EAST Hampshire district councillors have been forced to hold a special meeting to discuss plans to build a massive 275 houses together with a school and community centre on Causeway Farm at Petersfield.
The meeting, which is to take place on Thursday, May 23 at Penns Place, will be the third held by members of the south planning committee in less than a month.
The committee was due to meet last night to decide the controversial plans for 276 houses on Ramshill, submitted by Bryant Homes.
But the latest meeting has had to be arranged because councillors believe the Causeway applicants Phillips Build Ltd will appeal against non-determination in the statutory eight weeks if they do not meet.
Planning control manager Ian Ellis told The Herald: ÒWe worked out that if the plan went to committee on June 6, that would be something like two days after the eight week period.Ó
Planners contacted the developerÕs agents, planning consultants Hawthorne Camm, and asked for an extension to the period of time in which the council could make a decision, said Mr Ellis.
ÒWe asked if we could have confirmation of this in writing and were told that they would not put in in writing,Ó Mr Ellis told The Herald.
ÒOur view is that it is almost certain that they would appeal against non-determination if we do not deal with this in the statutory eight weeks,Ó said Mr Ellis, Òand my advice to the chairman of the committee was that it was important that the councilÕs position was set out officially and we would rather do that with a committee report and a recommendation to members than in response to an appeal lodged against non-determination.Ó
Mr Ellis said the officersÕ recommendation would be to refuse the application because Causeway Farm was not an allocated site in the first review of the Local Plan currently being used by East Hampshire District Council. Also it was only a reserved site in the second review of the Local Plan which was emerging.
ÒEven then the reserve sites will only come forward if monitoring of housing numbers throughout the county show there is a need to bring them forward,Ó said Mr Ellis.
Petersfield district councillor Teresa Jamieson told The Herald this week: ÒIt is totally unreasonable to force councillors and planners to make decisions in such a short time. This is a large application with huge implications for Petersfield.Ó
She added: ÒSimilar-sized applications usually take three months due to the volume of public comment, other consultations and deliberations on design and layout.Ó
But Mrs Jamieson stressed that it was not too late for members of the public to submit their comments to East Hampshire District Council.
ÒThe site is different from many others in that it is not for development in our current Local Plan and is only proposed to be in the next one for up to 2011. However, this has not been ratified by the government inspector yet.Ó
Objectors to the Causeway Farm development have hit out at the developerÕs access proposals, labelling them a ÒshamblesÓ.
Causeway Farm resident Philip Haines said: Òboth the Sussex Road and the Causeway accesses to the proposed development have serious flaws in their conception and supporting documentation.Ó
Prominent Petersfield businessman Michael Vincent has called on the council to throw out the application because, he claimed, the site was prone to flooding and the Environment Agency had designated it to be part of a flood plain.
Meanwhile town councillor Elsa Bulmer and her husband Ken have voiced fears that Òpressure groupsÓ are delaying the provision of affordable housing in the town.
In a statement this week Mr and Mrs Bulmer said: ÒPetersfield is in danger of becoming an unbalanced community with the young virtually excluded by the high price of property. Many young people who were born here have their families here and work here are compelled to look for accommodation elsewhere.Ó
They said no policeman, nurse, teacher, social worker or postman could afford to come and live in Petersfield: ÒYet these are the very people we depend upon for our quality of life.Ó