As I reported at the public meeting with Helen Morgan the other week, the application has again been amended and will be subject to fresh public consultation.
So the 16-dwelling proposal first became 32. Now, all references to the number and layout have been withdrawn. Only the principles of housing development on the site and access remain. All other matters are to be Reserved Matters applications, should this application pass at outline.
I would have preferred that the application be refused and a fresh full application be submitted. I gather the agents didn’t want to withdraw the application due to the cost. In times gone by, they would have had a free go at reapplying after a refusal, but that option was removed in previous planning reforms.
In the new version, the sandstone walls are to be retained, which is a big improvement over the ranch-style fence they were proposing. The mound is to be retained as part of a simpler road layout. The listed Cider Press is still indicated as becoming ancillary to a dwelling and becoming a store.
Still plenty to be concerned about it. Essentially, the application is now asking: Is it OK to have housing on this land?
For me, even if it is a smaller development, I continue to have grave reservations about the combined impact on housing growth in the village. Combine that with construction traffic at Rednal and potentially GreenGen and National Grid infrastructure, and we have a lot of traffic pressure on the A5 Queen’s Head Junction, which National Highways is the 18th worst junction in the region.
Let me know what you think.
