More Floods? Packington Nook developers to resubmit application – email Alert 121

Posted by on

The following circular has been received from the Packington Nook Residents Association(PNRA), the action group that were instrumental in getting the last, much larger, planning application refused.
This much-reduced application from Hallam Land is the thin end of a wedge. If successful, it will make it easier to get the larger rejected plans passed in the future.  You need to know that this will affect .. YOU !

The impact on Ashby is well documented.  Essential character of the town, impact on traffic and roads, severe impact on facilities – schools, medical etc.

BUT

  Mill Street, July 2012This was the Gilwiskaw Brook in Mill Street, Packington in July 2012

As far as Packington is concerned the “hidden” impact is on potential flooding in the village. The significant increase in hard standing inevitably means greater run off into the Gilwiskaw Brook,  which is essentially the “drain” for the whole of Ashby and surrounding area.

WE WILL KEEP YOU UP TO DATE WITH DEVELOPMENTS AS WE LEARN OF THEM via these ALERTS and www.packington.info

There are still many villagers who are not signed up for these alerts.
Please promote the facility to friends and neighbours and if they are interested please ask them to contact alerts@packington.info with name, address, telephone contact number and email details — alternatively telephone Stephen on 01530 412963 if they have any questions.

Dear SupportersHallam have now sent consultation letters to residents in the Cambrian and Lower Packington Roads area announcing their plans for 70 houses in the field between the football pitches and Mill Farm. This is as we had expected and you can find information about the development on their rather rushed-together website called: https://www.lowerpackingtonroad-ashby.co.uk/We can expect a formal planning application to follow shortly. The letters and website will be used by the developers to tell the council of a public consultation, so lets help them with that. Please visit the website and go to the “Contact us” area, where you are asked for your name and contact details, as well as space to state your comments. Hallam know what the issues are at this site following the public enquiry for the wider Packington Nook development. However, we need to have as many people as possible posting to remind them of the detail and ensure they understand there is still opposition to development in these meadows.

We’ve suggested some topics you may wish to cover at the foot of this email. Please also come forward if you are able to help practically, such as with the preparation and delivery of leaflets.

We also need to tell you of a blow to the local situation on development, which is that North West Leicestershire’s proposed Core Strategy has been rejected by the Planning Inspector and NWLDC are going to start from scratch on putting together a new strategy that identifies specific sites for development. That means that the proposals for “mainly Coalville” and the housing distribution numbers for the district are essentially unsupported. There is every risk that it will now be open season for the developers in our area and that the Council will feel they have no choice but to approve applications which deliver housing volumes. There is more onus on PNRA than ever to make sure the issues are properly exposed – and we should rightly be asking serious questions why so much time and taxpayers money has been spent by the Council on getting nowhere. You can see the Inspector’s note to the Council here: https://www.zen12602.zen.co.uk/packington-nook/docs/nwldc-cs-inspectors-note-jul13.pdf

Back to the suggested issues for you to raise with the Lower Packington Road proposal:

  • state that you have read the proposal and wish to object to it;
  • refer Hallam to their previous application for the Packington Nook site which was subject to a Public Inquiry in Autumn 2009. There, the Planning Inspector recommended refusal on a number of grounds which are also relevant to this new proposal for Lower Packington Road. The reasons are detailed and should be properly considered by the developers. Specifically:
    • some significant harm to the landscape and the character of Ashby as a small market town;
    • shortcomings in the quality of the residential environment on parts of the site owing to noise from the A42;
    • an undue risk of harm to road safety;
    • shortcomings on the sustainability of this location. Most of the residents are likely to commute.
  • since the 2009 Inquiry noise from the A42 has not diminished and will be supplemented by considerable noise from the proposed HS2 route within 200m of the southern end of the proposed site;
  • issues with road safety remain, as the larger previous plan sought to take traffic out of the area by a new road joining up with Measham Road. Leicestershire County Council are currently consulting on proposed traffic calming measures in Lower Packington Road and Avenue Road and the extra peak hour traffic from this development will seriously worsen the situation and could negate proposed safety measures;
  • the alternative route to this site from the town centre at Wood Street junction, via Leicester Road and Upper Packington Road is now at capacity as a result of the new houses being built on Leicester Road;
  • there are other sites in Ashby where housing development is being proposed, which are to the north of the town centre and do not suffer the same infrastructure issues as this proposed site.

Please let us know if you have responded to the developers – we will keep a check on numbers. Let your neighbours know of the development and if they don’t have access to the Internet see if they would like you to submit on their behalf.

with thanks

Nigel Garnham
Chairman

www.packington-nook.org.uk