Gladmans appeal against planning decision and new application for 60 houses North End Road

Gladmans the developers have appealed against the refusal of permission for their application to build 80 houses off North End Road, and the public enquiry for this appeal will be held on 12th Jan 2016.

They have also submitted a new application for 60 houses on the same site which in my view does not address any of the issues which caused the original application to be refused.

I have sent a written representation to AVDC on this new application as follows:

As District Councillor for Steeple Claydon I oppose this application on the following grounds:

- the reasons for rejection remain the same as for the previous application for 80 houses on the same site and the new application does nothing to mitigate the issues and concerns previously raised.

- the site is outside the settlement pattern of the village and extends into open countryside. There would be a harmful environmental impact on surrounding properties and loss of the attractive perspective of the village on approaching from the north. There is no connection between this site, which is surrounded by green spaces, and the existing settlement area in the village.

- approval of this application would pre-empt the local decision making process through the neighbourhood plan which is in development. It should be for local residents to determine where new developments should be located.

- a number of recent small-scale developments have been competed in West St, Oak Leys and Addison Road which have blended in with the surrounding area. The size, scale and density of this proposed development is out of scale with the existing village settlement and would not benefit or enhance the village.

- the development is not sustainable: there is very limited local employment and a poor public transport system. 95% of the village residents commute out by car to work and the development would add to the traffic pressure on the limited rural road network which is already under strain. - there would be additional pressure on local facilities such as the surgery and school. - there has been a long history of flooding and drainage problems at the northern end of the village and this development would exacerbate the problems.

- North End Road is quite unsuitable to cope with the additional traffic which this development would generate - there is no pavement, there are parked cars on both sides, and there are two sharp bends. There is no safe or suitable pedestrian access to the centre of the village.