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Simon Sherlock raised £1,970 from 49 supporters
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Closed 15/05/2018
Weʼve raised £1,970 to To seek legal advice against Cheshire West & Chester building inappropriate housing on green belt land.
- Funded on Tuesday, 15th May 2018
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Story
In December 2017 Cheshire West Council Planning Committee decided to permit Green Belt Land to be used to undertake a so-called development of ''affordable housing” in Kingsley, a small rural village in Cheshire. They used the Rural Exception Policy & an extremely dubious Housing Needs Survey, prepared by a survey company appointed by the Developer's Agents. The conclusions the developer and CWAC drew from this survey were not borne out by the actual reported results.
Please view the planning committee in action at https://cheshirewestandchester.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/316643 (we are item 6, clickable from the items on the right)
Kingsley Parish Council have agreed to take the matter further and seek legal advice. This is going to cost initially in the region of £3 to £5k but if taken to judicial review will cost much more.
We, Kingsley Green Belt Action Group, are grateful to Kingsley Parish Council for their proactive stance on this matter and understand that they do not have the funds to embark on a massive legal challenge to their Borough Authority. Cheshire West Planning appear to think they can adapt the rules to suit themselves and have shown an arrogance beyond words, clearly feeling they will not be challenged due to the costs involved.
An Expert Planner and Solicitor has advised as follows:
It is simply not possible to reconcile the various policies with the approach which the Council’s planning officer has taken in recommending approval and the decision of the Committee members which relied on the report. In particular, I note that the Committee Report states that the development “is considered to conform to the provisions of the relevant development plan policies and the Framework”. However, the Housing Needs Survey which supports the application has not been undertaken in accordance with either the adopted Local Plan nor the emerging Local Plan. Given that the HNS is fundamental in order to overcome the fact that the development lies within the greenbelt and trigger the Rural Exceptions policy there are serious questions regarding the Council’s approach to dealing with the application
We are therefore asking everybody reading this to please consider donating to our cause to fight the decision made by Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council. Although you may think this is just a decision affecting one small field in a village in Cheshire we would argue that this decision affects all of us living in rural England. If we succeed, we might just be able to set a precedent to help you defend your villages and small towns from unscrupulous developers.
This is not a NIMBY fight - Kingsley Parish Council worked with developers in 2011/2012 to achieve a successful affordable housing project on brown field land in the village that is now occupied by people with local connections and considered a successful project. The Parish Council recognise the need for change and increased housing opportunity but want it to be developed in a manner that does not cause problems to residents or strain infrastructure resources to an unacceptable level.
Updates
1
- 6 years ago
Simon Sherlock
6 years agoThank you to everybody who has donated so far, it is very much appreciated and will help go towards initial legal costs. At the Parish Council meeting Tuesday 20th Feb we will be letting them know where we are with fundraising, so it would be great to have a good push of donations before then to really show them that we still care about this. Let's all share the page on Facebook, Twitter & email etc to keep the interest alive and hopefully get over £1000 in time for the Tuesday meeting! Thanks again, Simon
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Supporters
49
Wendy Robinson
Mar 27, 2018
From Neil & Wendy Robinson - we hope more village residents get behind this cause.
£40.00
Eleanor Gorsuch
Mar 27, 2018
Thank you for all you are doing to try and protect Kingsley's vital Green Belt.
£50.00
Anonymous
Mar 9, 2018
£50.00
Anonymous
Mar 5, 2018
£30.00
David Smith
Mar 4, 2018
Affordable housing is needed. However, local councils need to follow agreed procedures. It is worth testing this case so that we don't get ridden over roughshod.
£30.00
Anonymous
Feb 28, 2018
hope you are successful, fingers crossed
Anonymous
Feb 27, 2018
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