Buntingford Civic Society

I must say it doesn't seem like three months since my last article. The Carnival was a tremendous success, as predicted in my July article and since then we have had the Classic Car Show, another great day in the town. It is events like this that make this town so special. What was surprising was just how many came from outside the town, they come from all over. One group I spoke to came from Kent, just for the day.

A quick update on what's been happening on the Planning front.

On the proposed development on land to the east of Aspenden Road, which was rejected by East Herts Development Management Committee some six months ago, the developer has now decided to take that decision to appeal. We await a date for the appeal but we think it will be sometime in early 2015.

The 'referred matters' application by Wheatley Homes for Area 1 in the field behind Snells Mead was deferred as the Committee agreed with us that there was not a good mix of housing types; we await the developer's response. At the DMC meeting on Wednesday 17th September, the Fairview plans for the old Sainsbury's depot were passed, but the outline planning applications for Wheatley Areas 1 and 2 were refused, with the caveat that EHDC planners could continue discussions with them at which we will be represented by our District Councillors.

On 1st September I attended a Parliamentary Select Committee forum at Portcullis House, Westminster, following a submission made on behalf of the Civic Society back in May. The forum focussed on the operation of the National Planning Policy Framework since its introduction in February 2012 and the effect that it has had on local communities. As there were over 50 attendees at the forum it is difficult to report in a short article all of the comments, but suffice to say that our views were noted and we are not the only town / community in the UK suffering unwanted developments. The NDDF is a developers' charter leading to planning by appeal.

I'm sure you are aware of the initiative by the town council asking for suggestions for projects that the New Homes Bonus could be used for. I hope you took the opportunity to put forward your thoughts as all ideas will be looked at.

And finally, the sad death of a very important and influential songwriter was recently announced in the New Musical Express. His name was Larry Le Prise and he died at the really good age of 93. He was best known for writing the celebrated party song, 'The Hokey Cokey'. The saddest part of his death was when the funeral director had to get his earthly remains into the coffin: they put his left leg in - and that's when the trouble started.

Thanks for reading.

Graham Waite, BCS Co-Chair

If you have any queries about Buntingford Civic Society or issues you would like to raise, you can now email the Chairman direct at chairman@buntingfordcivic.org.uk.

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