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Two letters sent by Stoke Golding Parish Council re Planning Applications for houses on the Convent Site and Sherwood Road STOKE GOLDING PARISH COUNCIL Chairman - Cllr Reg Ward, Mill House, Higham Lane, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton CV13 6JH Telephone (01455) 212369 Vice-Chairman - Cllr Rachel Terheege, 10 Shenton Close, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton, CV13 6HL Telephone (01455) 212953 Please reply to: The Parish Clerk – Mrs Jill Jones, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton, Warks, CV13 6EZ Telephone (01455) 212805 Mr Philip Metcalfe Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Argents Mead Hinckley LE10 1BZ 9 July 2010 We would like to submit the comments of the Stoke Golding Parish Council regarding the following Planning Application. PLANNING APPLICATION 10/00358/OUT - 59 HOUSES on the CONVENT SITE We accept the principle of building houses on the Convent site and therefore support an outline application for the following reasons: 1. The approved HBBC Core Strategy requirement is for 59 houses to be built in Stoke Golding and this requirement would be met by this application from Mar City. It would also be in line with a recent full Council decision to ask the Secretary of State that the Core Strategy requirement should be amended to 60 maximum houses to be built in each key rural centre. 2. This is a brownfield site and as such should be used ahead of any greenfield site to fulfil the required Core Strategy housing allocation. Policy 3 from the East Midlands Regional Plan states, ‘in assessing the suitability of sites for development priority should be given to making best use of brownfield sites’. In addition use of this site helps the Council to meet its target for utilising brownfield sites for housing. 3. Policy NE5 refers to building in Open Countryside and the location of the site assists in complying with this and other aspects of HBBC policies that relate to building in Open Countryside. The majority of the development would be shielded by extensive, mature trees and landscaping and would not be intrusive into the surrounding landscape. 4. Mar City, in their outline plans, has shown sensitivity to the retention of the natural environment existing on the site. 5. Use of the Convent site retains the existing separation between the villages of Stoke Golding and Dadlington in line with policies to prevent the joining of adjacent settlements. It maintains the desired Green Wedge between the communities and would be in the best interest of both communities. 6. Other sites – including the Sherwood Road site - offered for building through the SHLAA 2009 within the Parish of Stoke Golding have been rejected for a variety of reasons which are documented on the HBBC website. 7. Housing needs analysis: There is no identified or recorded demand from the local community for such a large significant increase in houses of nearly 20% of the existing village. The Coalition Government Policies are currently being amended to ensure that local councils will, in future, determine the requirements for the area and greater weight must be given to local views. We ask that HBBC Planning Officers and the Planning Committee Councillors take this into account when deciding on the two planning applications. 8. A smaller number of homes and the resulting increase in population of the village would mean that new residents could be better assimilated into the community and their needs more easily addressed than if such a large number of houses were to be built as is proposed by Morris Homes. However whilst supporting this application in principle we also would like to comment that: · We continue to have strong reservations regarding the suggested improvements to arrangements for highways/ pedestrian access. Safety is paramount. The access as planned to the site uses a bend leading onto a very dangerous three-way junction with poor visibility in all directions. The traffic would greatly increase - as would the danger for all road users. We ask that the highways arrangements should be re-thought and further strengthened for all road users but in particular pedestrians and cyclists. Even at present around 70 pupils of St Martin’s School walk from Stoke Golding and Dadlington to school each day and have to cross the road at a highly dangerous three way junction. · Appropriate infrastructure should be in place well before any building commences –we have strong concerns that the developers have not gone far enough in addressing the well documented problems regarding the overloading of the foul sewerage system in Stoke Golding and the subsequent increase in the needs should the development proceed as is planned at the moment. · We note that in the outline plan as submitted access to the allotments is closed off and the Parish Council strongly support the maintenance of this rural amenity. · The outline planning application shows properties in too close a proximity to the neighbouring farm and as such this layout is inappropriate and could lead to a conflict of interest. If planning permission is granted for this development it should have conditions applied such that the final layout protects existing local and rural enterprises and facilities. In conclusion in 2009 we as the elected representatives of Stoke Golding made a comprehensive contribution to the consultation regarding the Draft Site Allocations Document. We clearly indicated our rejection of the Council’s Preferred Option for the Sherwood Road site and made a strong request to have the allocation of 59 houses built on the Convent Site. Recent meetings and soundings of public opinion continue to underpin this position and we would ask you to carefully consider all the points made above before coming to a decision which will fundamentally alter the character of our community. Yours sincerely Mrs Jill Jones Clerk to Stoke Golding Parish Council STOKE GOLDING PARISH COUNCIL Chairman - Cllr Reg Ward, Mill House, Higham Lane, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton CV13 6JH Telephone (01455) 212369 Vice-Chairman - Cllr Rachel Terheege, 10 Shenton Close, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton, CV13 6HL Telephone (01455) 212953 Please reply to: The Parish Clerk – Mrs Jill Jones, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton, Warks, CV13 6EZ Telephone (01455) 212805 Mr Philip Metcalfe – Planning Department Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Argents Mead Hinckley LE10 1BZ 9 July 2010 We would like to submit the comments of the Stoke Golding Parish Council regarding the following Planning Application. PLANNING APPLICATION 10/00408/OUT for 75 HOUSES on the SHERWOOD ROAD SITE We are opposed to the application for the following reasons: 1. In the 2009 HBBC review of available sites in the Borough,( the SHLAA document) the site is identified as not available for development because the site is Greenfield Grade 2 Agricultural Land and therefore no development should take place upon it. 2. The Core Strategy requirement for Stoke Golding is for 59 dwellings to be built. We believe that strong weight should be given to the recent request made by HBBC to the Secretary of State for the word ‘maximum’ to replace a ‘minimum’ of 60 houses. This application for AT LEAST 75 houses is significantly in excess of the preferred option in the Draft Site Allocation Document, and given the possibility of a higher density per hectare and the use of the neighbouring field(s) the development could be potentially enormous and totally inappropriate in a village environment. 3. Central Coalition Government Policies are currently being amended on an almost daily basis. However it is clear from press statements that local councils will, in future, be able determine the requirements for the area and that greater weight must be given to local views. We believe that to decide on or between 2 major developments for a community such as Stoke Golding at the present time, without clear guidance from central government departments and a finalised Site Allocation Document, could possibly be construed as not having a sound legal basis and at the best as a hastily arranged compromise to satisfy developers. 4. The proposal does not support Policy NE5, which relates to building in Open Countryside, in that it is detrimental to the landscape and local environment and character. In particular the Planning Application utilises a greenfield site ahead of a brownfield one. In addition it is placed upon an ancient and good quality ‘ridge and furrow’ field and lies close to the centre of the Bosworth Battlefield. 5. The site significantly reduces the separation between Stoke Golding and Dadlington and is therefore contrary to policies designed to prevent the amalgamation of communities. The maintenance of green wedges between settlements is of paramount importance. 6. This planned development, in the number of houses, is actually far larger than the present centre of the village of Dadlington and from this point of view would be detrimental to the landscape and local environment and character. 7. The development would be highly visible when viewed from the surrounding areas and again would be detrimental to the landscape and local environment and character. 8. Morris Homes rejected the requests for 106 contributions from the Police and Health Authorities. This is particularly of concern with regard to the present health services in the village which are at capacity and have very little scope for further expansion. 9. In addition no arrangements have been made to improve or increase any village facilities and benefit the community through 106 contributions. 10. In terms of education the Local Authority states that no contribution is needed - because there are spaces at Richmond Primary School under 2 miles away. This would mean that children would need to be taken by car to school as it would not be feasible for them to walk along the already busy Hinckley to Stoke Golding road. Also very little natural integration of the families into the life of the village would take place because of this – due to the numbers of houses involved. 11. Morris Homes have not addressed the serious problems with sewerage and drainage already experienced by the overloaded systems in Stoke Golding and which a development of this size could completely overwhelm. 12. We have serious concerns about the design of the road access from Stoke Road, Dadlington and subsequent management of the vast increase in traffic through the already dangerous and difficult three way junction close to the school. 13. There is no identified demand from the local community for such a significant increase in houses - potentially 75 + and 59. At the Core Strategy Consultation Stage there were no objections to 59 houses as were proposed by Council Planning Officials at the public meeting on the Draft Core Strategy and we believe that this information should be used in the present decision making process. 14. Morris Homes – East Developers have not consulted in any way with the local community. In conclusion, in 2009, we as the elected representatives of Stoke Golding, made a comprehensive contribution to the Consultation regarding the Draft Site Allocations Document. We clearly indicated our rejection of the Council’s Preferred Option for the Sherwood Road site and made a strong request to have the allocation of 59 houses built on the Convent Site. Recent meetings and soundings of public opinion continue to underpin this position and we would ask you to carefully consider all the points made above before coming to a decision which will fundamentally alter the character of our community. Yours sincerely Mrs Jill Jones Clerk to Stoke Golding Parish Council Copies to: Councillor S. L. Bray Councillor R. Mayne Councillor W. J. Crooks Mr Simon Wood – Head of Planning HBBC
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