The area in question is 13 hectares of meadow, crossed by three footpaths and used at present for grazing horses. It's bounded by Staunton Lane to the south, Stockwood Lane to the east, Craydon Grove to the north, and the cycle path to the west. All of it's in BaNES, and if it goes ahead, the 340 homes will almost double the size of Whitchurch village to make a continuous built up area.
Footpath users will already have seen changes in the fields. A notice from Robert Hitchins Ltd (better known as developers of commercial and industrial estates) warns walkers to stay on the path - which has now been marked, uniquely in my experience, by posts every few yards with blue arrow footpath markers. It doesn't do much for that 'freedom of the countryside' feeling! There are signs, too, of exploratory boreholes.
Hitchins' agents Pegasus Planning, who take a great interest in the potential of greenfield, green belt countryside south of Bristol, are putting on an exhibition of their plans at Whitchurch Primary School (on the A37 Bristol Road) on Monday 4th and Thursday7th October, between 3.30pm and 8pm
That's a nice walk across the fields from Stockwood!
Added 1.10.10:
More detail on this Friends of Stockwood Open Spaces page
2 comments:
You have 2 years from the date the signs went up to claim town green status, if it is feasible.
Otherwise, you rely upon the planning committe or the owner of the land to block the plans .
bobS
I've put a bit more, including the promo leaflet (the "Master Plan") describing the scheme and a response form, on the Friends of Stockwood Open Spaces website.
BobS: Point taken. Me, I've no idea how well it's been used in the last twenty years, so any application depends on others. It appears that the land belongs to Robert Hitchins Ltd., so we can't expect much sympathy there.
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