….. I would comment on the level of community involvement in this application. The statement of community involvement submitted by the applicants’ agent considered that it is not “considered necessary to undertake community consultation to the extent which might normally be expected”.

…..I write on behalf of myself and my husband. We are one of the closest residents to the proposals and were only made aware of the proposals because of media attention.

Putting aside the fact that we have not been consulted on something so close to our property (…..20m or less away from us) we wish to strongly object on the following grounds:

…..Millwood has taken Counsel’s advice in respect of the interrelationship between OPF2 and Pinn Court. In the event that OPF2 is permitted in advance of Pinn Court, Millwood intends to lodge a judicial review of the decision.

…..It is my understanding that there claims to have been local consultation over this matter. This I find difficult to understand. I live some 50 metres form the first of the two mini roundabouts, if approaching from the Heart of Oak side on Main Road. In my experience there has been no attempt to obtain my views on this proposed redevelopment of the roundabouts. Consultation could have been attempted to affected householders by letter, leaflet drop or cold calling to households. Here it appears to have been by stealth, whisper quietly about it, post some very small planning application to a non descript lamp post or take out a small advert in a paper if indeed any of them. All of the immediately mentioned methods can hardly be called consulting!

…..Note to EDDC – Advertising of such a large scale developments deserve more than a single notice tied to a lamppost. This is worthy of a leaflet drop to the area, since the long term financial benefits to EDDC through council tax would more than cover this short term cost. EDDC wake up to your moral and social responsibilities and not just the ones that central government dictates!

….For some reason we have been left out of any consultations, only finding out about meetings where we could object, after the event, ..

…..The plans seem to have been little publicised and despite living around a mile from the proposed access road, have only discovered the plans through spotting a dishevelled notice half way down a post at the side of the road.

Which reinforces the fact that there seems to be absolutely no reason for a special meeting just days in advance of the first communication from the Planning Inspector – due by 31 March 2014.

Taken from a comment on claire-wright.org by Rose Pengelly:

OUTLINE PLANNING APPLICATION 13/0001/MOUT – OLD PARK FARM
East Devon District Council have accommodated this Special Development Management Meeting to consider an Outline Planning Application not in the Local Plan and is making an attempt to fast-track a decision.

The Councils reason made in a statement to the press are not true, this is what the guidelines say Determining a planning application:

What are the time periods for determining a planning application?
Paragraph: 001 Reference ID: 21b-001-20140306

Once a planning application has been validated, the local planning authority should make a decision on the proposal as quickly as possible, and in any event within the statutory time limit unless a longer period is agreed in writing with the applicant.

The statutory time limits are usually 13 weeks for applications for major development and eight weeks for all other types of development (unless an application is subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment, in which case a 16 week limit applies).

Where a planning application takes longer than the statutory period to decide, and an extended period has not been agreed with the applicant, the Government’s policy is that the decision should be made within 26 weeks at most in order to comply with the ‘planning guarantee’.

Revision date: 06 03 2014
Paragraph: 002 Reference ID: 21b-002-20140306
What is the Government’s ‘planning guarantee’?

The planning guarantee is the Government’s policy that no application should spend more than a year with decision-makers, including any appeal.

In practice this means that planning applications should be decided in no more than 26 weeks, allowing a similar period for any appeal.

The planning guarantee does not replace the statutory time limits for determining planning applications.
Revision date: 06 03 2014

This is the planning application that does not figure either in the old Local Plan nor the new one- part of this development is from a former East Devon Business Forum member.  The inspector who heard evidence regarding the new Local Plan has promised to communicate his initial findings to EDDC by 31 March 2014.

EDDC says that it “must” decide this planning application within 13 weeks of receiving it.  This is not true.  A council CAN wait longer than 13 weeks to determine a planning application (and many do) but a developer could then appeal because it has taken too long.  However, it is possible that before the developer could appeal on this particular planning application the Planning Inspector might indicate that there is no need for the two developments in this area. In In which case more than 400 extra houses will be built which are not needed.

There is a debate about exactly when that time runs out – it could be early April depending on when you think the last documents were put on the EDDC website.  However, EDDC officers have rushed through a “special” meeting to hear this application before the Planning Inspector’s comments arrive.  Also, there is another DMC meeting on 1 April 2014 and we are entitled to ask:  why is it necessary to hear this application on 25 March (before the Inspector reports) when there is a meeting on 1 April (after the Inspector reports)?

If you want to object to this state of affairs, there are several things you can do:

1.  Turn up at the Development Management Committee meeting on 25 March 2014 at 2 pm and make your views known – you will have up to 3 minutes to speak (provided you do not repeat statements already made by other speakers).

2.  You can write to your local district councillors (if you are not sure who your councillor is find out HERE).

3.  You are allowed to write to individual members of the Development Management Committee individually (using the link to councillors HERE)

4.  Write to your local MP, Hugo Swire, HERE,  telling him how unhappy you are about this.

5.  Write letters to local newspapers about it (and national newspapers if you wish too)

At a conference organised yesterday by the Devon WI (Our Changing Countryside. What does the future hold?), National Farmers’ Union (NFU) spokesman, Andrew Butler, warned of the dangers of “taking land out of the system, for urbanisation”.The NFU predicts increasing volatility in staples (rice, soya, wheat), leading to issues of food security and permanently rising food prices.There’s a need “to look more at the economic and social asset of farmland”, he said.
So the plan to lose two more East Devon farms to mass development seems seriously misguided. The urbanisation of Pinn Court Farm and Old Park Farm, (near Pinhoe and Westclyst), involves key players in the curiously collapsed East Devon Business Forum. What do EDDC officers think about this planning application? Details at this link:

http://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/the-special-development-management-committee-meeting-express-and-echo/