The
objections of numerous local Milford on Sea residents, and the Parish Council, against
the proposed green belt new housing development (Known as MoS1) near Milford on Sea Primary
School have met with no success.
One
of the objectors has shared their objection letter and the subsequent reply with
us. (see below) They also inform us that
their letter went to all the Councillors, and below that is the only response
they have received to date.
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Dear
Councillor
We
write to inform you of our objection to the proposed construction of twenty
affordable houses on the land adjacent to School Lane in Milford-on-Sea.
We recognise the need for affordable housing,
however we strongly object to the proposed location. The proposed location is at the gateway to the
village which currently affords far reaching views across fields to the Isle of
Wight beyond. This encourages visitors
to the village which is essential to the suvival of the shops and businesses in
the village. In the past the alternative
entry to the village (from Barton-on-sea) was blighted by the development of
unsightly flats which we are now stuck with, it would be a travesty to repeat
this mistake by locating the affordable housing in the proposed location.
Importantly,
the proposal is in contravention of the Council's own strategy for the
development of affordable housing, which stresses that no more than five
affordable properties will be constructed in a single location. Milford-on-sea Parish Council have submitted
alternative options to this proposal and we are concerned that proper
consideration has not been given to these as to date no response has been
received.
We
appeal to you to please object to the current proposal which is being
considered next week by New Forest District Council. and to protect this
special village which is important to local residents, businesses, the wider
community and tourists to our area.
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Subject:
MoS 1
Date:
Mon, 18 Jun 2012 23:00
Dear
Milford Resident,
Thank
you for your recent email urging me to vote against the District Council’s
Sites and Development Plan. I could not support your request for the reasons
set out below. Neither could a majority of my colleagues and the Plan was
approved.
This
Plan is the result of 30 months work in which several Towns and Parishes have
had to accept some potential development where they would rather not have it.
If we had decided to reduce the housing provision allocated to Milford-on-Sea
at this late stage it could have put the whole Plan in jeopardy, as it would
have become out of conformity with the Core Strategy. The Parish Council will
have an opportunity to put their concerns at the Public Examination stage
before a Government Planning Inspector later in the year. Alternatively, under
the Localism Act (2012), it would be possible for the Parish Council to prepare
a Neighbourhood Development Plan promoting alternative sites. The District
Council have proposed that if clear arrangements are in place for this to
happen by the time of the Examination, then they would agree to this way
forward and ask for site MoS 1 to be removed from the Plan. Such a Plan would
need to be ratified by a Parish Referendum, which has a cost.
I
am sorry I cannot be of more help, but democracy means difficult decisions have
to be made. Finally remember this is
only a plan; it will only happen if a developer can get a planning application
passed by the Council. Nothing is certain to happen.
Regards,
Cllr
Derek Tipp
Although I have some sympathy with the objection to the housing scheme next to the school, I actually warned the village what would happen through letters in the Times and Advertiser over the past year or two. In my first letter about Green belt development I listed and described all the "tricks" to get people to accept so called affordable housing. The proposals of playing fields, open spaces no commercial developments and school car parking, none of which come to fruition in the end and all you get is minority social housing as part of a commercial development scheme.
ReplyDeleteI was roundly condemned by a prominent Milford resident in the Times and Advertiser as "one of these people" ostensibly trying to prevent the impovershed from having a home. Of course I was not. I was trying to prevent the wholesale devastation (rape) of the green belt and I had established from the NFDC that there was enough space in the village for at least 15 affordable homes but developers were not interested at the time.
The latest proposals are for 30 houses of which some will be affordable but the scheme will also include new houses for sale. The area of green belt to be allocated has not yet been delimited, but mark my words, it will only be the start.The development of the whole area from the school to the caravan/camping site and over to Lymore is the eventual target and the School lane development will set the precedents.
As for the school car parking, no one had actually counted how many cars it would have to take...upward on some days of 150, half as many again as the village car park holds. So, the parking on the roads would remain...mainly because any entrance to a cp from either Lymington Road or School lane would cause the biggest traffic jams in Milford History and eventually no one would use it. Also, what of the 5 football pitches and open spaces....where are they in the plans now.
No, it is all a con to get more land for commercial development and you can't blame the poor parish Council or the NFDC too much. They are mere pawns in the national game of building our way out of financial disaster caused by our national politicians including our local MPs.Blame Gordon Brown for profligacy and Eric Pickles for being a Government enforcer.
It is at such a stage that I begin to understand "positive peaceful action". Perhaps we should think about it.
Yours anonymously
Terry Langford
The latest proposals for the School Lane