Hampshire CC Starts Preferred Sites Consultation - Roeshot Hill still in but Walkford Farm has been removed

Hampshire County Council has today published its list of preferred sites, which it intends to include in its Minerals Plan next year. This plan will contain a list of preferred sites for mineral (gravel) extraction and possible waste infilling that will almost certainly mean that any planning permission to ‘dig’ these sites will be approved.

The list of preferred sites includes Roeshot Hill, although Walkford Farm has been removed. It is still possible that after this consultation, Walkford Farm could be re-included in the Plan. In order to make your views known on both sites you MUST write by 12th December.

You can view the details of the Preferred Sites documentation on Hampshire County Council’s website - http://consultation.limehouse.co.uk/hants/drafts/15/index.html

WRAGE have produced the leaflet below, which will be shortly going out to all local homes. It contains the details of how to object by email or post.  The ‘issues for consideration’ regarding the Roeshot site are also listed below, which include possible reasons against the site, particularly that it is Green Belt and borders the National Park! 

Issues for consideration for Roeshot site: (site code pPA12)

· Landscape: The area is within the Green Belt and adjacent to the New Forest National Park. It is also visible from the residential areas to the south and north.

· Nature Conservation: The area is directly adjacent to Burton Common Site of Special Scientific Interest.

· Archaeology: There is moderate potential that derived Paleolithic materials exists.

· Hydrology: The area contains brooks / ditches and a river defines the western boundary.

· Proximity to residential properties: There are residential properties within 250m of the site to the southeast. .

· Airport Safety: The area is located within an airport safety exclusion zone.

· Recreation: Footpaths and a byway currently cross the area.

WRAGE Leaflet

GRAVEL AND RUBBISH TIPS

Hampshire County Council have now published* their list of preferred sites and seek your comments by 12th December 2007

This public consultation is part of the ongoing process which will lead by October 2008 to Hampshire County Council (“HCC” for short) submitting to Government its new Minerals Plan which will then be subject to a Public Examination before its eventual adoption by December 2009. Once any site is on the final Minerals Plan it is likely to be granted planning permission for exploitation.

Some good news – at least for the residents of Walkford, Hinton and west New Milton is that Walkford Farm, is not on the list. This is due in no small measure to the thousands (literally) of you who wrote to the Council to object – well done everybody! Together we can win.

But don’t relax yet because:-

• it is always possible that Walkford could still be included in the eventual Minerals Plan by it being raised again at the Public Examination
• the proposed site at Roeshot Hill is on the list .Whilst it has been reduced in size from the original plan, once any extraction starts, it is very likely to spread. The reserves of sand and gravel there are considerable – stretching northwards to Waterditch and westwards under the county boundary towards Burton. Residents in those areas are therefore still at risk from noise and dust as well as a ruined outlook for years to come.
• and our community would still suffer the effects of much increased heavy traffic as numerous lorries per hour cart the sand and gravel away – largely to serve Dorset! Whilst Hampshire County Council now consider either site unsuitable for infill with household waste, the use of inert waste (i.e. neither biological nor chemical) is still likely – probably being brought in by yet more lorries.

Keep up the pressure – write again

           whether or not you live near the Walkford or Roeshot site please write:

• asking HCC to ensure that Walkford remains off the list and
• asking to be notified immediately if any representation is received by HCC seeking its re-inclusion.
• asking that all the previous objections to the Roeshot site should be re-examined with a view to it being removed from the list
• reminding HCC of the potential damage to the setting of the New Forest, and the impact of traffic on the A35 at its gateway to the New Forest and on the A337 (Highcliffe High Street)

Send your letter before 12 December to:

Planning and Development Policy Team, Hampshire County Council, Environment Depart, The Castle, Winchester. SO23 8UD

Or by e-mail to:   planning.policy@hants.gov.uk

(*Hants document can be seen at: http://consultation.limehouse.co.uk/hants/drafts/15/index.html )

Issued by WRAGE – www.wrage.co.uk

For information phone John Lloyd 01425 278720 or Chris Day 01425 270723