan at Cabinet, and this SHLAA site was not in the plan, so this gave the balance of opposition that was needed to refuse. A difficult decision but the right one.

Sunley Homes have submitted an appeal in the last few weeks which is not unusual, but the approach they have taken is of concern and worth setting out in this blog, but I’ll warn you now, it is a bit technical…

Typically a planning appeal is a ‘second bite at the cherry’ with the identical plans being submitted to a planning inspector from the Planning Inspectorate who will then review the Districts local plan, the submission and make a decision as to whether the case has been decided correctly under planning law. EHDC have a near 90% success rate at defending appeals so the expectation based on track record and merit is that this will not be successful, especially as the allocation plan has been out to consultation, and a five year land supply has been achieved since the application was refused.

This appeal is interesting though as Sunley have submitted documents using something called ‘The Wheatcroft Principle’. This allows a planning inspector to consider the original scheme and another slightly different scheme providing it does not differ to greatly from the original one. In the statement of common ground (a statement that cuts through the issues and identifies items that the planning authority and applicant agree with) Sunley propose not just one, but two alternative schemes. These significantly reduce the scheme size and one version omits building on the conservation field altogether which, if in the original application, may have been considered more suitable. To better explain this, and also note why EHDC are rejecting this position Sunley have as ‘not common ground’, one of our senior planning officers, Jon Holmes, has provided some useful clarity on this unusual and complicated approach.

“The Statement of Common Ground is due in early March and is only in draft form having been prepared by the appellant, but it will not be common ground in the final version sent to the Inspector that we should consider these alternative schemes. Sunley Estates and their agent, Ian Ellis, have appealed the refusal of 40 dwellings but have presented in their appeal submission alternative schemes for 30 and 35 units. In so doing they are currently seeking consultation responses from the statutory consultees on these alternative schemes and will be (if not already) seeking comments from third parties as well (ie those we received representations from during the consultation on the original application). They believe this can be done under the ‘Wheatcroft’ principle. Our view is that the changes are too materially different to be considered under this provision which allows, in exceptional circumstances, minor alterations to schemes to be put before an Inspector. I have alerted them to our position on this but they are nevertheless pressing ahead with their argument to the Inspectorate.

This will be confusing for the Parish Council/public etc and we will doubtless get queries about it. Alternative schemes should be submitted as revised planning applications to us and we will not be commenting on the revised proposals but will naturally be defending the refusal decision made my Members. I think it highly unlikely that other appellants would follow this avenue, precisely because it is not generally accepted practice. We will have to see whether the Inspectorate accept these alternatives, but I would reiterate that it will not be in the final version of the Statement of Common Ground.

For information, the alternative schemes pull dwellings away from the listed building to address the key issue in the decision notice of impact on the setting of the listed Cadlington House. If, in the event the Inspector accepts that these alternatives can be considered, we will have to react accordingly but it will also be necessary for us to comment on the appropriateness of accepting such amendments (see para 16 of the link attached).

I hope this helps – clearly it is muddying matters and this is why appeals are based on the details as determined by the planning authority and why applicants are encouraged to submit alternative schemes as new planning applications. The link to the Inspectorate’s practice note may assist you and it confirms to us why alternative schemes should not be accepted in this case and explains (paras 12 and 13) why the appellant rather than the Council is undertaking the consultation.” Inspectorate’s practice note

Here is the link to the original article on HORNDEANMATTERS about the application and you can view the applea documents on the planning portal on this link: https://horndeanmatters.com/2013/12/10/blendworth-lane-sunley-plans/

Horndean Parish Council February 2015 Countryside Team Newsletter by Carole Burnett. The team are always looking for outdoor people to volunteer and help get some exercise while supporting the community.

46-year-old Andrew Gareth Woods of Twyford Ave, Portsmouth has been charged with two counts of burglary. It follows incidents in the Widley area of Waterlooville. Andrew Woods has asked for a further 10 burglaries in the same area to be taken into consideration by the court. This follows a week after police announced charging 56-year-old Albert Ian James of Mill Road Crescent, Donnington, Chichester, West Sussex with 51 counts of burglary.

These charges relate to 24 burglaries in the Waterlooville, Fareham and Portsmouth areas of Hampshire and 27 burglaries in Sussex and followed a joint investigation between Hampshire Constabulary and Sussex Police. Of those charges 14 related to a series of burglaries in Cowplain, Horndean and Clanfield in November last year.

Inspector Dave Humphries who is responsible for policing in Waterlooville, Horndean & Clanfield said “This is a second person charged with local burglaries in as many weeks and is the culmination of a lot of hard work by our investigation, neighbourhood and response teams. Despite the reassurance of two people being charged I would still urge local residents not to be complacent and to take basic precautions to prevent themselves becoming burglary victims. Ensure doors and windows are locked and if out after dark leave lights on. Many premises are targeted early evening just after sunset and before people get home from work as those with no lights on are obviously empty. Fit a timer switch to a lamp to protect against this. Jewellery is often targeted and often very easy to find in houses. Make sure it is kept somewhere secure and it helps us no end if victims can provide photographs of their jewellery. Often people don’t think to pro-actively photograph their possessions.”

Andrew Woods is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Tuesday, February 24 and Albert James is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Thursday, March 12.