Green Site Development
Posted by DS on Friday, 15th October 2010, 23:48
The following was posted on the local Gurnard Parish Community website this week. It raises a concern that we in Northwood should share as these proposed changes to the planning regulations will make it easier for developers to change our village as well. This is the letter that they printed:-
“Has anybody else heard that a local developer is trying to get permission under the new proposed changes to planning regulations on Green/Brown field sites.
I heard that the land near the Village Hall and Worsley Lane is in the frame for low cost housing, would Worsley Lane be the entrance to this site? This would open up the Jordan Valley (Smith’s old farm land) and all areas near it. If you know anything please post it here. We must stop this as we already have many areas to build houses on this Island without some greedy developer spoiling our village.”
I wonder if we in Northwood should also do some homework and ask our Councillors if they have been approached regarding this new easier planning route.
DS.
2 Responses to “Green Site Development”
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Village
- - Cowes Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society
- - Cowes Amateur Winemakers
- - Cowes Heritage
- - Cowes Radar Ex-Employees Association
- - Cowes-Deauville Twinning Association
- - Friends of Northwood Cemetery
- - Friends of Northwood House and Park
- - Medham W.I.
- - Newport Rowing Club
- - Northwood Floral Art Group
- - Northwood Village Produce Association
- - Northwood W.I.
Parish Council
I must admit I was shocked when I saw how my late Mother -in-laws land had been divided up after her house was sold to a local builder .She lived in Wyatts Lane opposite the scout hut for over 60 years and had always sworn that she would never want to see her garden split up for developement .Last year when on holiday I drove down Wyatts Lane and Wyatts Close filled almost all of what had been her garden.The houses are squashed together and seemed to be far too many for the available area.I know there must be a shortage of housing on the Island but this seemed to be planning gone mad.
Where I live in north Kent there is also a housing shortage, and in my village a lot of orchards have been turned over to housing no matter what the local residents protests are.I sometimes wonder if local planning officials can actually see the damage they are doing to green field sites.Protesting seems to have little effect on any of the planners .I bet my ma-in-law is spinning in her grave God rest her.
Like you DS I am concerned that developers are constantly looking for ways to breach the planning rules. Recent changes to the legislation regarding ‘brown field sites’ that allowed people to sell off parcels of their gardens to provide land for small developers to fill in , which turn ‘semi’s into terraces’ and spoil whole street scenes.
The problem as I see it is the lack of public scrutiny during the planning procedure, at every stage there is opportunity to oppose those applications that we are now complaining of. IIRC the only time there was a decent public turn out was when the short lived allotment scheme was allocating the lots. The point I make here is if issue’s do not affect us directly we tend to do a ‘Nelsons eye’ and ignore them.
People cast blame on local parish councils for allowing the unwanted developments but in all honesty we must all share the blame. Local councils can only work within tightly constrained rules, to deviate brings castigation from County Hall.
There is however an avenue that is not used to defend our community from many of the unsightly in-fills and additions that are springing up all over the Island. Village Design Statements (VDS) these documents are prepared through consultation with residents, and set out to clearly state what we want and how developments should be carried out. The VDS role is to act as supplementary guidance to local planning authorities, it also gives guidance to all concerned with the whole planning procedure.
I bring this up because Northwood is at this moment in the process of producing its own village design statement, now it the time for your input to help protect the village for future generations, contact your councillor now!
G R Cotterill.