This is a short update on the current EBBRAG progress of opposing the development of Home Farm Land by Bellway Homes. You may not be aware that there is a very active group of concerned residents, who are meeting weekly to discuss and action the various aspects of opposition.
The biggest issue is that nothing has changed since the Planning Inspector rejected the Hallam speculative development in 2019. He reported any development was totally inappropriate for the local heritage assets & sites, the conservation issues, the entrance from Boreham Road through a prominent wall and the loss of such a cultural diverse area to Warminster. The fact Home Farm land is outside the settlement boundary for the town seems to have been ignored, as do the above issues by the town Neighbourhood Plan Rewrite Team and Bellway Homes! Nor do the landowners seem to remember his objections to developing the land.
I attended the Bellway Public Consultation concerning their speculative proposal to build 135 houses on Home Farm land, and I hope as many of you were able; but the cynical might say to select a public meeting on a working and school day would not serve the required audience particularly well. I was particularly dismayed at the inability of the Bellway staff to answer probing and concerned questions – this has been reported by many who attended. They appeared to be uninformed and not interested in residents concerns. Since then, it has become apparent their record of delivering what they promise during the application process and the quality of their house building is poor. In fact, we have discovered that some 3000 owners of new Bellway Homes have formed an action group to attempt to rectify some of the many problems with the newly built houses. We are attempting to contact their committee to get an update.
We are still looking for local experts in the planning and development processes to help formulate the opposition. In particular anyone with a legal background in planning and anyone with ex-planning experience please get in touch via the Contact Page if you feel you can help.
We will be planning to hold a public meeting soon, at a strategic time, to enable you all to express your views concerning the possible development. You will be kept advised by leaflet and this means of where and when. In addition, we will be starting a fund raising drive as some of the consultants we are currently approaching for help and to report on various aspects require payment!
Our website is maturing well with fresh updates and links to Facebook for the social media boffins! Please alert all your neighbours and friends to www.ebbrag.com and encourage them to join the opposition asap. The larger the opposition the more success we can achieve.
Please get in touch by email if you want to raise any issues or enquire about any aspect of the opposition. Please be aware that as Administrator, I may not be available immediately to reply, but will endeavour to do so as quickly as possible.
Regards
EBBRAG Administrator