Yesterday, I met with residents from Wingates Lane, Church Lane and the surrounding roads when we attended the appeal hearing for the Hartley’s Farm development. This was a lot more informal than I was expecting but we put our views across well, I think, and the Council made a very strong defence of the original decision to refuse planning permission for 58 houses at Hartley’s Farm, off Wingates Lane.
My Conservative colleagues, Cllrs Martyn Cox and Christine Wild, both spoke at the hearing, as did I, and I feel that the combined efforts of the residents, the Council and we Councillors has worked to put a strong case to the independent Planning Inspector, who will make the final decision.
I’d like to thank the residents that turned up on the day, and also those residents who could not attend but who wrote lengthy and impassioned statements to the Planning Inspector. Together we’ve made the best case we could. Now the final decision is in the hands of the Planning Inspector, who will come to a final conclusion soon.
Thank you to the residents of Wingates who came to the Hartley’s Farm appeal hearing today. We made a very strong case together, defending our town and our green spaces from overdevelopment. Now the matter is in the hands of the Planning Inspector and we will await his decision.
Posted by Councillor Zoë Kirk-Robinson on Tuesday, September 4, 2018