Page 3 - Microsoft Word - Letter to Steven King rev2

i) The MSDC Strategic Market Assessment Update of October 2012 states:

“the overall effect (of providing housing in excess of local demand) is to reinforce
unsustainable patterns of commuting and ready access to services”.

j) Paragraph 6.1 of the town planning report (Dated 16 April 2018 on the MSDC website)
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of Frank Taylor obscures the absence of a justifying OAN for the current application by
rolling the need into a total for Category 3 settlements as follows:
“So far as the EDF site is concerned, it is included in the modified MSDC's settlement
category no. 3 for which the "minimum requirement" has been set at 2,200 units”.

This equivocal wording was not challenged by MSDC.

k) The AWVC Steering Group evaluated 16 sites [See Attachment 2] with a potential capacity
of over 120 dwellings. Additionally, MSDC through its SHLAA program, proposed five
further sites (SHLAA 207, 634, 138, 186 and 724), thereby identifying a potential for 273
dwellings on 23.06 hectares (DdHa of 11.96). There is no justification for cramming the
WH sites when there is an abundance of development land available in the village.
l) In 2015 and 2016, the AWVC held two referendums, the results of which are summarised
in columns 10 to 12 of Attachment 2. An extract of the presentation –one made on 22 nd
February 2014 – associated with them is at Attachments 6a and 6b. Attachment 6a shows
the area of the WH:EDF site as 1.6 hectares and “the proposed number of houses” as 70.
This may be the genesis of the error because it doubles the developable area;

m) The presentation also included a folio on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and its
significant incentive for MSDC and AWVC in return for allocating sites to the AWNP. (An
estimated total of £20,000 CIL for a three-bedroom house: of which £5,000 would be
returned to the village for infrastructure improvements). Some consultees reported that the
OAN of 62 dwellings was far too high and one entry (No 230) on the summary of the
“Pre-submission draft - of Consultation Reponses” proposed that 5 to 10 dwellings (in
relation to the WH:EDF site and ASW Policy 9) should be the limit. AWVC’s response –
apparently written by Councillor Jennifer Forbes on 24 September 2015 - was that “The
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target numbers for the site have been derived following evidence-based research and
discussions with the District Council” and that “no change to the plan was necessary”.

n) Only 0.08 hectares of the Northern car park of the WH:LIC site (Site 14: SHELAA 757) was
included in the AWNP Sustainability Assessment [Attachment 7a] but was considered
unsuitable for development [Attachment 5b]. The limited size of assessed Site 14 is clearer
on Map 3 in the AWNP SA report of September 2015 [Attachment 7b];

o) Although precise details of the sites included in the referendum are no longer consistently
displayed on the AWVC website, it appears (from the official gallery of photographs
taken of the consultation in the Village Hall), that the decision on Attachment 7a (that site
14, consisting of 0.08 hectares of the Northern car park, was unsuitable for development)
was reversed and that residents voted in favour of it by a margin of 139 to 26;

p) However, Attachment 7b shows that the Wealden House manorial building, front car park,
drives and back gardens (of an estimated 0.32 hectares) were not “available”, not assessed,
not (or incorrectly) included in referendum and would therefore not qualify as lawful
additions to the AWNP;

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