Urban Areas Consultation - advice on filling in the response questionnaire

Michelle writes:
I promised I would post again, following on from the RASH meeting, about a modified Option 2 or Option 3 if you prefer to refer to it as that.


I would highly recommend visiting the Duchy Residents Association website for further information about the urgan areas consultation and proposed housing options.


http://www.duchyresidents.co.uk/


Scroll down the homepage and click on 'Suggested response' (Item 10). This links to an example filled-in questionnaire, offering suggestions for alternative areas that could be further developed rather than the large number of houses proposed for the West of Harrogate at Cardale Park. Very useful if you are looking for words or help with filling in the form.


Deadline for the response is 4th November so please try to get your responses back by then. The more residents that respond, the stronger our voice to preserve the West of Harrogate.

Winter Preparedness - advice for residents from Yorkshire Water

Last  year  was  one  of  the  coldest  to hit Yorkshire for some time with temperatures in parts of our region reaching -19C. Thousands of people were left  with  frozen  private  supply pipes and no water and as a result this year Yorkshire Water have launched a new ‘Wrap Up’ campaign to help residents get their homes prepared for winter.

The  campaign  provides residents in the region with help and advice around how  to  protect  their pipes, how to defrost their pipes and what to do if they have a burst.

This year Yorkshire Water are determined to help and ensure everyone in Yorkshire is well equipped with all the information, tools and know how to make sure that  when the snow strikes again, they will be in a much better position to cope with it.

www.yorkshirewater.com/wrapup

Today, Michelle has been...

...speaking at the Harrogate Borough Council Planning meeting on behalf of the residents of Redfearn Mews about the proposed White Rose Court Development of 10 houses at the BT training site. The plans can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/69x4gmu 


This application was recommended for approval and although there was some opposition  from 5 members and 1 abstension, this development was approved by members and will be referred to the Head of Planning(to be verified.)


This is what I had to say...

My name is Michelle Woolley and I am the local member for the Rossett Ward. Thank you to the Chairman for allowing me the opportunity to speak today about the White Rose Court development, which is part of the larger BT training site.

Residents of Redfearn Mews will be directly affected by 10 more houses and the opening up of the cul-de-sac to form a continuation road to the BT private road, and they have already expressed their concerns about this development.

Indeed, this committee has on two previous occasions refused planning permission, and it’s only because of a successful appeal by the developers that this is before you today.

Residents on Redfearn Mews (consisting of 38 houses and 6 flats) are rightly concerned that 10 more houses will cause unacceptable traffic congestion both in Redfearn Mews itself and the top end of Hutton Gate. Currently, residents from Hutton Gate are already forced to park their cars on Redfearn Mews as there is insufficient parking, causing congestion at the junction with Hutton Gate.

Furthermore, Hutton Gate was deemed too narrow for a bus and the public service vehicles have difficulty negotiating it.

Aside from the dangers relating to traffic and parking congestion with the development of 10 houses, the bigger picture also needs to be taken into consideration. As I mentioned this site is part of the larger BT site, which is earmarked for 90 houses as seen in the Council’s urban areas consultation, I am referring to area H39. Therefore, opening up the cul de sac for the development of White Rose Court will eventually give access to these 100 houses via Redfearn Mews;  a situation that gives serious cause for concern in terms of the amount of traffic being routed through a narrow road and subsequent parking congestion.

I would prefer to see White Rose Court developed with the future of the whole BT training site in mind, instead of developing it prematurely and in isolation.

I would be grateful if you would take these points into consideration when making your decision. Thank you.

RASH Meeting - Say YES to modified Option 2.

It was brilliant to see so many people at the Residents Against Spoiling Harrogate meeting at Ashville College on Tuesday - approximately 200 attended to hear what RASH had to advise on the proposed  Harrogate housing plans.


Key Messages:


Just saying 'NO' to Option 1 & 2 is not the best approach, we have to consider what is best for Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon as a whole and feedback constructively on the questionnaires.
Most people agree that some level of development is to be expected and can have a positive impact and offer opportunity when carefully controlled and considered. However residents strongly object to the disproportionate amount of housing proposed at Cardale Park (Option 1 H3008 1825 homes and Option 2 H32(2) 770 homes).


The advice from RASH is:
Say No to Option 1
Say Yes to modified Option 2, which demands a fairier distribution of houses across the district.


I will post again about modified Option 2 in more detail shortly, can I suggest you contact Rosemary 01423 562480 rcarnaghan@yahoo.com for an example completed questionnaire in the meantime.


The closing date for comments is 4.30pm Friday 4 November 2011

Please send your form to: FREEPOST HG11, Dept of Developmenttal Services, Harrogate Borough Council, West Grove Road, Harrogate, HG1 2ZR.

 

Further Information:


The RASH panel was made up of:

• Rosemary Carnaghan (Chairman of the Duchy Resident's Association)
• Terry Byrne (Chairman of the Harlow and Pannal Ash RA)
• Mike Clarke (representing Beckwithshaw Parish Council)
• Peter Whittle (Duchy RA)
• Roy Osbourne (Chairman of Queen Ethelburga's RA)

Full minutes are available from Rosemary rcarnaghan@yahoo.com but the concerns raised included:

• Poor infrastructure, how will the Otley Road cope with police station traffic, increasing visitor numbers to Harlow Carr RHS gardens and up to 2000 new houses.
• Empty offices at Cardale Park, so why is more land reserved for business development?
• Significant impact on the village of Beckwithshaw, the rural consultation did not highlight the additional housing proposed for the West of Harrogate
• Clogged up rat-runs along Lady Lane, Howhill Lane through to Burn Bridge and Pannal.
• Construction traffic, years of continual house building, noise and disruption.
• The land is designated as Special Landscape Area and is recommended to stay as this.
• Flooding
• Dependency on North Yorkshire County Council for roads, schools, health services and facilities.

The campaign against the proposed housing gathers momentum...

Meet your PCSO at Rossett Sports Centre Friday 21st October

Michelle writes:

Natalie, your local, friendly PCSO will be at Rossett Sports Centre on Friday 21st October 5.30 - 7.30pm. This is an opportunity for you to have a chat with your local PCSO, and raise any issues you may have. It's more of a drop-in session than a formal meeting. It's important for Natalie to hear your concerns as she can feed these back in order to help set policing priorities for the area.

Michelle and Jim will also be there.

RASH (Residents Against Spoiling Harrogate) meeting 18th October 7pm

Local Development Framework


Michelle writes: I am strongly opposed to the level of proposed new housing presented in the 'Plan the Future With Us' newspaper (you should have had one through the letter box.) Neither Option 1 nor 2 are acceptable in terms of the numbers of houses and level of development proposed for West Harrogate behind Cardale Park. More info can be found here:


http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/Pages/LDF-Consult.aspx


Come along to the RASH meeting at Ashville College at 7pm on the 18th October to learn more about how to respond to the consultation. Filling in the questionnaire will be explained in terms of what to write so that we can all get our points across with the maximum impact. Hope to see you there.