I was fortunate in meeting with my local Councillor recently (Valley Park ward, Test Valley Borough Council) and in the conversation we touched upon the thorny subject of housing development.
Apparently, there is a proposed new development up in front of the planning committee currently which effectively tacks on around 300 homes to the edge of the Knightwood Park development as it borders Castle Lane – the main connecting road to North Baddesley.
This is currently woodland and is used a lot by dog walkers and ramblers especially those walking from Knightwood through to North Baddesley.
Apparently we should all look out for a LibDem newsletter about to drop through our letterboxes very soon, which publishes the necessary email addresses for any or all of us who wish to voice dissent (or in fairness, assent) should we feel it helpful to do so.
Whilst I certainly don’t want to trigger a political discussion about this and I don’t personally like the idea of protesting for the sake of it, I do feel that to add this number of houses with an outlet that is proposed directly onto Castle Lane (which is already pretty busy) is not a good plan.
It seems that the existing infrastructure that exists in Knightwood (doctors, schools, shops etc) is thought by the developer to be sufficient to cope – I think that many of us will think otherwise.
So, if you feel that your comments will add weight, do look out for the newsletter and send off emails as requested.
The developer Taylor Wimpey outlined this proposed plan in its website:
Land off Castle Lane
“We have submitted plans to Test Valley Borough Council (Planning Reference P14/02620/OUTS) for the ancient woodland at Great Covert, including improved public access, which will be delivered alongside the provision of around 300 new homes, creating an opportunity for a sustainable extension to Chandler’s Ford.
The new homes will be built in the eastern section of the site. New public access will be provided into the woodland in the west, opening up the woods for the benefit of the local community.
The woodland will be available for public recreation, thereby reducing pressure on protected sites such as the New Forest, and the housebuilder is in discussions with Natural England to determine the best way to deliver these community benefits.
A public consultation was held in June 2014 at North Baddesley Sports Pavilion, giving local people the chance to help shape our proposed scheme by providing their feedback. You can view our exhibition boards by clicking here.”
From the website of Taylor Wimpey.
You can find out more details about the 14/02620/OUTS planning application here.
The proposal: outline application for up to 300 homes with vehicle accesses from Castle Lane, landscaping, public open space, visitor parking, a woodland restoration and management plan including non-vehicle public access to Great Covert woodland, and associated infrastructure.
The application was received on 04 Nov 2014. Address: Land West Of Valley Park, Castle Lane, North Baddesley.
Here is the illustrative masterplan (pdf 2.5MB).
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What a disaster for Chandler’s Ford if the development of Great Covert goes ahead. Not only losing essential woodland this area is being destroyed by too much housing. We used to be proud to live here as it had good areas for walks and precious woodland. Now developers are dictating to our council so that soon there will be nothing left of Chandler’s Ford as we have known it and will become an urban sprawl and I dread to think what our road systems are going to be like but as is said, money talks and the environment does not matter. Please, please, think again and refuse this awful development.
Because the houses of most of the people making objections were not built on woodland….. whilst people who want to live in this area don’t have enough housing options. Always the case, people don’t want new houses near them, forgetting they once moved in to a new house built on green land.
For all those wishing to air their views on this to the council, the email address that comments should be addressed to is: planning@testvalley.gov.uk
From what I can understand, Taylor Wimpey have declined to comment on the Test Valley BC request for a public meeting in the Valley Park area. They did already hold one in North Baddesley which seems a slight obfuscation (my word of the day!) given that the infrastructure support is most likely to come from the existing Knightwood/Valley Park community.
Ultimately, the best weapon for those that object to this is to deluge the planning department at TVBC so that they can truly gauge the weight of opinion.
For those of you who are interested in this proposed development, there has been a lot of dialogue backwards and forwards with many objections raised in regard to the woodland that would be destroyed, the poor drainage of the area and of course local residents (both in Valley Park and in North Baddesley) ccommenting about the strain on infrastructure and the impact on traffic in Castle Lane.
Anybody that formally objected would have heard the outcome by now as they will be on formal circulation of updates once registered on the Test Valley BC website.
For those that aren’t, the outline planning application by Taylor Wimpey was REFUSED.
Doubtless there will be appeals etc so I don’t imagine that this will be last of it but for the moment………..
It is still on the Tayor Wimpey website as a proposed envelopment, does that mean they are planning to appeal and keep pushing to build on this ancient woodland?
Hi Jon
I’m not an expert on planning regs at all but my guess is they will keep chipping away at it and eventually it will become a reality. The challenge is finding suitable land for development and for Test Valley BC to meet the government targets for new housing. Ultimately, something has to give.
All of the people who voiced protest at the TW proposal should be automatically copied/notified of new activity against that planning application so if and when TW try to kick it off again, there is still opportunity to voice protest.
I’m confused as to what the current situation re: Test Valley’s proposed housing development at Covert Way. Where can I find clear info about this and ways of raising objections as a resident of North Millers Dale.?