Page 141 - MJC submissions

I draw your attention to: (a) the need for transparency and honesty (b) to some of the
remedies that are available through other than planning channels and (c) the obligation of
relevant local authorities to assess the nature and “anticipated impacts of the proposed
development ”. If a mistake has been made with the unit count (DdHa) of the WH:EDF site
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is must be corrected.

Ashurst Wood Village Council (AWVC), MSDC and residents are entitled to be honestly and
fully informed and to expect a fair solution to the proposed development. In the alternative,
they must remain alert: establish and accurately document the facts so that if Ashurst Wood
deteriorates into a ghetto those responsible will be held accountable.

The absence of transparency today will become obvious in the future.
The following paragraphs set out points I invite you and your colleagues to consider.
Documents of special importance are “attached”. The “folio” references link to documents on
the MSDC website as listed on Attachment 4. For ease of reference footnotes are consolidated
in detachable pages.

MISLEADING APPLICATIONS
1.1 Original Application
1. The application (DM/18/1548) was registered on MSDC’s website in May 2018, supported
by an Application Form, dated 13 April 2018 (Folio 1). It records Ashgrove Homes
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Limited (AHL) as the applicant and GCP Developments Limited (GCP) as the owner of the
WH:EDF site. The application was prepared and certified as true by Darren Page of Lytle
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Associates – the design architects - acting as agent:

• Point 5 states that no pre-application advice site had been given;
• Point 14 states that the WH:EDF site was not currently vacant;

• Point 17 proposes 50 dwellings as market housing and 21 as Social Rented Housing;
• Point 21 shows the site area as 1.47 hectares: it does not clarify that 0.597 hectares are
ancient woodland that cannot be developed. The gross area is believed to be 1.2
hectares (see Attachment 1).
2. MSDC validated the application possibly increasing AHL’s confidence that AWVC was of
no significance and that approval was, more or less, assured. However, on 25 April
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2018@16.56, Councillor John Belsey informed you of a communication (Folio 33) he had
received from Jenny Forbes, Chair of AWVC’s Planning Committee that AHL had not
complied with the requirement to consult the village council or local residents.

This was a serious breach of process, which you (as team leader) had not noticed or had been
willing to condone.
3. Ms Forbes referred to a letter on behalf of AHL stating that “there had been extensive
consultations and that there was no purpose in repeating the process now as the
development has been agreed in principle and any comments or opinions can be
considered during the normal planning process”. She correctly described this as
“nonsense”.

There is no record on the MSDC website of any agreement in principle or otherwise.

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