The Planning Application (No DM2019/00322) received in February last year to redevelop the allotment land between Greenhill and Woodend will finally come to the Planning Committee for decision on 1 July (meeting starts at 7.30pm).  The proposal is to build nine two storey houses with accommodation at roof level together with parking, a new vehicular access from Woodend, associated landscaping, provision of open space, pavilion and allotment plots.

The allotment land has not been used as such for some years, but is designated by the Council as an ‘Urban Green Space’.  These are areas of open land which have restricted public access.  The Local Plan says that development of such a space will be resisted unless it can be demonstrated that the development would preserve or enhance its open character, its function as a leisure or recreational resource and its contribution to visual amenity.

Previous attempts to develop this land have been refused by the Council.

Part of the delay in bringing the application to committee was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  All committee meetings were suspended in April and May.  The Planning Committee has now begun to meet by video, as requested by the government, and this is the way this application will be considered on 1 July.  Face to face committee meetings are unlikely to resume until late autumn.

The officer report for the application, with the recommendation, will appear here in the next few days.  As this will be a virtual meeting of the committee, speaking at the committee will be slightly different. You are able to submit a Written Statement and/or may be able to speak at the meeting by following this link  Both of these options will be public in that your statement and name will be published online or you will speak to a meeting that will be broadcast online through the Council’s You Tube channel.