JUST three weeks after an extensive appeal hearing, a Government planning inspector dismissed Bloor Homes’ application to build housing at Poultry Farm on Chiltley Lane.
The definitive decision provided a victory last month for the community and residents of the adjacent Berg Estate, who fought the appeal under the rule six party agreement.
Bloor Homes Southern wanted to build 100 houses on the site, but East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) refused the application in January 2015.
At the time, parish councillors were accused of not taking into account the numerous “well-articulated and legitimate concerns of residents”, especially regarding safety, transport congestion and lack of amenities, and for being out of touch with the community they represent.
Alistair Halliday, spokeman for the Chiltley farm Action Group, said: “All of us are delighted with the news. We represent many people who have lived in Liphook a very long time and who know the village well, and we have always strived to secure the best strategic outcomes for the village as a whole.
“On the Chiltley Farm proposal, it seemed odd to us the village was being rushed into accepting additional, unnecessary, inappropriate and unpopular housing over and above the requirement when there was simply no need for doing so.
“Moreover, this was a deeply unsatisfactory development, poorly conceived with no amenities or benefits to Liphook but instead a detrimental impact on traffic congestion and the local area.
“It was thus clearly unpopular with Liphook residents. We were delighted the inspector also took this view."
He added: “I must say we were hugely impressed by our district councillors Bill Mouland, Angela Glass and Rebecca Standish, who went out of their way to attend the appeal hearing and be so fully informed about the issues, as well as the planning department at EHDC.
“We are most grateful to all those residents who attended the hearing and gave us such wonderful support that achieved the result we all wanted.
“It is now high time for our neighbourhood plan to be progressed as a priority to ensure residents get a say in the future strategic development of the village and we look forward to supporting this wherever possible.”
District council leader Ferris Cowper said: “I’m delighted East Hampshire District Council’s judgment in this highly complex matter has been supported by the Government inspector.
“However, this case involved a great deal more than the lack of merit in the Chiltley Farm application.
“That was clearly wholly unsuitable for the village of Liphook and the various arguments have been well-rehearsed in public both at the EHDC planning committee and also at the appeal.
“However, the district council found itself having to walk a planning tightrope between the Poultry Farm application and the Lowsley Farm application. This was because both would be held to satisfy the agreed housing allocation for the village and both applications were being dealt with at the same time by EHDC.
“Had the council made a mistake the village could have suffered the fate of the least attractive of the two applications being approved on appeal, or worse still, having both of them given consent.
“In particular, the deferral of the Lowsley Farm re-application for better highway solutions took immense courage with the poultry farm appeal due to begin just days later.
“This succession of finely judged decisions has in the end delivered the best possible outcome for the village under the current planning circumstances.
“The poultry farm has been refused and the applicant’s appeal dismissed.
“The deferred Lowsley Farm application now has a professional report on long-term highway solutions and under the community infrastructure levy, enough money to complete the analysis and propose the chosen solution from those five.
“Few local planning authorities I know would have shown the courage and the competence to deliver such an outstanding and finely judged solution.
“I am immensely proud of my officers and also the councillors who are members of the planning committee, for all their hard work in this intensely complex situation. I think the villagers of Bramshott and Liphook can be proud of their district council.”
Fellow Tory councillor Mr Mouland said: “The decision is a vindication of the district council’s planning policy and a great result for residents who campaigned so eloquently and reasonably against the scheme.
“Congratulations should also go to the council’s legal and planning teams who made such a persuasive case. However, it is scant consolation to residents who will be most affected by the Lowsley Farm scheme, whose approval meant the Chiltley Farm appeal could be refused.
“The dilemma was that Bramshott and Liphook had to take a minimum of 175 new houses to help EHDC show the Government it had the magic figure of a five-year land supply – meaning it had some control over where new housing should go and the power to refuse sites that were unacceptable.
“The policy is obviously working and other would be developers should take note.”
EHDC planning portfolio holder Mrs Glass added: “The inspector’s decision was the correct conclusion as EHDC has a five-year land supply and had also granted permission on the allocated site at Lowsley Farm for the 175 houses in the Allocation Plan, required to fulfil Liphook’s numbers.”
In her summary, the Government Inspector Christina Dowes stated that she did not consider that the economic, social and environmental gains, when considered together, would be sufficient to achieve a sustainable form of development [at the Poultry Farm site] and that one of the planning principles of the framework is that planning should genuinely be plan-led so that local people are empowered to shape their surroundings through a system of local and neighbourhood plans.
Comments
This article has no comments yet. Be the first to leave a comment.