In December 2014 Taylor Wimpey submitted plans to EHDC for the development of Chalk Hill Road. Feedback from residents who visited the public consultations were quite remarkable in that they quoted a very self-confident individual from the Taylor Wimpey team who confidently predicted EHDC would refuse the plans, and that Taylor Wimpey would subsequently win on appeal.
It seems Taylor Wimpey’s confidence has eroded as they have submitted revised plans for 50 homes instead of the original 67. Under planning law amendments and revised drawings can be made to the scheme to reflect consultee feedback and comments so that developments that are not quite right or borderline have an opportunity to evolve positively and maybe seek better chances of approval.
It is important to stress that no one at EHDC has given guidance that a lower number of properties may make the scheme more likely to be approved. It remains in gap land, it is a key landscape area, and whether it is 50 homes or 67 the roads accessing the development are not best suited for the additional traffic it would bring.
We of course also have an approved Joint core strategy, a 5 year land supply and the allocations plan has been out to its first round of public consultation. This proposed site is not on the plan. The reduction in homes is probably a last-ditch effort by Taylor Wimpey to put forward something they feel has a better chance of success.
On receipt of the revised proposals EHDC will have made contact with all of the people who wrote in with comments and alerted them to the revised plans. It is important that if you wrote in before that you now do so again to confirm if the revised plans have changed any of your thoughts or if you still have the same comments.
Click on THIS LINK HERE to go to the EHDC planning portal to see details for this application. The ‘Documents’ tab has all of the drawings and if you scroll down you will see the latest information which was uploaded on the 2nd March 2015. You have until the 25th March to issue your comments to the case officer which you can also do on this link.
It is likely this application will be decided around the middle of April now.
Here is a revised copy of the site plan:
Another Wimpy site like that on the Hambledon Rd Waterlooville is not what is needed, they are shoddy poor designer builders. If a development has to go ahead vote that is it not Wimpy.However just because government says we need to build x number of houses does not mean we have to. We have to say enough is enough and start more conversions and more brown fill sites taken over.
HI Steve, I agree the site at Hambledon Road is very poor quality design and looks awful. For us in Horndean we have used our most suitable brownfield site which was the gales development. Keydell is another but if this were built on we would loose a key local employer and the southern access into the village would just become wall to wall housing. With a little luck we will be able to focus our housing need on Land East Of Horndean, and I do not believe the developer there has a working relationship with Taylor Wimpey. Guy.
Hi Steve, absolutely agree, Taylor Wimpey are very shoddy builders and even worse designers!
My daughter bought a house on the Wellington Park estate and has had a huge amount of problems with design faults, bad electrics and central heating plumbing. The road layouts are dangerous and far to narrow especially with the access road to the tip!!!
Lessons need to be learnt here so let’s not give them the opportunity to do it again elsewhere,
Steve Harding
Hi Guy
Having been out of action for the last few weeks I have just gone into the planning website via your link above in which to resubmit my concerns to the revised plans only to be informed that the public consultation period for this application has ended, which is not what I understood from your blog – ‘you have until 25th March’. Have the dates been changed ? can we still submit comments ?
Many thanks
Lee
Hi Lee, it’s an odd one as the revised site plan reopened the consultation period. Please can you email me any comments on guy.shepherd@easthants.gov.uk and I will be very happy to forward on to the case officer. Best wishes, guy.
Will do thank you.
Hi Guy , someone has told me that Wimpey are trying for 1700 homes around Clanfield, have you heard this?! R
Steve s
As Taylor Wimpey own the land there’s only one thing that can happen, which is inevitable, it will one day be built on, whether tomorrow, next year, or in 5 yrs time. Lets face it, they are not going to gift it to the people of Horndean are they, they are a profit making company with no ethics as nothing else matters!! We were seriously thinking about buying our next home in Chalk Hill Rd, but unfortunately it’s far too risky as when that development goes ahead, the wonderful views, country dog walks and clean fresh air will also disappear, along with the house prices in that area. Not to mention the increase in traffic and therefore pollution!!! Building on England’s green fields will one day make this country undesirable to live in. How shameful is that as a legacy to leave our grandchildren!!!
Hi Stephen, Pretty sure Taylor Wimpey do not own this land – it is still family owned and Taylor Wimpey took out an option on the land – a contract to give them the rights to apply for planning permission on the land. Hope this helps, Guy.
Good news to hear Guy,,
Thank you Guy, I appreciate your honest reply. Is there any opportunity of finding out who the owners are to see if a collective group could buy the land with a covenant that it could never be changed or built on?
Sent from my iPhone
>