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HART – Housing Action by Residents of Tollesbury – was launched in July 2019.
Mission Statement: HART – Housing Action by Residents of Tollesbury – is not against all new housing. It exists to promote resistance to inappropriate building and over-development of Tollesbury.
Planning application: 19/00837/OUT Outline planning application by Gladman to build 90 houses at Mell Road, Tollesbury.
Objections: Over 1500 residents sent objection letters to Maldon District Council. That represents 72% of Tollesbury’s adult population – an unprecedented proportion. Research conducted by Churchill Insurance just before the Tollesbury application showed that only 4 applications in England attracted more objections.
Decision: Maldon District Council decided on 6th November 2019 to refuse the application.
Appeal? Gladman have six months to decide whether to lodge an appeal – so by 6th May 2020. There are three types of appeal including a full Inquiry, which HART will push for.
Gladman – who are they? They say they are the country’s largest land promoter – which really means they are an estate agent. They specialise in applying for planning permission on behalf of land-owners, and in managing an appeal if the application is refused.
Gladman in predatory mode: quote from David Gladman in the High Court, 2016: “We normally only target local authorities whose planning is in relative disarray and vulnerable [… Gladman] comes into its own where local authorities are in a state of flux, whilst they either have no up-to-date local plan or, temporarily, they do not have a five-year supply of consented building plots.”
Why is the 5 Year Housing Land Supply (5YHLS) so important? All councils are required by law tohave at least a five year supply of land for housing. Gladman state in their planning application that Maldon has failed to do this, but they don’t offer any evidence for this claim. Maldon’s latest 5YHLS statement (Nov’19) shows that the District has 5.27 years’ supply.
Is 5.27 years enough? HART understands that this will increase when Countryside start building 1138 homes at North Heybridge Garden Suburb (NHGS). They gained planning permission for this in September 2019, and the council meeting where this was agreed heard that it could increase the supply to over 8 years.
Fundraising: even with a 5YHLS there’s no guarantee that a Planning Inspector will refuse an appeal, so HART is raising funds to pay for lawyers or planning consultants to represent us and give Tollesbury the best chance of success. Generous Tollesbury residents have raised a total of over £2500 to date, with pledges for more coming in, and monthly fundraising events scheduled through to the summer.
HART newsletters: we are also keeping residents informed through a series of newsletters that are delivered to every home and business in Tollesbury by a band of willing volunteers!