Dear Petitioners, saynotochawtonparkfarm@gmail.com
News & Information
The Say NO to Chawton Park Farm campaign has had to be resurrected. If you don’t know why, this is explained below. Please share our petition! Thank you for your support.
We have written to the Leader of East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) to remind him of all the many objections to building on Chawton Park Farm (CPF), which to the best of our knowledge haven’t changed. Here is a link to our letter https://bit.ly/EHDC
The reason for writing now is that we are expecting a Planning Application for 1100 houses on Chawton Park Farm from Harrow Estates early in the New Year, following on from their request for an Environmental Scoping Opinion (ESO) from EHDC. This is a precursor to an Environment Impact Assessment. A definition from AI of an ESO is included at the end of this update.
The Background Document attached to that letter can be found here:
https://bit.ly/Sept2023Backgroundpaper It was sent to all EHDC Councillors prior to our speech at Full Council on 28th September 2023.
This includes an analysis of what you petitioners were most concerned about; the articles printed in the Alton Herald back in 2021; analysis of the traffic chaos that awaits us if CPF is built on, and discussion of the Harrow Estates proposal back then – which seems a replica of what they’re proposing now except 1100 houses instead of 1200 although EHDC had reduced the 1200 to c800 at that time.
In the Alton Herald article the A31 Alliance (see below – linked with the Save Jane Austen Country petition https://bit.ly/SaveJaneAustenCountry asks everyone to write to their District Councillor to ask EHDC to re-run Regulation 18 for a public consultation on the available sites for development that the public have not yet been consulted on - given that all 274 sites will now be needed to accommodate the government doubling of EHDC's housing targets. Link to find your councillor https://bit.ly/EHDCcouncillors
Sir Charles Cockburn, the Chair, says in the Alton Herald article of 17th Nov:
"The A31 Alliance strongly advises local people to contact their district councillor to demand their say on a Local Plan that has completely changed since they were last consulted.”
“Any attempt by East Hampshire District Council to avoid such a re-consultation would represent the opposite of democratic accountability.”
“The large developers are in charge of planning policy in East Hampshire. Welcome to the Urban District of Jane Austen Country. Sign the Save Jane Austen Country petition.”
The Objections
· Site given four red flags in the original Large Sites Assessment in 2019
· Campaign for the Protection of Rural England describes it as a “Valued Landscape” as defined in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) para 170(a) 2019. Now referenced at para 187 of the 2024 NPPF update.
· Site Access
· Overwhelming traffic issues
· Complete absence of Sustainability
Your concerns were, and still will be:
a) Destruction of Landscape (and ensuing impact of its loss on mental health);
b) loss of biodiversity and farmland;
c) the wrong location for development - too far from facilities;
d) the fact that Altonians have already accepted a considerable amount of development around their town particularly along Chawton Park Road.
e) the worsening of traffic issues and last but not least, the inability of infrastructure to cope.
As the Alton Herald states in their article of 17th November:
Developer Harrow Estates is preparing to submit initial plans to East Hampshire District Council for 1,100 houses on Chawton Park Farm near Alton.
Harrow Estates’ plans include a local centre and primary school land. Up to 40 per cent of homes would be ‘affordable’.
Planning director Steve Neal said: “Our plans for land south-west of Alton are a real opportunity to plan properly for Alton’s future.”
Harrow Estates will hold public consultations next year.
A31 Alliance chair Sir Charles Cockburn, of Beech, said: "It is difficult to improve on the comment made by Richard Millard, leader of East Hampshire District Council, on May 29, 2022, [actually 28 July] responding to Simon Jenkins’ recommendation that permission for development of Chawton Park Farm be refused.
“Cllr Millard said: ‘Good! It is the wrong location; it is the wrong size; and it has the wrong infrastructure provision.’
“None of those negative factors have changed over the last three years."
East Hampshire cannot demonstrate the five-year housing land supply required to fend off speculative developments such as this.
It was updating its Local Plan when the government doubled its housing target and forced it to make almost all of 274 possible sites [in the Land Availability Assessment – see link here https://bit.ly/EHDCLAA available for housing, prompting 21,394 protesters to sign the Save Jane Austen Country online petition.
Environmental Scoping Opinion
This is a formal written assessment provided by a planning authority or relevant body, stating the scope, level of detail, and key issues to include in an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and its accompanying Environmental Statement (ES) for proposed developments.
Process
Developers submit a scoping request with details like project plans, descriptions, and likely environmental effects to obtain this opinion. Authorities consult experts and stakeholders before issuing the opinion, typically within 5 weeks, focusing on significant effects such as those on biodiversity, water, or air.
Importance
It helps developers focus efforts on relevant topics, exclude non-issues, and avoid delays in planning approvals, though it's not always mandatory. The resulting ES must align with the opinion if the project remains substantially unchanged.
saynotochawtonparkfarm@gmail.com