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Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Colin Osborne (9th Dec 2011 - 23:06:36) Planning application References: 34310/016 and 34310/017 Land at Lowsley Farm, Lark Rise, Liphook, GU30 7QT A group of concerned residents are intending to meet at the Peak Centre, Liphook on December 13th at 19:15 to arrive at consensus view of residents objections. The intention is that a spokesperson will represent the group at the EHDC planning committee meeting to be scheduled in the New Year. We hope you will be able to attend to add your weight to the argument and have a voice. - The objections submitted to the EHDC - A summary of the case made by the CPRE - Any additional issues - How to approach the EHDC (including lobbying the members of the Planning committee) - Nominated spokesperson for the group We will need to arrive at a concise consensus view our residents objections as the spokesperson is only allowed 2 minutes to state the case before the committee and/or raise a petition. We have been encouraged that the CPRE are also fighting the farm plan and have been in touch with Christopher Napier. Most of our objections reinforce the CPRE platform e.g. why this development now?, infrastructure, traffic, dangerous access roundabout, estate already over-crowded and the impact the development will have on the nature and character of the village. HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT to have a voice.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Jeanette (10th Dec 2011 - 09:14:24) Well done Colin. I shall be at the meeting and hope to see many more people from Liphook there. This government has promised that it wants community led action plans - let's give them something to think about!

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Sudha Rai (12th Dec 2011 - 07:07:26) Hi, I am unable to attend this meeting. Please can you keep us informed via this site? Much appreciated. Thank you, Sudha.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - jo (14th Dec 2011 - 08:37:32) I am so sorry - I had this in my diary and intended to go, and then forgot all about it last night. How did the meeting go? Thanks.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Jeanette (14th Dec 2011 - 09:55:30) Even with the inclement weather the meeting was well attended by a mixture of residents, local councillors, reps from the Parish Plan and the press. We also have the support of the CPRE. Discussions moved smoothly with the guide of Eve Hope, Colin outlined the arguments clearly having done a lot of research into getting the opinion of a good mix of local residents. Colin has agreed to attend the planning meeting at EHDC but given that he only has 3 minutes to put forward the case then we will work together to ensure that the legal points are covered concisely. The main concerns were for the traffic safety along the Longmoor Road, parking and maneovering in the proposed estate (given that it is to be used not only by home owners, but also allotment holders, visitors to the SANG and to the play park), and the size and density of the proposed dwellings especially since it is in a rural area. Colin is a great example of the sort of representation needed for the Liphook community. We have been at the mercy of aggressive, profit orientated developers and its about time the community had the right to have their opinions taken into account. Colin can we have your account too?

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Sudha (14th Dec 2011 - 10:13:36) A big thank you to all the attendees. A bigger thank you for the update,Jeanette. And the biggest thank you to Colin. Hopefully,united we stand!

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Colin Osborne (12th Jan 2012 - 18:54:37) I and others in the initial group of '5 musketeers' were encouraged by the turnout and the feedback. It was good to have a reprentative selection of residents, local councillors, district councillors, those preparing the Parish Plan and Liphook Herald in attendance. Thanks to Garbriell Pike for her article in the local paper on the 16th December which I hope most of you saw. It is a little daunting to be charged with prepaing to meet the EHDC Planning committee as spokesperson for the group given that you are only allotted 3 mintes. The core message I took from the meeting is that Liphook is being imposed at a pace of development which is not sustainable by a community of our size with no infrastrcture to support it. 155 new houses and 300+ vehicles is a large development for a rural community like ours to bear. WHY the RUSH? Housing needs are being adequately met in the current five-year period according to the Government’s planning policy (PPS3). The timing of the release of this 'Reserved' site is, therfore inappropriate. The community should be given time to consider before a development of this size is approved. We are faced with a strident, agressive developer who is keen to get his project approved ahead of the changing coalition's Localism Bill which affords more community involvement in housing decisions. Time should be allowed to complete and publish the Parish Plan which is in progress. The Local Plan Inspector in the Silent Garden appeal agreed with the EHDC that Lowsley Farm should be ranked last out of the Reserve Sites in the local plan. Apart from the timing and size of the development other issues I will seek to raise include another greenfield site, the density of housing, traffic via Longmoor Road and through the village, the dangerous roundabout, access, parking, an inadequate infrastructure, strain on existing amenities and services. Our village way of life, as we would want it to be, is being eroded and the pace of develpment change imposed on use is unfair. As a community let us not just take this without a fight and the opportunity to get across our feeling about this.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Steve (13th Jan 2012 - 16:17:43) Colin Looks a reasonable summary to me although I think you will struggle to get all that into 3 minutes! Do you have any idea when the Planning meeting will take place?

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - tina (14th Jan 2012 - 12:09:02) Colin, you’ve done a brilliant job raising local awareness about this over-development at Lowsley. I already gave my views on Talkback on 31st October last year and also directly to east hants against the planning application. Now we read Gabrielle Pike’s front page in this weeks newspaper about ‘Blueprint for jobs and homes’ with utter dismay. It seems that east hants and the south downs between themselves have decided that Liphook should be a dumping ground for at least 427 more houses (that’s 1000 more people!). Ok, so town is expected to grow, that’s fine. But, Gabrielle, just where are the jobs? - not at Lowsley Farm and not anywhere in Liphook area! And, Gabrielle, where are the community facilities that we desperately need? - not at Lowsley and not in the even worse massive Silent Garden development either! Also, Gabrielle, where in this crackpot scheme is ‘localism’, the big idea of our times? – not, it seems, considered important enough by east hants or south downs to cause any serious questions about the Lowsley application! This is the real story Gabrielle, not the honey-coated words of Mr Ken Moon at east hants that you quote so liberally! Gabrielle Pike mentions at great length the joint core strategy that east hants and south downs are about to seek approval for, with all its fancy talk about sustainable prosperity, jobs and facilities – but asks no questions whatsoever of these outside bureaucrats on what they now intend for Liphook. Colin, the message many of us want you to repeat to the planners is that we want and need jobs, public amenities, sports facilities, opportunities for new enterprise within our growing town and support for better tourism to the national park. We do not want to be an empty dormitory town or have to motor off through the tunnel to London for our wages (if so lucky) or have to go to the coast for our entertainment. If we must have more homes we do not have to tolerate development that is offering the town nothing and making a bad situation much, much worse. I will be at the hearing to support you but honestly, thinking about where we are now heading really just makes me despair.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Colin Osborne (19th Jan 2012 - 18:27:04) I too have been trying to make sense of Gabrielle Pike’s recent article in the latest Liphook Herald re:- ‘Blueprint for jobs and homes’. This refers to the Joint Core Strategy being prepared by the District Council and the South Downs National Park (SDNP) Authority. This will replace many of the policies in the Local Plan (2006) which are becoming increasingly out-of-date. There is therefore some urgency in adopting a Joint Core Strategy as soon as possible. The Joint Core Strategy sets out an overall policy framework for directing how the District will be developed in the period up to 2026. I have being trying to plough through the draft Strategy document (100+ pages) and Appendices (60+ pages) which you can access via:- EHDC I suggest as I have done you read the strategy preliminaries and search through the PDF documents and Appendices for references to Liphook. I am trying to establish where this sits with the Lowsley Farm development, the Localism Bill and the impact it will have on the Parish/ Neighbourhood plan being prepared. I do not know where the figure of 431 dwelling has come from and what input the Parish has had to arrive at this number. The Strategy does not make mention of the former Reserve sites, which may mean they are no longer relevant? Further planning issues to consider which hopefully we locally can influence in keeping with the Localism Bill to come.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Councillor Barbara Easton (24th Jan 2012 - 14:35:57) The joint core strategy document will be able to receive comments through the online system starting 3rd Feb, though will not have any bearing on the Losesley Farm application - as yet I do not know when that will be heard by EHDC, but I will let this site know as soon as I hear anything.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Steve Miller (6th Feb 2012 - 17:41:01) Residents will be interested to see that revised proposals for the new roundabout near Giggs Green and its associated traffic calming measures have been published on the EHDC planning portal. Significant changes include: The previous mini roundabout proposal has been changed to a slightly larger 'compact' roundabout which has a small kerbed central island. The previous plan to build an obstruction into the westbound lane of Longmoor Rd about 150m before the roundabout has been abandoned. The new plan is to slow traffic approaching the new roundabout from the village centre with a series of speed cushions. I understand that EHDC have decided to allow a further period for public consultation and comment given the scope of the proposed changes but this is not yet confirmed on the web site.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Griggs Green Resident (6th Feb 2012 - 19:29:02) I think this would be a great opportunity to reduce the speed limit down to 30mph as soon as people come off the A3 at Griggs Green. It goes down to 30mph straight away at the first Liphook turning off the A3 southbound but here in Griggs Green we have the golfers in their fast cars right up your backside when you pull out of the old Longmoor Road and they've not even been in view when you've pulled out!

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Colin Osborne (7th Feb 2012 - 11:14:45) Thanks to Steve for his advice on the revised roundabout plans being posted on the EHDC web site. I have asked HCC (Highways), Winchester who imposed the revisions on the developers to respond as whether the prevailing residents' concerns have been addressed:- - will heavy vehicles be able to control their speed in adverse weather as they approach the roundabout and manage the camber in going round it? - have they addressed the line of sight issues of traffic approaching in either direction? - have they diligently considered the Heath and Safety issues, bearing in mind the accident history at the existing bends? - residents do not believe the developer’s declared traffic assessment of the percentage of the 300 + vehicles, that will turn left along Longmoor Road from the new estate. They anticipate more tailbacks and congestion at the dual mini-roundabouts at the centre of Liphook. - how will the revised roundabout cope with the flow and speed of the increased level of traffic? The residents will want to examine these plans and consider the traffic calming measures and warning signage and will have a view as to the impact these will have on controlling the speed and flow of traffic. As you would expect the residents most adjacent to the Longmoor Road at or near the site of the roundabout who have the most local personal experience, concerns and issues. However, the whole community stands to be affected as always by the traffic congestion at the centre and the 'rat runs' (e.g. via the Avenue) to avoid it.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Steve Miller (7th Feb 2012 - 12:21:16) Colin I met with HCC yesterday with regards to my concern over the impact of a roundabout in that location on the safety of my (and my neighbours) access. I shall be pursuing this matter irrespective of all of the other highways and planning matters. Based on my discussion with their engineers I suspect that HCC will argue that the latest proposals do satisfy the requirements for both the approach speed and the ability for heavy vehicles to pass around the roundabout although they did stress to me that their evaluation is not yet complete. It appears that the speed cushions were actually suggested by HCC as an alternative to other traffic calming measures put forward by the developer. Given that these are sized to allow HGV (and school bus) wheels to pass either side I find it difficult to believe that this will provide a satisfactory way of slowing this type of vehicle as it approaches the roundabout down the hill. In practice I would suggest that it is probably not possible to devise a solution that would cope with the type of conditions we have seen over the last few days and that a roundabout in that particular place will never be safe.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Andy (7th Feb 2012 - 14:18:24) Re Griggs Green Resident. I agree - although |I think 40mph as soon as you get off th A3 is probably more suitable. And in my experience, it's not the golfers going too fast as they know they need to turn off to go to Old Thorns, it's people who know the road and the speed limit going into Liphook that cause the problem, booting to 60 asap after getting off the A3. I've tried to get the limit reduced to 40 previously via Cllr Tough but there appears to be a reluctance at District council to do this.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Griggs Green Resident (8th Feb 2012 - 11:41:28) Andy, I'm doing what all the developers do but the opposite way round! They ask for lets say 155 news houses when they only want 140 and we think we've won when they have to come down but really they've only come down to what they really wanted in the first place, I'm starting low at 30mph when I really only want 40mph! ;0

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Colin Osborne (12th Feb 2012 - 13:27:46) EHDC 'Notification of Pre-Decision Amendment' letter Many of you will have received the above lettter giving you the opportunity to raise comments or objections with EHDC re. the amended plans at the Griggs Green roundabout, no later than 20th February. I would encourage you to view the revised plans on the EHDC Planning applications web site (via Ref 34310/016) and click on documents. The planning documents are at the bottom of the list dated 06 Feb 2012. and send in your comments or objections to:- http://planningpublicaccess.easthants.gov.uk/online-applications/ (enter Ref: 34310/016 and at next screen click on Icon ‘ Make a public comment’) The main issues are the traffic flow and management of the roundabout sited at an existing accident prone, dangerous bend and the risks faced by local residents getting on and off Longmoor Road. Issues of line of site and the speed and control of HGV approaching and navigating the roundabout in adverse weather are additional concerns. The deveoper's anticipated additional traffic to and from the centre of Liphhook is still in some dispute. Ref. comments from Steve Miller above the ultimate fear is that a roundabout sited here will never be entirely safe regardless of the optimim design.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Colin Osborne (12th Feb 2012 - 13:53:54) In addition to my earlier entry I would cross refer you to the new thread on the subject:- New public consultation on Lowsley Farm highways proposals - Steve Miller (9th Feb 2012 12:36:49) In addition he refers to the proposed speed and traffic calming measures along Logmoor Road either side of the proposed new roundabout near Griggs Green required for the access into the Lowsley Farm development. I am advised that the closing date for public comment has been extended to 22nd February. Please take the opportunity to have your say and add weight to local concerns.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Dawn Hoskins (15th Feb 2012 - 12:15:29) PC meet on Monday to discuss.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - liz (15th Feb 2012 - 12:55:50) 155 new houses = 155 x ? extra traffic movements through the Square. How is it going to cope? There appeared to be some kind of traffic counting going on recently so presumably somebody knows the current volumes of traffic. There are, no doubt, estimates for the impact of the Lowsley Farm site - which should be doubled as these estimates are always wrong (eg Sainsburys) and don't seem to take into account that there are more delivery lorries about due to the rise in internet shopping. I can't see how the end result will make happy reading (or driving).

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Colin Osborne (22nd Feb 2012 - 09:55:48) The amended roundabout plans are subject to a Technical Review by Stephen Jenkins, HCC Highways authority, Winchester. They have, therefore, not yet been approved. Rhetoric on Talkback alone will not get the collective message across to EHDC. There is not much evidence to date of your objections/comments being added to the EHDC web site. An e-mail (paul.bowman@easthants.gov.uk) or letter to Penns Place for the attention of Paul Bowman is also acceptable.You now have until the 5th March. I would again advise you to get your message across and add weight to the arguments. The EHDC link is:- planningpublicaccess.easthants.gov.uk/... (enter Ref: 34310/016 and at next screen click on Icon ‘ Make a public comment’) I refer you to the editions of The Petersfield Post (15th Feb.) page 14 'Last chance for say on Lowsley Farm' and the front page of the Liphook Herald (17th Feb.) 'Lowsley road row continues'.

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - meeting - 13/12 - Editor (22nd Feb 2012 - 10:33:02) The comment from HCC - County Education Officer - 26th of September 2011, once read carefully, says - "...contribution towards the provision of additional education infrastructure is required; Primary - 135 x £5,733 = £773,595 Secondary - 135 x £6,040 = £815,400 Total = £1,588,995 " I do hope the schools get this money well before the houses are completed, giving them time to get the necessary planning permission to extend their facilities and recruit additional staff. Alan

Re: Lowsley Farm (155 new houses) - EHDC Planning meeting 3rd MAY - Colin Osborne (14th Apr 2012 - 11:10:46) Paul Bowman (EHDC Senior Planning Officer) has advised that the Lowsley Farm Planning applications will come before the Planning Committe at Penns Place on THURSDAY 3rd MAY. In view of the size of this project I have asked EHDC for 2 x 3 minute sessions (usually 1) to cover the Residents issues one for the access and traffic issues via the roundabout and the other for the impact of the proposed 155 houses on the Lowsley farm estate on the village/town. I will be approaching the Parish Council (the Council will get 3 minutes) about our presentataions to EHDC Planning Committee. I will keep you posted of the agreed approach. Paul is happy to receive final written comments (letter or e-mail) until Friday 20th April 2012. Any new material issues will be reported as an update at Planning Committee. Those who have objected and made commenst on this application will be written to 8 days in advance of Planning Committee. There are still on going issues with the long running objections and comments to the revised compact roundabout and the impact on Longmoor Road residents. The following documents have been posted on the EHDC web site on the 12th April and are worth your consideration:- HCC comments (letter from Stephen Jenkins to Paul Bowman) and the latest illustration of the roundabout changes. I have not had a response from the Ecologist on the Bat Mitigation issues or feedback from the Council\'s Drainage Consultant on the issues raised on Water/Sewage/Drainage plans for the site. Please take this LAST opportunity to raise your comments and objections. If you have anything for me please get in touch.

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