Response to revised plans.

We would make the following comments concerning the article in press on Jan 26th and on the revised plans:

  • The RMBI claims to have reduced the housing by 15%. This is very misleading as the total number of dwellings has been reduced from 92 to 84 which is a reduction of less than 9%.
    If the 6 units in the extension to Fred Crossland House are included then the net reduction is minimal.
  • They claim that they are providing “much needed car-parking for the local surgery patients which is designed to ease on-street parking in the vicinity” In fact, their new access road would mean the loss of most if not all the parking spaces along Main Street – far more than the meagre 7 places they propose, which will be sited right in the centre of the green space and a full 30 metres away from the surgery.
  • They are not “creating a green corridor” they are destroying one.
  • Why doesn’t the article mention that the new plan contains no element of affordable housing at all!
  • There are many trees which will either be lost or at risk from the plans in their current form. It is not correct to say that the scheme “retains the established trees” – it will mean the loss of trees with TPO’s and others which the RMBI deem unimportant.
    The new 38 bed apartment block which will replace the bungalows, will be highly visible from Main Street as most of the trees in that area will be gone.
  • Where are the replacement trees for the two copper beeches which were cut down in their prime? There is no indication where they might be planted as the plan still shows a large block and numerous car-parking areas where the two trees once stood.
  • The RMBI is a charity which benefits elderly masons and their dependants and non masons are not eligable for care.We do not doubt that their work is important and that funds are needed in order to upgrade Connaught Court and to finance a new care home elsewhere in the country, but the organisation is run as a business with a turnover of many millions of pounds and they are subject to the same planning rules as everyone else.
Tell us what you think!

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