Newsletter Autumn 2001

As many of you will know, this site has a long history of hard fought planning applications dating back to 1967.

The earlier applications were refused on traffic grounds, though the site itself was recognised as suitable for housing in principle.

The most recent application was made in 1989 and was for a major housing development covering the whole site. After a series of epic battles both at Borough and at Appeal level it was eventually turned down in 1991 by the Secretary of State. His grounds were the importance of the site as a local amenity; the need to preserve the settings of listed buildings and the need to preserve the views from within the site accessible by the public footpath.

Following this decision the Borough extended the boundary of the Conservation Area in which much of the Pound is situated to include part of the Poundfield site.

In 1995, when the local plan was reviewed, Poundfield was put into the Green Belt largely on the strength of the comments made by the Secretary of State in 1991 decision. This rendered any housing development on the site virtually impossible.

The owners of the site contested the Green Belt designation through the Courts, and were eventually successful when in February this year the Court of Appeal, in a highly technical judgement, ruled that the Green Belt designation was unjustified and removed it. Leave to appeal to the House of Lords has been refused. The result is that in the Local Plan, Poundfield is now without any specific designation except for the part which is in the Conservation Area.

Undesignated does not mean unprotected. A meeting took place on 27^th September between members of the Society, the Parish Council and the Borough Planning and Legal Departments. The Borough confirmed that a number of factors including surviving parts of the Local Plan, recent government Planning Guidance and the Planning history of the site made it highly probable that if any application were made now for housing on Poundfield, it would be refused and that refusal would be upheld on Appeal. In the meantime, there is really little further that the Borough can do.

The Appeal Court decision is not a ground for panic. It does not mean that houses are about to spring up on Poundfield. There is in fact nothing for us to fight because no application has been made to develop any part of the site. Members can be assured that if any application were made, the Society would, as before, mobilise all its resources to resist it. As things presently stand we would have every chance of success.

The danger is in the longer term as inevitable shortage of housing land increase the pressure for Poundfield to be released. The next Local Plan will take effect in 2005. The consultation process for it starts next year. It will be our task to ensure that Poundfield is designated in that Plan in such a way as to give it the maximum protection which is possible outside the Green Belt. Both we and the Borough already have some ideas in outline as to how this might be achieved.

R F GOLD

Chairman