Response from Mr Mike Fleetwood (Individual)
1. Mr Mike Fleetwood (Individual) : 10 Apr 2013 21:25:00
Please add your response below, quoting the main modification reference number: (limit 3000 words)
MM50 Brigsteer
I consider the updated main Modification MM50 is unsound for the following reasons.
Paragraph 2.13 of the modified DPD states that Brigsteer is the sole exception to the exclusion of small villages and hamlets from the DPD, where development will normally be small scale and related to local needs. Those development criteria apply as much to Brigsteer as any other small village or hamlet and it is unsound to make an exception of Brigsteer.
Paragraph 3.151 and MM50 state that "it is considered that the degree of community imvolvement and support for this proposal and the intention to seek a high proportion of affordable dwellings, justify its inclusion as a land allocation". At the same time, the modification rightly removes the clause "supported by Helsington Parish Council" because Helsington Parish Council has made clear to SLDC that, based on the views of its electors, it does NOT support the allocation. Nor can the Community Land Trust claim that it has consulted or involved the community of Brigsteer when, apart from an initial meeting in December 2010 which was a complete surprise to the community, it has called no meetings to discuss its plans with the residents of Brigsteer or to elicit their opinions and suggestions. The CLT has operated as a private club, whose rules specifically prevent its own members opposing any actions or proposals of its directors.
In an opinion survey completed in 2011 by two thirds of residents on the electoral roll 88% agreed that it would be better to use smaller sites and existing buildings and that affordable housing should be spread across the parish and integrated into the community, not concentrated on a separate site. In other words, as in other small villages and hamlets, development should be small scale and related to local needs.
Therefore, for all those reasons I submit that it is entirely unsound to base the exceptional allocation of land in Brigsteer on a supposed high degree of community involvement and support.
