Page 47 - All files for Planning Inspectorate update

Ashbourne Park Owners’ Association

3 Ashbourne House. Lewes Road. Ashurst Wood. RH19 3TB

15 April 2019

Dear Mr King,

Re DM/19/1025 – proposed development at the Wealden House EDF site

I am writing to you on behalf of the owners of the apartments in Ashbourne Park and in my capacity
as Chairman of the Ashbourne Park Owners’ Association. While we will be making a separate
representation on the above application, on this occasion we are writing to you solely in connection
with the Statement of Community Involvement submitted to you by Lytle Associates (LA) on behalf
of the developer, Ashgrove Homes Ltd (AHL).

Perhaps not surprisingly this document can best be characterised as a highly selective and self-
serving exercise in marking their own homework. Below we take issue with many of the statements
included therein; numbering refers to the paragraph numbers included in the said Statement.

Section 1.
In paragraph 1.3 (and in many subsequent paragraphs) LA refer to the public consultation exercise
conducted by AHL in May 2018. They do not mention that this “consultation” was only held at the
behest of your own Planning Department after they had signally failed to voluntarily undertake it, as
is required by the planning process. The characterisation of this consultation by LA is of a listening
exercise where the developer took on board the comments made. Nothing could be further from the
truth. Below are two extracts from a letter to you (which appears on the web site for DM/18/ 1548)
from Mr J Finney, one of our owners, who attended the public meeting on 29 May 2018.

“My wife and I attended the public consultation on the above proposed development at the Ashurst
Wood Village Hall on 29 May. Having studied the Ashurst Wood Neighbourhood Plan 2015-2031
(AWNP) beforehand we were shocked to find the proposed development did not conform to the
AWNP in a number of important areas. We, and other present, were also appalled at the patronising
attitude of the Managing Director of Ashgrove Homes, Mr Peter Owen, who did not give any
satisfactory answers to perfectly reasonable questions put to him. His stock answer to queries raised
was that he was only dealing with MSDC and that the AWNP was of no concern to him. He gave the
impression that this development was a “done deal” whatever we said.

…. There is no provision for suitably sized gardens. In fact, at the presentation Mr Owen actually said
‘People in flats don’t have gardens, the kids can play in the woods’.”

Here follows an extract from your own letter of rejection of DM/18/1548 dated 11 March 2019
which reflects the Ashurst Wood Village Council’s opinion of the consultation

“The Village Council wishes to express its disappointment that it was not consulted about the