WDF Development

White Dirt Farm Refused by EHDC

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on December 30, 2014
Posted in: EHDC, Local Issues, WDF Development. 7 Comments

EHDC-logo-300x132 (1)The planning application to build 135 homes on White Dirt Farm has been refused by EHDC.

Taylor Wimpey who emerged as the party interested in developing the land in February 2014 faced immense resistance from the local community and Councillors. The consultation resulted in 224 written letters of objection to the case officer, and just 1 letter in support.

Large planning applications usually go to the planning committee, but the White Dirt Farm application would have been so damaging to the landscape that it did not merit a hearing with refusal being a clear decision for the planners who were able to refuse it under delegated powers.

Cllr Sara Schillemore whose ward the application is in said “I am very pleased with the delegated decision for refusal. In refusing this application EHDC have taken into account the many objective and relevant comments from members of the public and worked closely with both of the District Councillors whose Wards would be affected by this proposal.

This site is important gap land to separate Catherington, Clanfield and Horndean and because of the slope any development would be very apparent and bridge the gap. The Landscape importance of the site is also extremely important and building on it would totally destroy the semi rural setting the community has.

Now that the Down Farm application in Clanfield has been heard by the Planning Committee and the approval for 207 dwellings has been given, the five year plan necessary to resist unwanted applications in unsupported locations, has been achieved.

I sincerely hope that Taylor, Wimpey can clearly see that an Appeal would be a waste of time and money.”

To read a bit more in this WDF Special newsletter click on this link here: Downs Newsletter December 2014 WDF Special

To see the decision notice click on this link here: WDF Decision Notice

For my part, I am extremely grateful to the community for their support in writing to the case officer to raise their concerns, and also to the planning team for patiently working through the application while receiving a constant barrage of emails from the community, and fellow Councillors. Without the clear community view and involvement we might be looking at a different outcome.

There will most likely be an appeal by Taylor Wimpey and we will deal with that in due course, but in the meantime please have a very pleasant New Year.

Guy.

White Dirt Farm Updated Plans

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on November 8, 2014
Posted in: EHDC, WDF Development. Leave a comment

In the last months the Taylor Wimpey proposals for White Dirt Farm have been with about 30 organisations for consultation. Some of the consultees have given no objection but some have raised issues that have lead to that organisation recommending refusal. For example, Hampshire County Council highways department were unhappy with the road traffic speeds, junction details and recommended refusal based on the plans. The applicant is entitled to make amendments that can address these concerns so the plans might be deemed to be acceptable.

Taylor Wimpey have submitted a revised set of highways drawings showing some traffic calming and tree planting. While the traffic calming solutions might be an area HCC will reconsider their objection against, the landscape and Gap issues remain. (The countdown to a five year land supply is marching closer and closer). What Taylor Wimpey are trying to do is to deal with a firm ‘Yes, No’ grounds for objection and then leave the more subjective landscape view on the table (EHDC feels very strongly about this as you will have read from the landscape officers report) and an argument about have we achieved the 5 year plan. In the meantime EHDC having approved at Cabinet the Draft Allocations Plan, which will also go to full council very shortly are able to construct very strong arguments that the most sustainable site is Land East Of Horndean and not White Dirt Farm.

Click here for the updated White Dirt Farm Documents and scroll to the bottom for entries dated 6th November.

We have until the 20th November 2014 to give any comments in, and the 300 or so people who have made submissions to EHDC have all received a letter or email to tell them about the updated plan. I have attached a copy below but you will need to follow the link above to see their proposed traffic calming options and they are the documents at the bottom of the page dated 6th November 2014.

WDF 6th November 2014 plan

Housing is NOT a Done Deal…Yet

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on November 1, 2014
Posted in: EHDC, Horndean Show Ground, Land East Of Horndean, WDF Development. 1 Comment

EHDC Planning Forum 10 Nov 2014In the last week EHDC have reached a significant milestone event in the second part of the Local Plan, or allocations plan, by publishing a Draft version. This is one of the key topics on the Special Planning Public Meeting EHDC are holding on the 10th November at 7pm, Barton Hall, Horndean Technology College.

The Planning Team will be giving us a good update on the following:

Current Applications
Housing elsewhere in the District
The three major applications at Whitehill Bordon
Where the South Downs National Park Authority are on their plan
The Draft Allocations Plan

The proposal to select the sites in ‘Land East Of Horndean’ is a good fit with much (but not all) of the community view. It is also a current application which means it is viable, so a very strong argument against other options elsewhere. This is NOT however a firm proposal and needs community support to say if it is the right or wrong option. Whether you support this or not, it is important you give your view.

The meeting will also have a questions and answers section. If you would like to submit a question on any of the issues above about planning in EHDC, SDNPA or more detailed questions about applications in the parishes of Clanfield, Horndean and Rowlands Castle then please use the contact form below by noon on Friday 7th November and it will go directly to the team at EHDC where they will sort the questions and make sure the topics are all covered on the night.

The planning team look forward to seeing as many people as possible on the 10th November.

Allocations Photo

EHDC Allocations Plan Draft

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on October 30, 2014
Posted in: Land East Of Horndean, Local Issues, WDF Development. Leave a comment

EHDC-logo-300x132 (1)Over the last 6 months the Planning Development team and Councillors at EHDC have been working on the Allocations Plan, of the Second part of the Local Plan. This sets the sites where development will be located outside of the settlement policy boundary, and once it has gone through its consultation and examination will be a final and robust measure for planning in Horndean, and across EHDC.

For this blog I will set out the housing sites South of Butser in all three parishes as we all have a wider interest in the area.

Horndean Allocation Draft

Clanfield Allocation Draft

RC Allocation Draft

This is the best fit possible with the community consultations on where to build which were organised by the District Councillors here, and have since been used as a template across the district. There is however a lot of science behind the allocations and the sites have been picked based on sustainability and suitability. Clearly the community at large was also able to come to the right conclusions too.

The Next Steps:

29th October 2014 – The draft plan was approved by the Development Policy Panel at EHDC last night by the Councillors on that committee for endorsement to Cabinet at EHDC.

6th November 2014 – The Draft Pan will be discussed at an EHDC Cabinet Meeting. I am a member of Cabinet and also on the Development Policy Panel. Having supported the proposals at DPP I will be supporting this at Cabinet too.

4th December – If approved at Cabinet, the draft plan will go to full Council for public consultation

19th December – If approved at EHDC Council there will be a 6 week Public Consultation process with local exhibitions which will run to the 6th February.

Comments are then incorporated into the plan and a revised version is then issued.

This is followed by a 6 week public consultation where developers and other interested parties will review and comment.

The plan is then submitted to the Secretary of State for approval and an inspector is assigned

A public examination process then begins and if the inspector feels the plan is robust and has considered the best sites then it is approved.

This process takes about 10 months in all.

What can you do?

If you disagree with the options that have been chosen then the public consultation time is the right time to raise this, and why. If you agree with the plans then it is important to say that you do. Do not rely on other people alone to do this, people are more likely to make the time to comment on something they do not agree with.

The EHDC Special Planning Forum at 7:00pm on the 10th November at Barton Hall, Horndean Technology College is the perfect time to come along and do this.

To read the full version of the Draft Allocation plan and see the maps click on this link here: EHDC Draft Allocation Plan

Thank you to the team at EHDC who have worked exceptionally long hours, attended dozens of meetings and held several consultations to progress this. If this is good news to you please can you consider a thank you email to them on planning-policy@ehdc.gov.uk

Five Year Land Supply Update

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on October 23, 2014
Posted in: EHDC, Local Issues, WDF Development. Leave a comment

EHDC-logo-300x132 (1)Regular readers of this blog will know that the Five Year Land Supply is a key issue in local planning. Essentially it means that if the Local Planning Authority has enough housing being built, then we can keep what is known as our ‘reserve policies’. One of these is the protection to Gap Land. Every year EHDC needs to build 592 new homes to cater for its own needs, and the 5 year supply means that 5 x 592 plus a 5% safety margin need to be being built, or have planning permission and be realistic to build in a five year period. This is about 3,100 homes.

Currently and following recent permissions for land at Whitehill Bordon (see previous post) and across EHDC in Alton, Fourmarks, Medstead the land supply has increased to a point where EHDC now has a 4.7 year supply. This means that we will very soon and most certainly this side of Christmas be able to state we have our 5 year land supply, and be able to far better protect sites with gap land status.

This will be key for developments which are in the gaps such as White Dirt Farm and Chalk Hill Road.

Currently there is a rumor going around that White Dirt Farm is a ‘Done Deal’ and that ‘The Minister’ has given the nod to let it proceed. I do wish that people would not start these rumors and can categorically assure the community that ‘deals’ do not get ‘done’ in planning, and very few ministers will be aware of White Dirt Farm. I also firmly believe that the case against development that has been put forward with enormous community support is so strong that EHDC should be able to confidently refuse the development when it goes to the planning committee. If we can not prevent development on White Dirt Farm then we can not prevent development anywhere else.

It is likely that White Dirt Farm will go to the planning committee in Mid December and we will find out then.

WDF George Hollingbery Comments

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on September 14, 2014
Posted in: George Hollingbery MP, WDF Development. 1 Comment

George_HollingberyThe public consultation on the White Dirt Farm development has now closed, and currently there are 242 comments on the website. This is a fantastic return, and I am sure that there are many more in the system waiting to be uploaded, such was the public interest in the application and the concern about the potential impact it may have on the community if allowed.

George Hollingbery MP has also made representation to the case officer and he has kindly passed me a copy of the letter for the blog.

Click on this link to see a copy: White Dirt Farm letter

WDF Community View Letter

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on September 7, 2014
Posted in: WDF Development. 9 Comments

One of the files in Taylor Wimpey’s planning application for White Dirt Farm was a ‘Statement of Community Involvement’. In it, Taylor Wimpey explain how the community has been consulted, that views have been incorporated into the plans, and as a result the design has evolved to address the community view.

Taylor Wimpey advise in their report that:

13% of the visitors to the consultation took the opportunity to oppose the plans
4% of comments said the views into the land should be preserved
5% were worried about the loss of the gap land
1% felt White Dirt Lane was unsuitable for cycle or foot paths
3% felt the development would worsen traffic in the surrounding roads

This is not the consultation I visited, nor the view I know the community has about the development. Many of you reading this will now realise why I posted a poll asking the exact same questions, but in a Yes – No – Don’t Know format. You will not be surprised to learn that this generated very different results, and this has been used to gather key data to challenge Taylor Wimpey’s ‘statement of community involvement’.

Along with the failure to consult with Horndean Parish Council, the general consultation quality and the two different plans of White Dirt Farm, Taylor Wimpey’s consultation has been a very substandard affair.

I have summarised this and the letter below is for the attention of the case officer asking him to support my view that the consultation was ineffective, and the application has no more weight than an application where consultation had not been carried out. If accepted this would be a serious embarrassment and a blow to Taylor Wimpey. Something like this could be the swinging point on a marginal application.

There are two files below. The Taylor Wimpey consultation report which has been submitted to EHDC and my letter raising my concerns.

Taylor Wimpey Statement Of Community Involvement

Cllr Guy Shepherd Letter Re WDF Consultation