We will fight!

I am angry this morning and it isn’t just the fact that l woke up to the sound of more rain on the roof skylights that has darkened my mood.

I have been reading through yet another attempt by annoyingly, persistent developers to rob us here in Larkhall of a green corridor (and doorstep) that connects our community to the Woolley Valley – an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and part of the Green Belt we treasure.

For those who don’t know – and l am sure some of you have your own planning contests to fight too – l am talking about a triangle of land which has Deadmill Lane (and the historic mill IS still standing) on one side and Ferndale Road on the other.

Both are narrow routes where hedges and parked cars often block the motorists view while using what are two well-known and well-used rat runs to avoid the London Road.

The developers – over recent years – have been trying to wear down opposition with a string of applications – hoping – l suppose – that we will grow weary of fighting.

They have even appealed against previous planning refusals and lost. They have also used every guise in the past to get an application through. They have gone from wanting to build multiple affordable houses to putting up two luxury homes.

This time around they are flying the green flag – as you will see if you look through the application.

In my opinion, the ‘green’ credentials they come up with are yet another guise to get permission for two expensive homes and then use the permission to argue for more homes on the rest of the land they want to develop.

The narrow, bordering street and lane are already a danger to pedestrians – we have lots of young families here too. Access or egress for this site will always be dangerous and add to the traffic issues we already suffer.

The site owners have let the land grow wild and have not even repaired a boundary stone wall which suffered a partial fall into a busy road.

If only planning authorities could have the power to say enough is enough – we will not entertain another application for housing on this site.

The design for the two houses is described as ‘infill’ but that’s another ploy l won’t accept. This is a green corridor to the Green Belt beyond, that we don’t want to see blocked.

B&NES already owns the land above this site – only separated by a hedge. If only they could get their hands on this bit and let us have allotments or an orchard for the community to use.

They application also includes an ecological survey done last August when they were after 15 homes on the site. It described the site as “overgrown” and it is now much worse. It wasn’t like that when l came to live in this area twelve years ago and doesn’t need to be now.

Strikes me that in swinging from applications for multiple homes, to an application for two expensive ones, it isn’t so much a question of providing much-needed housing as just getting permission for residential development on that site.

Please support us in our fight to prevent our community losing its link to the natural world.

All the details of why we oppose this latest proposal are on the poster above – along with how you can support us!

Try this link for full details of application. https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=23/00893/FUL#details_Section

Thank you.