Full News Report
13th February 2024
Widegates residents ready to oppose estate development
MORVAL Parish Councillors attending their February meeting at the Village Hall (Reading Room), Widegates, were left in no doubt that residents of the Morview Road and Lydcott Lane areas were completely against the suggestion that 34 residential dwellings might be built on agricultural land off Lydcott Lane.
The site of a ‘pre-app’ planning issue is behind the bungalows on the eastern side of Morview Road, with access from Lydcott Lane, close to the Shortacross junction, and the emphasis appears to be on the provision of affordable homes.
But around 30 members of the public attended and all seemed in agreement that the area of land known as Hockey’s Field was not suitable for development.
In the days leading up to the meeting the Parish Council clerk, Sam Pengelly, had reminded residents that only 15 minutes were set aside at monthly meetings for the public to speak and, in conjunction with the Council Chairman, Cllr Andy Jackson, she said that it might be more effective if one person spoke for all the residents, rather than individuals repeating issues of concern.
In the end, that 15-minute period of public participation still extended to more than 40 minutes.
The Clerk had also advised that although the ‘pre-app’ was listed on the agenda for the full council meeting, it was the council’s policy that such matters were not discussed at this stage because they had not been officially consulted by Cornwall Council’s Planning officers.
Mr Steve Murdoch, representing the residents, suggested that the (‘pre-app’) proposal was the first real test of the Morval Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) which had been endorsed by public vote back in 2022.
He described the application’s adherence to that policy as ‘marginal’ and refuted suggestions that the development could in any way be described as ‘infill’ or ‘rounding off’.
“The proposed development is ‘incremental growth’ and simply does not comply with this policy,” he said.
In relation to any ‘rural exemption’ policy permitting small scale development, Mr Murdoch said that to describe a 19 per cent addition to the existing properties in that area as ‘small scale’ was “stretching it a bit.”
He also reiterated residents’ concerns about access, services, and the lack of community facilities and pointed out that the village’s Trenode Church of England Primary School was already full.
Several other residents, he said, had expressed their concerns about the water supply to Morview Road which had experienced issues with loss of flow for more than 50 years, a problem that would only be exacerbated by the proposed new development.
Mr Murdoch raised specific concerns about the suggested access to Hockey’s Field, off the narrow Lydcott Lane and said that an estimated 150 vehicle movements a day, plus deliveries and refuse collections and the like, would exasperate the many problems already associated with the complexity of the Shortacross junction, where Lydcott Lane feeds into both the A387 main route through Widegates village and the B3253 Hessenford to Looe road.
It would also not be possible to provide the nationally-agreed 3.7-metre minimum width of road between kerbs to meet fire appliance requirements.
In addressing the ‘affordable homes’ aspect of the proposed development, Mr Murdoch referred to the recent development at nearby Farriers Way, and stated that Cornwall Council had already reduced the developer’s requirement for affordable housing by 20 per cent.
He also noted that two properties on the Farriers Way estate still remained unoccupied and queried whether developers really had any ‘appetite’ to address their ‘affordable’ housing responsibilities.
He accepted that more houses were needed for local people but
said there were better sites than Hockey’s Field…
Both the Parish Council chairman, Cllr Andy Jackson, and the Cornwall Council ward member, Cllr Armand Toms, referred to the ongoing legal issues (surrounding warranties) which was stalling the County Council’s efforts to take over the ownership of those properties, now that the developers had filed for bankruptcy.
Said Cllr Toms: “The situation frustrates the hell out of me.
“Cornwall Council has offered to buy them, so they could let them. We have 23,000 people on the housing list waiting for homes.”
(Later in the meeting he also told parish councillors “How young people pay their rents and try to save to buy their own homes its beyond comprehension”).
Another resident, Mike Willmott, also pointed out that the proposed Hockey’s Field development did not comply with the NDP’s requirements on affordable housing.
He said that the map of the area was referring to houses in Lydcott Lane as being part of Morview Road when that was not the case.
The properties on Lydcott Lane were houses but only one property on Morview Road was a house, the others were all bungalows, he said.
In addition Mr Willmott took issue with the application’s bio-diversity ‘net gains’ claims, describing them as ‘nonsense’ and ‘rather sharp practice’.
Mr Murdoch accepted that more houses were needed for local people but said there were better sites than Hockey’s Field.
He also referred to the applicant’s links with some 50 companies, calling him a ‘serial’ developer.
Documents lodged with Cornwall Council during the ‘pre-app’ process referred to both the Parish Council chairman and the Cornwall Council ward member being ‘broadly supportive’ of the development, and Mr Murdoch questioned how the council could, therefore, remain unbiased, in line with its policy for dealing with ‘pre-apps’.
“Those were the reported views of Cllr Toms and Cllr Jackson and they have gone to Cornwall Council,” he said.
“So, if they are not correct, then you need to set that straight.”
“I have a loyalty to the parishioners of Morval and
I will support wholeheartedly what they want…”
The Parish Council chairman and the Cornwall Council ward member had both been invited to view the ‘pre-app’ plans in advance of them being made public.
That, in itself, is a relatively common occurrence with developers throughout the country but Cllr Jackson reiterated: “To suggest I have jumped on board, or into bed with the applicants, is just not true.
“In theory, I thought it might be a good idea, with more affordable housing, but I said it was not up to me.
“And I did not know at that stage that the developers did not own the land (The owner, Mr Peter Warwick, of Saltash, has reportedly said that he knew nothing of the planning application).
“I have a loyalty to the parishioners of Morval and I will support wholeheartedly what they want,” said Cllr Jackson.
And he added: “If my perceived actions have offended anyone, then I apologise.”
Cllr Toms said developers were approaching councillors all the time because getting planning permission “is where the money is.”
The Clerk said that she had spoken to the case officer (Principal Development Officer George Shirley) and he was well aware of the matter, and the Chairman also said that the Clerk had tried without success to contact the developers.
Towards the end of the debate Mr Murdoch, who presented the residents’ views in a calm and measured manner, was asked by Cllr John Kitson how they would feel about the development if issues like 100 per cent affordability, water pressure and access were resolved, to which Mr Murdoch simply replied: “But the application still does not comply with the NDP that parishioners voted for.
“It just does not comply with the NDP.”
The Clerk said that she had received eight e-mails on the matter, and that the case officer had also read all his e-mails on the issue.
She assured residents that their views would be minuted.
‘Report back to the allocated Cornwall Council
planning officer any initial concerns…’
Should a full planning application be received for Hockey’s Field it will be advertised and discussed by the Parish Council in due course.
The council’s recommendations would then be passed on to Cornwall Council’s planning committee which always makes the final decision on all planning matters, not the parish council.
When the full council agenda reached the ‘pre-app’ issue, council vice-chairman, Cllr John Collings, again expressed his unhappiness with his colleagues’ interpretation of their policy.
“I do appreciate that we have not been consulted by Cornwall Council (the planning authority) and that our views, at this stage, will probably not be read by the planners,” he said.
“But, as I have said before in this council, our ‘pre-app’ policy does not prevent us from discussing this.
“Our policy actual states that a ‘pre-app’ should be noted on the agenda for initial discussions to take place and it adds: ‘Report back to the allocated Cornwall Council planning officer any initial concerns.’
“Our policy also says that we should ‘invite the applicant to a meeting to present his/her pre-application, before the normal parish council meeting which will make it easier for Councillors to attend. Allow up to half-an-hour.’
“I maintain, as I have said before, that we are not interpreting the policy correctly; instead, we are just not allowing any discussion.”
Details of the ‘pre-app’ – PA23/01310/PREAPP – can be viewed on the Cornwall Council Planning portal: www.cornwall.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-applications/online-planning-register/