A PLANNING application to build 28 new homes on Wychcroft, Magdalen Lane has been re-submitted. The planning application was originally submitted in Autumn 2013, but was withdrawn weeks later following local opposition.
The current application promises a housing development (house types being 2 storey, 3 and 4 bedrooms) with associated access roads, landscaping and providing wildlife ponds and flood alleviation works.
The agents acting on behalf of local developer Birstall May Ltd have submitted plans which include extensive revisions from that originally proposed in 2013. Flood risk and drainage measures have been heavily revised with an intention to mitigate flood risk in the area as a whole and not just in relation to the development itself. Within the application it says that considerable discussions have taken place with the Environment Agency and the intention is to demonstrate that flood risk issues can be addressed.
The layout of the site has also been revised with an intention to satisfy the requirements of East Riding of Yorkshire Council planners and Highways Department professionals and meet the details and principle of prior objections in relation to traffic and parking.
The application will be sure to initially alarm those who previously objected and opposed the development at Wychcroft. However, it is to their credit that Birstall May do seem to have significantly re-thought and re-planned the development in the new application in order to satisfy genuine concerns and fears, whilst maintaining their concept of providing high-quality, first-class housing.
It will be certainly be interesting to discover if Mr Peter Read, the Managing Director of Birstall May Ltd, will attend a future Planning Committee meeting of Hedon Town Council to explain his concept (as he did with the previous planning application). If he does, it will certainly provide an interesting insight into the proposed development.
The planning application documents are available to view on the East Riding Council’s planning portal website site.
Visit: Planning Public Access, click through to the website and enter 14/03927/PLF in the search box and click on Associated Documents.
Last night Hedon Town Council voted to recommend to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council that the planning application is refused. The council had several concerns, but the major was the increased flood risk that the scheme might prompt.
We’ll bring you a full report later on the Hedon Blog.
As Ray’s article points out, this application is being discussed by the Hedon Town Council’s Planning Committee tomorrow night. Residents are of course welcome to attend and I hope to see a good number there. It starts at 7.15 pm prompt, Thursday 12th at the Town Hall.
As Chairman of that committee I have been seeking clarification as to the planning status of Wychcroft which appears to have been changed in the emerging East Riding Local Plan and a number of residents have been asking me what impact that may have in the application process.
Back in the 1999 Holderness District Wide Local Plan which set the planning policy over the past 15 years or so, the land was identified as ‘an important local area in …. the settlement’. That designation was made back then to reflect the valuable contribution the open area makes to the area.
In the new E.R. Local Plan which sets policy until 2029, there is no such designation and that needed clarifying. The Planning Committee has to have full information in order to consider the application and make the right decision in full possession of all the facts.
My discussions with Senior Planning Officers at County Hall have produced an explanation which I hope is of use to members of the committee, and to those members of the community who have expressed concern over the apparent loss of the site’s protected status.
I have discovered that whilst there is no actual designation for any such sites in the new county wide Local Plan, the policy (ENV2) is that ‘developments should protect and enhance important open spaces’. The 2006 Conservation Area Appraisal recognises Wychcroft as ‘being of particular significance as the only remaining open area affecting the setting of (Hedon’s) Conservation Area’ which is potentially a significant factor.
I’m sure Ray will provide a report on the outcome of the committee’s deliberations after tomorrow’s meeting. Hedon’s decision will be notified to the East Riding who will make the formal decision.
John P. Dennis. FRICS
668th Mayor and Chair of Planning, Hedon Town Council
The Planning Application is to to be discussed at Hedon Town Council Planning Committee tomorrow night (Thurs 12th March 2015) at the Town Hall @ 7:15pm. Normal practice at the council is to allow a speaker for and against the application from the public who are welcome to attend but not participate in the actual meeting.
Ive lived in Hedon all my life (30 years) and have seen hedon turn from a small village to a town, in my opinion Hedon has been ruined its to big already why do people feel the need to build on every bit of green land. Parking is already a big issue. Leave Hedon alone now x
Do these developers have a plan to improve the town’s infrastructure to cope with yet another increase in population? Parking, for example, as I guarantee many people will not walk into the centre? Healthcare? The doctors and chemists are already extremely busy. Sewage and drainage? We were built as a small town with the advantages and limitations that come with it. The developers can’t just knock up an estate, fill it with people and expect the town to carry the burden.