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Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - tina (18th Oct 2011 - 12:57:23) In the last 10 months we have seen the mass housing developers propose 283 new houses in Liphook – concentrated in two dense blocks at Silent Garden and Lowsley Farm. Using Hampshire County Council Population Forecast (2010) figures this is an estimated 654 new people in Liphook, but likely to be as high as 800 new residents in the village or 1 NEW RESIDENT FOR EVERY 12 EXISTING RESIDENTS OF LIPHOOK. This staggering increase in the local population will put a huge strain on the village – although it is now really a small town, but without the usual amount and scope of amenities. What is quite astonishing is that these mass housing developers have MADE NO PROVISION for new facilities, utilities, schooling, library, amenities, shops or jobs for all these NEW RESIDENTS in Liphook and at best the developers just make a token provision for “recreation” inside their proposed developments. What is really depressing is that these mass housing developers, who clearly see Liphook as a very profitable area to exploit, do not offer the existing residents of Liphook any hope of improvement to the poor state of facilities, overcrowded schools, shortage of parks and sporting venues, traffic congestion, drainage problems, lack of choice in shopping or lack of employment. In fact the developers seem to simply cause a bad situation to get far worse. True, the mass housing developers will be forced to make some financial contributions to public authorities, as big developers must. However, Liphook itself is unlikely to ever see the full benefit of these funds that will simply go into central coffers and be spread around the district and region. In reality, the mass housing developers will have already recouped any compulsory financial contributions, such as they are, by simply adding a half dozen houses to their proposals. There is still a very short time left for public comments on the Lowsley Farm to influence the current planning application. Silent Garden might have recently won planning permission by appealing to central government against the voice of local people and councils, but this time the coalition government has now made it clear that “LOCALISM” must be at the heart of all planning decisions. The Lowsley Farm mass housing developer has cheekily tried to sneak their proposal in before the Government’s Localism Bill comes into force, but East Hampshire District Council is still OBLIGATED TO CONSIDER LOCAL OPINION. East Hants will reject the proposal for Lowsley Farm as it is presented with a strong and clear message from local people. East Hants must reject the current Lowsley Farm planning application, which really needs to be far better thought out, properly planned for the benefit of the whole village and the local residents properly consulted about if and how the village is to change. There are only a few days remaining to let East Hants District Council know your views about the Lowsley Farm development - reference 34310/016.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Jeanette (18th Oct 2011 - 14:18:21) The deadline for getting comments in is 3 November. It can be done by letter or by going through the planning portal on the EHDC website. If anyone wants to object (or support) then it helps if it is actually written in comments i.e. I object .... or I support .... There needs to be at least 6 letters of objection otherwise it may be passed. Don't think as individual's that your opinions wont be heard - they will - and it just needs enough residents to get together. We have to bear in mind that housing IS required in the country and also locally. But the main concerns in Liphook seem to be the roads (traffic and parking) and also the needs and views of the residents. It is also better to make your comments as objective as possible. If anyone has further ideas on what they would like to see for Liphook they could also let the people organising the new Parish Plan know!

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Martin (18th Oct 2011 - 14:22:38) I could not agree more. This development on top of the Silent Garden site is just too much proposed new housing. I flagged concerns over this development when I first heard that Lowsley Farm was being muted as a site for potential housing. There is absolutely no mention of infrastructure improvements in the planning application other than a slice of land being marked for recreational use (alongside the A3) and a cycle path along Longmoor Road (that will probably get as much use as the one on London Road). This proposed development, if it goes ahead, will totally swamp the western side of the village. As Mike pointed out on this site on the 11th October it is unlikely the development will stop with this site. If Lowsley Farm goes ahead it is highly likely a further planning application will be submitted to extend the development along the side of the A3 to meet the Headley Road. A through road will then have been created that would bypass the village centre and just become another rat run between the Headley and Longmoor Roads. I would urge everyone concerned to log their objections on the EHDC website planning portal.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Jane G (18th Oct 2011 - 16:35:55) Tina Very well said and to be honest I hadn't really thought about it in quite those terms before, so thank you for raising this. I have been onto the EHDC website and logged an objection. Very easy to do everyone (I had never done it before) and perhaps the editor could post this link for anyone else to use. planningpublicaccess.easthants.gov.uk/.. You just need to add a comment from this page and it can be logged as an objection. Jane

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - pete (19th Oct 2011 - 15:01:32) Tina, you are absolutely right to point all this out, and it must be worthwhile for East Hants just to pause for a minute and consider all these issues. Mike, I went to the council office to view the plans and it is as clear as daylight to anyone that once the the Lowsley developers have built this scheme, they will just move onto the others bits of land between them and Headley Road, filling these bits with nothing but more houses and houses, with no facilities for the community, and no doubt they will claim that it is 'infill' and therefor should be developed. Rember these guys always have an eye on the profit.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - helen (19th Oct 2011 - 16:18:58) all developers only care about profit, and I think that whoever develops land in Liphook is probably then going to sell the site on to the highest bidder! So whoever gets planning permission anywhere is only going to offer facilities because they have to. The application is a reserve site and therefore will probably get pemission.If the land were not in the local plan that would be different.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - liz (19th Oct 2011 - 17:00:56) Although there are some reserved sites (not quite sure how they get that status) there is no proper local plan for Liphook. .. so therefore there is the the risk that we continue to get random development which the local infrasturcture can't support. There is supposed to be work underway to develop a local plan but when I emailed to try to find out where to send the questionniares back to, I didn't get a response.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Jeanette (19th Oct 2011 - 20:23:55) To all of you who have just posted your very clear and articulate views about development in Liphook the Parish Plan is alive and kicking and we need supporters just like you. Editor - please can you pass my email address to anyone interested in having an input to the Plan?

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Jay (19th Oct 2011 - 22:09:44) Thank you Jane G for posting the link. 5 minutes and an objection logged that might help persuade the planners that Liphook will not gain anything useful from this development. Thanks Tina for drawing it to everyone's attention.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - ColinB (19th Oct 2011 - 23:32:04) Thanks jane, never realised it was so easy to register an objection, ALL please copy the link and add your comments as takes only 2 minutes

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - helen (20th Oct 2011 - 00:23:34) what I mean by local plan is ehdc's plan for housing in the district the liphook plan is different, and not yet formulated, and because Liphook has not had a plan as such for years EHDC has one for the district which includes Liphook although I think in planning terms a new the local development framework is about to be formulated. Most EHDC villages have had their plans published 2 or more years ago.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Becks (20th Oct 2011 - 21:02:22) Helen thanks for explaining the Parish Plan I propose that nothing is agreed at Lowsley Farm until such time as the local community has finalized the Parish Plan, and in the meantime the Lowsley Farm application should be stopped or withdrawn pending the outcome of the Parish Plan I will be objecting to this application for these reasons, and urge others to do so as well. I am also concerned that they are offering nothing at all to improve Liphook, or am I missing something here ??

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook\'s future - Jeanette (20th Oct 2011 - 22:48:33) Lowsley Farm is on EHDC\'s Local Plan as reserve housing but is not the only large development likely to have a major impact on the future of Liphook. We have to consider Bohunt Manor and the OSU site too. These are developments on the Longmoor Road, Portsmouth Road and Midhurst Road, all leading to the Square. Under the National Planning Policy Framework the presumption will be in favour of sustainable development which means local councils will be obliged to grant permission where the plan is absent, silent, indeterminate or where relevant policies are out of date. On the other hand the Localism Bill will give powers to communities to plan for their areas and deliver the development they want through neighbourhood planning. It is no good moaning about one particular development (apart from making sure for the present that enough comments go through to the planning department to delay the application). What we all need to do is get together to look at ALL the developments and get the Plan right! The next meeting for the Liphook plan will be on 15 November so if you want to have a look at detailed planning applications, current plans, where settlement boundaries are, or just want to put foward your comments then put the date in your diary. I will confirm location and remind everyone nearer to the date.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - helen (21st Oct 2011 - 09:42:42) I agree getting a plan for Liphook is urgent, the Lowsley Farm development I believe has already been deferred so it has no later than DEC/Jan to be decided, and then after that there is the appeal process so unless the plan is published by the time the application is considered then the planners at EHDC cannot take account of it.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - BDavies (21st Oct 2011 - 11:58:09) The Case Officer for 34310/016 at EHDC is Paul Bowman... Direct Dial: 01730 234235 pbowman@easthants.gov.uk There has already been a site visit by EHDC on 14 October 2011 at 9:00. The letter I received went on to say "...if you wish to attend please meet at Yeomans Lane on the eastern boundary of the site.If you have any questions about the site visit procedure please contact the Case Officer". I am away and unfortunately could not attend. Was the site visit advertised anywhere? Did anyone else go? When I pressed Mr Bowman regarding what EHDC plans to do about infrastructure improvements and what he and the Planning team will force the building firm involved to contribute I received no reply and still haven't but do not let that deter you from mailing him direct with your concerns and mention infrastructure.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - jo (21st Oct 2011 - 12:10:54) I have just posted my comments on www.easthants.gov.uk (follow the link, 'search and comment on applications' and then enter the ref no: 34310/016 for the houses, or 34310/017 for the 'SANG'). I was sent a letter about this, which gives the closing date for comments as 24.10.11, and not the week later as someone mentioned earlier in this thread. I couldn't find a closing date on the website, but I didn't want to take a chance and leave it any later!

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Jeanette (21st Oct 2011 - 12:59:34) Thank you for pointing out the separate application (017) for the SANG. The developers do make it appear to be a potentially good asset to the area. However a couple of things concern me. 1. The developers have not included this area for housing mainly because it is outside the area set aside for reserve housing, but who knows what they will do once houses are actually built. 2. Changing the status of the site from agricultural to Green also means it is viewed differently as far as planning is concerned. Therefore I believe there ought to be restriction placed upon it. 3. The developers appear to be totally against people being able to use this natural area because they have effectively stopped walkers using the access from the Headley Road alongside Lark Rise. All they had to do was leave a small footpath! 4. Without the footpath potential walkers will either have to go by car to reach the estate, or park in roads close to the estate or walk all the way through housing estates to reach it. 5. I have not looked closely but there does not seem to be any management plans in place to care for this natural space. Left alone it could potentially turn scrubby, or churned up by motorcyclists. I know this sounds negative but if it is not used properly then it provides another excuse for development to take place. 6. The boggy area means that it would present additional costs to the developer if building is considered in the future, but with fewer and fewer wetland wildlife sites this ought to receive particular protection. 7. What is the land like for the allotments? If this is part of the wetland area it's going to be worthless for cultivation. Always look at these applications from the developers point of view. They generally don't give things away unless it is used as a carrot to get the main application approved - or unless they might have further use for the land at a future date!

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - jo (24th Oct 2011 - 08:21:11) Last day for comments today...

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - helen (24th Oct 2011 - 12:04:49) I think that although we need to have a plan for liphook, developers will not automatically take that into account, for instance even after the plan is formulated developers will still put forward their plans regardless of what Liphook thinks, it is EHDC who need our plan in place.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Jeanette (25th Oct 2011 - 12:56:00) I telephoned the planning department at EHDC today. I was told the deadline for putting in comments to an application is 28 days after the date of the standard consultation letter being sent out (this was 14 October 2011). On the website it actually states that the standard consultation deadline is 3 November so it seems that there is still time for people to send in their comments if they wish.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Tina (25th Oct 2011 - 15:43:45) Some comments on this thread are a bit worrying as they seem to suggest that we can do nothing about shaping the future of Liphhok. Its all well and good talking up the so called parish plan but while lots of talk has gone on about it, the developers have moved in and are trying to dump mass housing on us without any care for the strain their schemes puts on the rest of the town. We must stop this short sightedness and demand that the community has a real say in what happens here. We must send the parish council and the planners a clear message that we should have some say in what comes to Liphook before they are allowed start their building. There is still time to send a message to East Hants Council about this latest crazy scheme at Lowsley and everyone should be encouraged to do so as soon as they can. If all the talk by politicians about the "localism" is for real then now is the time to put it in into practice and start asking the local people what they need in Liphook and where they would like it to go - I don't care about reserve sites and all that, just let us have a say in our town (village). Sorry, that's my rant over for now

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook\'s future - BDavies (25th Oct 2011 - 20:47:01) Tina, you are right, we cannot stand by and let building companies influence the shape of our village especially as their primary interest is financial gain not the reduced quality of life that will result from more housing coupled with diluted ammenities and infrastructure. Write direct to the case officer expressing any concerns; consider copying our MP (damian.hinds.mp@parliament.uk). The "sustainable development" initiative requires proper adherence if it is not to be taken as a licence to build whatever wherever.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Dawn Hoskins (26th Oct 2011 - 17:36:45) Tina, If the Parish Plan had been completed years ago, we would have had a better chance of saying no to the mass development without provision of infrastructure, however, we were very behind the times and it took some generous souls who are passionate about the village and it's surrounds to get the ball rolling. It is nothng to do with the Council. They do a lot a work and get no recognition and seem to be fighting a losing battle in 'getting the word out' and getting people involved - despite have apresence at nearly every event tha takes place in the village. Perhaps if they had some more people as pasionate as yourself it would speed the process up? Also, planning issues like this are not decided by the Parish Council.The PC put their opinion forward but it is decided by much higher powers.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - pete (27th Oct 2011 - 10:19:23) Dawn, I think that it excellent that you always give these important locals issues proper consideration on talkback, and you really do seem to standout as an independent thinker in regards to most matters. So refreshing, but please don't let apathy creep in, we have to always consider the benefit or otherwise that these developments bring to our community, and at the moment Lowsley Farm offers nothing. Indeed, rather meanly, they seem to be intent on preventing those of us who do not buy their houses from gaining access to there sangs park (what is sangs ?) [Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces] I think that the parish council's view is important, and full regard should be taken of its view. We keep hearing in the newspapers about how local people now have more control over local matters, and it must therefore be possible influence the decision makers. Liphook really does need to stand back for a minute, and consider how it could grow, without being rushed into hasty decisions. From what Tina seems to be saying, it appears that Lowsley is being rushed in to preempt changing legislation, as this cannot be in the best interests of us all until the parish plan is finalised. If this is correct, then it is very sneaky, and not at all being done with any thought for the community, but rather is all about self interest. There has to be give and take after all, and if we support Lowsley, then surely we can extract more from them for the village ? Can anyone advise exactly what the parish council's vote will be on the Lowsley application?

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Paul Robinson (27th Oct 2011 - 10:45:21) For the record I can confirm that the unanimous vote of the Parish Council at this month's meeting of the Planning committee was to oppose the Lowsley Farm development on two counts. 1) The impact on the traffic in the Longmoor and, in particular, to the placing of the proposed roundabout. 2) It was also felt that this development would be detrimental to the character of Liphook. Paul Robinson

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Steve (27th Oct 2011 - 10:59:51) Pete The Parish Council have already submitted their response(objection) to the planning application. THe detail can be seen on the EHDC planning portal along with the responses from other statutory consultees. The responses from members of the public are not available on the web site but can apparently be read by visitors to the EHDC offices.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - pete (28th Oct 2011 - 09:42:22) Does anyone know when exactly this application will go before East Hants planning authority ?

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Councillor Barbara Easton (28th Oct 2011 - 11:20:02) Having spoken to Mr Bowman it will not be before December, It would always be once a month on one thursday of the month at ehdc, the system is that one objector is chosen/nominated to speak on behalf of the others objecting for 3 mins and if you wish to appoint yourself this spokesman, have to phone or write with this request. The Parish Council are also given a 3 minute time slot. What I suggest someone does is request this soon, otherwise, GLHEARN who have plans for houses on Bohunt and who lodged an objection immediately will use the three minute slot to talk about why Bohunt should be viewed as preferable for housing. The agenda for the coming meeting at ehdc will be accessed on their website as soon as it is decided. There are 12 councillors sitting on this panel, Mr Ferris Cowper our County Councillor is one of them. Angela Glass our District councillor is a reserve panellist. Last time at EHDC I heard her speak up on behalf of Liphook and I was very impressed.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - James (28th Oct 2011 - 14:00:57) Ferris Cowper has for several years been the chief promoter of the scandalous 'eco-town', so whose side will he be on; ours or the developer's?

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - mike (31st Oct 2011 - 11:01:02) I noticed that there is a parish council meeting at the Millennium Hall tonight, and wonder if we can still make our views known on the Lowsley Farm application. It still seems to me that they are offering nothing to the village, and if this is going to be approved then surely our councillors could negotiate better terms for the village ? How about we get a contribution towards the new skate park.

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - mike (31st Oct 2011 - 15:19:23) Does anyone know if County Councillor Ferris Cowper will attend the parish committee meeting tonight ?

Re: Lowsley planning affects Liphook's future - Councillor Barbara Easton (31st Oct 2011 - 17:40:34) please note the meeting tonight is the full meeting of the parish council and is in the peak centre not Millenuim Hall please dont go there and it is not a planning meeting although you are welcome to ask questions in this regard. Mr Bill Mouland who is a Parish Councillor, is also a new district Councillor although he is not on the planning committee, should be there.

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