Developer 'ignores' council chief’s advice

9:06am Thursday 3rd July 2008

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THE developer bringing forward a landmark development for a new gateway quarter for Basingstoke has not followed the borough council's advice on consultation.

That's the view of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council chief executive Tony Curtis on the approach taken by Lemon Land, which has unveiled radical plans for the former Eli Lilly site.

The developer launched a consultation with residents, councillors and other interested parties. The first public meeting, on June 18, was chaotic as the plans provoked a hostile reaction from many residents.

Mr Curtis told The Gazette: "In recent months, my discussions with Lemon Land have focused on the principles of development, the council's ambitions to achieve a learning campus and how best to engage the local community.

"The discussions have not been about the details of any future planning application.

"My advice has been that there should be a comprehensive programme of community engagement, taking a neighbourhood planning approach.

"Lemon Land chose not to follow that advice and instead to undertake the current consultation. This site-specific exercise has not been endorsed by the council."

Mr Curtis explained that a neighbourhood planning approach would place the development in a ward context, taking account of other planned developments, such as the council's ideas for housing on the former South View allotments and adjoining plots of land, so residents could offer their input on more than one site.

He added: "The council has not participated in the current consultation and it is not for me to comment on how it has been handled by the developer."

Mathew Mainwaring, a director at Lemon Land's planning consultants Indigo Planning, disagreed with Mr Curtis' view.

He said: "As part of the overall application, and as made clear at the exhibition and consultation evening on June 18, the planning application will take into account committed developments in the area already identified in the Basingstoke Local Plan."