Answers still needed (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Answers still needed

12:02pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Letters

Sir.–I must thank the “gang of four” Tory councillors, allegedly representing Chineham, Bramley and Sherfield, for so graphically illustrating the paucity of their case. (Gazette letters January 26).

They appear to have got their loyalties a little confused in their letter entitled “Let’s pull together”.

Their ‘us’ appears to be aimed towards the council’s Conservative group, but less so towards those they represent and – even more importantly – the balanced interests of the borough at large.

Whilst dismissing my letter as containing “so much misinformation”, they totally fail to show any single error in my contribution, and then go on to complain that there are those seeking to stall the process.

These councillors have it in their power to prevent the construction of a major development area around Chineham, and impacting on Bramley and Old Basing. If they fail to do that, the current trickle of Tory supporters already demonstrating their unhappiness could turn into a flood.

These councillors need to address three important and fundamental questions. Firstly, why, if the Manydown land lease was purchased for “provision of high-quality, comprehensive development” did a small group of councillors in 2006 choose to “not actively promote” development?

Secondly, if one generously accepts that this meant non-availability back in 2006, why is that still the case over five years later? Lastly, why, when the lease was bought from the Manydown Company for development, is our council now seeking to use this landholding for the opposite purpose, and in so doing, depriving the residents of Basingstoke and Deane and their partners of much-needed income which would be raised from disposal of just a small portion of the 2,000 acres in question?

Rational answers to these questions would be appreciated.

–Cllr Martin Biermann, Independent, Chineham.

Sir.–I have read with alarm the letter from Councillors Still, Miller, Vaughan and Jayawardena which, far from resolving problems of “misinterpretation”, seeks to perpetuate a number of myths. In particular: 1. The suggestion is that it is too late to change horses and to include Manydown as a viable site option. This is not the case and ignores the hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money spent by the two councils working up the Manydown proposal from a technical point of view. It would be very surprising if other sites which have been selected for inclusion in the Core Strategy have a similar resource of background information to support them.

2. The result of the public consultation exercise indicated that a number of local residents were against the idea of a single major development. However, that is not the only option. Any initial development at Manydown is unlikely to be larger than some of the proposals included in the core strategy on the east side of the town and will offer significant benefits, such as public open spaces and flagship facilities.

3. Including part of the Manydown land in this way will, of course, address the very point that the councillors make in their letter about balancing development around the town’s periphery.

4. The idea of uncontrolled opportunistic development by developers at Basingstoke is scaremongering. Planning inspectors and the Secretary of State are giving a clear message to developers that councils are to be given sufficient time to get their plans approved and that there is no place for opportunistic developer challenge.

On all these counts, the contribution from these councillors is at best misguided, and at worst highly mischievous. It also ignores the huge benefits to Basingstoke that a carefullydesigned, environmentallysensitive development at Manydown could offer.

–Craig Noel, Planning agent for The Manydown Company, Basingstoke.

Sir.–I wasn’t too surprised by the ‘our way or take the highway’ toned letter from the Conservative councillors of Chineham and Bramley and Sherfield, and it is yet another example of why some of us have become disillusioned with the Basingstoke Conservative group as a whole.

Greenfield land in the Chineham and Bramley and Sherfield area for 1,530 dwellings has recently been allocated by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in its ongoing LDF preparations. This figure represents just under half of the total number of dwellings planned for greenfield sites in the whole borough!

Do the Conservative borough councillors for these wards really think that this will be viewed by their existing residents as being an allocation of sites ‘balanced across the borough’ ?

The Conservative borough councillors of Chineham and Bramley and Sherfield don’t appear to have taken on board the concerns of a growing number of their own residents regarding the amount of development planned for their respective wards on yet more of their greenfields.

Much has been said recently about Manydown but I have not heard or seen anyone claim that it could, or even should, take all of the housing that Basingstoke and Deane needs now.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council purchased their interest in Manydown under powers conferred by the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which are supposed to facilitate development.

It will be interesting to see how much longer the borough, as landowner particularly, can continue to frustrate development there especially as it is clear other parts of the borough are now seeing so many of their greenfields come forward so quickly.

–Jo Walke, Chineham.

Sir.–The letter in The Gazette from four Conservative councillors was almost unbelievable in the nonsense it contained.

The reality is that Conservatives are proposing more new houses in the Chineham, Bramley and Old Basing area than they are currently preventing from being built on Manydown!

Once the decision to locate thousands of new houses in Chineham, Bramley and Old Basing area is made, matters will snowball – the number of houses will only go up.

Any other site ruled unsuitable, or that doesn’t come forward, will see yet more pressure put on east of Basingstoke to provide a replacement. Soon developers will be putting in planning applications on “reserve sites”, such as Cufaude Farm, which will be built on.

And when the next Local Development Framework is put together, or a new Government ups housing targets, it will mean still more houses for the same area. Hampshire County Council is already planning a new secondary school to meet the demand.

The decision in 2006 which stopped proper planning for housing on Manydown was taken by the Conservatives, so it is pathetic of them to claim that not enough preparation has been done now in 2012.

The legacy of the Conservatives will be the desecration of the Loddon Valley.

–Councillor John Shaw, Liberal Democrat Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.