Planning Application: 4 lge houses land east of 26 The Slade

Thu 10 Aug 2017, 10:03

Good luck with that one. The direct quote from the June refusal notice could have been applied almost word-for-word to what I have tentatively named Retirement Monument Close in Pooles Lane (that no doubt will become Badgers' Retreat or something similar, can't wait to see what). On a more serious note, the pattern is clear. Applications go in, they duly get their first refusal. Amendments are suggested, second applications go in, and lo! They are more often than not accepted. This is how it works. Not only does this system keep councillors and related interested parties in a job - it gives them all an opportunity to appear to be genuinely concerned. They are not. They are clever up to a point, but not that clever that their smoke and mirrors can't be seen through. It is obvious that not only does the establishment play these games, so do the landowners. They keep as much land as they can while the value increases, until they need a financial top-up. Then a small piece sells, and a delighted developer goes through the motions above, thus avoiding any S106 obligations. And so it goes. We have experienced how all serious objections are totally ignored, even in a so-called Conservation Area. A new twist appears to be that all residents' comments have been removed from the WODC website. Really? Now, that's a bit more sinister, if true.

Wed 9 Aug 2017, 23:10

Last month WODC approved this application, which regrettably may have wider implications for development on other greenfield sites. The background is not encouraging for the production of a Neighbourhood Plan.

An application for 5 houses on this site was rejected in June last year. In its refusal notice the Council said " The location, siting, and scale of development would fail to respect or enhance the character of the area and its landscape, and would be harmful to visual amenity. Further, it would erode the character and appearance of the surrounding area as a result of encroachment into open countryside which makes an important contribution to the setting of the settlement. In addition it would set an undesirable precedent for similar, further development in this sensitive location."

The applicant appealed and although the appeal was rejected, the Inspector did not agree with the Council's reasons for refusal. The appeal was rejected on grounds of the impact of the development on neighbouring properties.

The approval of these 4 "executive homes" makes further applications for development on adjacent land highly likely, as the Council has acknowledged. These are very likely to be approved and be designed to avoid S106 payments.

All the residents' comments relating to both applications have been removed from the WODC website. The agent's documents which do remain however are an object lesson in how to exploit the planning system.

On a more general note, I was not surprised that the OCC Highways did not raise objections to the proposed Hixet Wood development. In my experience they never have objections to any proposals!

Sat 22 Apr 2017, 12:56 (last edited on Wed 9 Aug 2017, 23:01)

Someone kindly put details of this application through our door this morning. It's a re-run of an application for 5 properties which was refused last year and opposed strongly by quite a number of people. Dated 13th March, it appears to have gone under everyone's radar as there is only one comment on WODC website at the moment. Comments are needed by next Thursday, 27th April and the application can be found at publicaccess.westoxon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=OMN4ZBRKJOR00