Developers Free-For-All in Mid Sussex
Continuing on from our last post on the recent decision by the Planning Inspector to allow homes to be built in the AONB in Cuckfield there has been a response from the Conservative leader of MSDC.
This letter is reproduced in full below, alongside Serena's reply this week.
"The District Council is obviously frustrated and extremely disappointed with the Planning Inspectors [sic] decision to allow the Bylanes development. As a result I have written to our Local [sic] MP, Nicholas Soames, asking him to raise our concerns in the strongest possible terms with the Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Mr Eric Pickles. However, it is totally untrue and absurd to suggest, as does Serena Tierney, that the Conservative led Council has never objected to the 17,000 homes imposed upon it by the Labour Government's South East Plan. We strongly objected in June 2006 and again in October 2008. We also made our objections directly to the Government Office and took legal advice on whether we could mount a Judicial Review. This Council has also vigorously stated its opposition to these unrealistic and unsustainable housing numbers on many other occasions, all to no avail. As soon as the Conservative led Coalition Government announced its intention to revoke the South East Plan, this Council worked pro-actively to successfully establish a new five year housing supply based on our own needs assessment that meets the requirements of the local community. This Council will encourage and work with our Town and Parish Councils to bring forward Neighbourhood Plans as part of a new District Wide Plan. The new District Plan will then be consulted upon in line with our Statement of Community Involvement. At no time in this long and frustrating process have Serena Tierney and her Lib Dem colleagues come up with, or indeed proposed any policies that suggest a different way forward. In fact they fully supported Conservative proposals for a new five year housing assessment only last November! Have they changed their mind? If they do have an alternative Policy [sic] now is the time to share it with us!" | "Sir, In response to Gary Wall's comments (Middy:10.02.2011), in paragraph 29 of his decision granting planning permission to Rydon Homes to build on the land north of Bylanes Close, the Planning Inspector says (my emphasis): 'I have considered the arguments advanced that less weight should be given to the South East Plan housing targets as a result of the Government's stated intention to revoke them in due course. However, in the absence of an alternative strategy and its resultant targets that have been prepared in the context of the guidance in PPS3 and its companion documents and been the subject of appropriate consultation and examination, the South East Plan targets are the only sound basis upon which to base housing requirements in Mid Sussex at the present time. Whilst I am aware that the Council has strong reservations about the South East Plan's housing targets, I also note that it did not object to them or suggest an alternative development strategy for the area to the South East Plan Examination in Public.' It was the job of the Tory councillors running the council to instruct and support the officers to prepare and make suitable representations to protect the interests of local people in Mid Sussex. The Lib Dem opposition consistently urged them to do so and to do it in time. According to the Inspector they still failed to do the job for which they were elected. They have let down not only the present residents of Mid Sussex but future generations, too. Yours faithfully, Serena Tierney |
Garry Wall Leader of the Conservative Group Mid Sussex District Council | Serena Tierney Parliamentary Campaigner Mid Sussex Liberal Democrats |
To view the full version of the Planning Inspector's decision Click Here
*UPDATE*
There is a new plan to submit a planning application to build on the strategic gap between Cuckfield and Haywards Heath. It is for the woods on the land next to the Paddocksland nature reserve that was under a similar threat a couple of years ago. It will involve 'rerouting' the public footpath from Butlers Green to the Lucastes end of the twitten.
The developer is Wimpey; their agent is Woolf Bond Planning. The proposals are set out on this website:
http://www.woolfbond.co.uk/butlersgreen/
Comments have to submitted by this Friday, 18th March.
This land is (unlike Chatfield road and Bylanes Close) not identified as suitable for housing in the local planning douments so there may be a better chance of holding it off. It is just the kind of speculative application that the decision in the Bylanes Close appeal is likely to encourage.
Serena Tierney says:
"Hot on the heels of the planning inspector's decision to grant planning permission to build houses in the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in Cuckfield comes a new plan to build on the woods and fields between Haywards Heath and Cuckfield. Local people have already fought a successful campaign against plans to build on the Paddocksland nature reserve. This plan is to build on the woods and fields alongside it. It is a speculative application because the land is not allocated for housing in MSDC's plans but the inspector's decision to allow building on the AONB was based on the fact that MSDC have not allocated enough sites to meet the need for housing land over the next 5 years. As a result, all sorts of applications will be made for quite inappropriate sites and we will be faced with a constant need to campaign for sustainable development and against this sort of application. As I said in my letters to the Middy, if the Tories running MSDC had opposed the housing numbers in the South East Plan, we would be in better position to hold off this sort of application. Other councils locally opposed the numbers and had their allocation cut. If the Tories had done their job in allocating suitable housing land, we would not have this problem at all. As it is, we will all have to fight to see that Mid Sussex is developed sustainably - not just for those of us who are around now but for the generations who will follow us. What a dreadful and unnecessary mess." |