Locals Object to New Estate Proposed for Appledore

I was alarmed to be informed on Saturday morning of a development that has been proposed to be built in the field adjacent to mine. Apparently there was a public consultation held over the weekend in the village hall here but hardly any of the residents that would be most affected were told. Well, well, fancy that.

I discovered later on that a leaflet advertising this public consultation exhibition was indeed delivered nearby but again only to selected homes, keeping the nearest home owners in the dark about this. A rather sneaky move by the local Torridge District Council but not altogether surprising, given their track record.

I emailed them about it and the reply was that they 'knew hardly anything about it' but here's a leaflet, in fact the very one that was supposed to be delivered to me. Here's the link: hubbastone-leaflet

And here's the planner's presentation boards that were up at the exhibition: Link

So it appears that for a 200 home housing estate the council thought they could get away with informing the public selectively and rushing the exhibition through over a mere two days. Hardly fair I would say. And so was the statement by a council official at the exhibition who said that only about 30 people objected out of the 230 that attended so it's hardly an issue." Hold your horses mate and inform all the locals so they actually know there's a super development on their door step and you might get an objective result, not just the result that lines your pockets.

And wouldn't you know it, the planning consultancy involved happens to be run by an ex council planner. Well, what a turn up.

Any-who, happily the local residents association have been active on this issue and the result of Monday night's meeting was a unanimous NO vote to the proposal. Let's see if they give up the ghost or try to manipulate the public further.