20/3/2008

Local News

Clash of the neighbours

Rebecca Connop Price reports

INDECISION from Hart councillors has meant that the district has “sleepwalked” into a situation where the area’s biggest planning application for 20 years is likely to be decided by central Government, the leader of Rushmoor Council has said. 
At a Hart District Council meeting, which was due to be held last night at the Princes Hall in Aldershot, Hart councillors were expected to strongly object to the Pyestock megadepot, on land between Fleet and Farnborough.
But the developers, PRUPIM, have already lodged an appeal against an earlier application on the grounds that Hart was taking too long to make a decision.
“Not only have they bottled it, they’ve sleepwalked into it,” said Rushmoor‘s leader, Coun Peter Moyle.
He said: “We keep hearing about local representation from the Government and you’ve got a Lib-Dem leader who spouts off about local democracy, and when you ask them to prove it, they can’t.”
Coun Moyle is angry that Rushmoor Council, which he argues will be most-affected by the megadepot, was only given four minutes to speak about their objections.
Coun Moyle said that even if the Government makes the final decision, they need to be given the opportunity to make an informed decision. He said: “Democracy needs to come in here somewhere. The government planning inspector needs to be given as much detail as possible, so they know the strength of feeling. By not allowing the free exchange of information, [Hart Council] is denying residents a voice.”
Ahead of last night’s meeting, Hart Council’s head of planning and environmental regulation Matthew Evans issued his recommendation for the two applications relating to the Pyestock North site.
In a statement, Mr Evans said that following careful consideration of all of the issues, he concluded that both the outline and full applications were unacceptable and should be refused.
His report concludes that the noise report submitted with the applications is not “sufficiently robust” to ensure that residents living in the vicinity of the Pyestock site, including those adjacent to the Minley Link, are not badly affected by the development.
He also recommended refusal, in line with recommendations from the Highways Agency, on the basis that  the local road network and the M3 would not be protected from the additional traffic that the development would bring.
Local MPs James Arbuthnot and Gerald Howarth had planned to attend last night’s meeting to oppose the scheme.
But Conservatives in the House of Commons are rallying to save community Post Offices, and they was a crucial Parliamentary vote at the same time.
In a joint statement the MPs said: “We have consistently taken a tough line against the proposed Pyestock development, but we are not part of the decision-making process and would not have been able to speak at the meeting.  
“We both face Post Office closures in our constituencies and because the Government is facing so much opposition from within its own party we believe that we should be at Westminster where we can make a difference on another vital matter.”
++    See next week’s Star for a report on the meeting.

First printed in: Surrey Hants Star