BREAKING NEWS: Traveller Application On A1245 Refused On Appeal !

We’ve just heard that the application to keep the traveller site on the A1245 has been refused on appeal.

The traveller site on the A1245, near Rawreth lane, in Rawreth, has never received planning permission. The latest planning application was in October last year, when it was refused by the District Council:

Traveller Site on the A1245, Rawreth ? REFUSED. Lyn Hopkins and Alistir Matthews spoke on behalf of Rawreth residents at the start of the debate, Refusal was moved by Chris Black and seconded by Jackie Dillnutt, on grounds of a) impact on the openness of Green Belt b) highways safety c) lack of nearby amenities. Supported by numerous councillors including Joan Mockford and Keith Hudson.

The applicants then went to appeal, and the appeal took place last August:

A government inspector came today to hold a hearing into the appeal for the travellers site application on the A1245 in Rawreth. It was a polite, well-mannered affair.

It was held in one of the council committee rooms in Rayleigh, starting at 10 am. The discussions finished just before 1 pm, and then a visit was made to the site in the afternoon. In the meantime the inspector drove around the area, not only the A1245 itself, but the London Road shops, Church Road, Rawreth Lane and Asda.

There were 10 people present:
# The inspector himself;
# Council planner Mr Mike Stranks;
# Two Councillors ? Chair of Rawreth Parish Council Lyn Hopkins and District Councillor Chris Black;
# Two applicants, with two planning advisers;
# Two other chaps in suits just visiting ? they have applications of their own up for appeal and wanted to watch how the system works.

We discussed each of the issues in turn. The applicants concentrated on the fact that County Highways were no longer objecting. They also pointed out that the LDF site allocations document last year included this land as a possible location for a traveller site ? and all the possible sites were in the Green Belt, so why not use this one?

The Council (and councillors) maintained that this was an important Green belt buffer, and that the highways safety issues shoudln?t be ignored. Development in the Green Belt is only allowed in very special circumstances.

Anyway, we have just heard today that the inspector, and the government have upheld the appeal. The key reasons for refusing the appeal were the effect on the Green Belt , and , crucially, highways safety. So it is interesting to note that County Highways didn’t object on highways grounds and mainly for this reason the District Council planning officers recommended approval last October. Rawreth Parish Council always stressed the highways issues here, argued their case well and have been successful!

However – one point to bear in mind, the applicants can still appeal to the High Court, so bear that in mind if making any comments here!

You can download the full inpectors decision here. (569k)

These are probably the key paragraphs:

Openness and character and appearance
12.
The Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector’s reasoning and conclusions on openness, and character and appearance at IR52-54. Like the Inspector he considers that the caravans would significantly reduce openness, and that it can reasonably be assumed that the use would be accompanied by other ancillary development such as fencing, hard standings, outbuildings and vehicles that would lead to further loss (IR52). In common with the Inspector, the Secretary of State also considers that the potential for further ‘greening’ of the site does not overcome the visual harm that would be caused to the character and appearance of the area including the visual amenities of the Green Belt (IR54).
Highway safety
13.
The Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector’s reasoning and conclusions on highway safety set out at IR55-59. He notes that there is a persistent concern, reflected in the 2003 and 2006 appeal decisions, that vehicles slowing in order to turn left into the appeal site are potentially hazardous given the speed and volume of the traffic along the A1245 and the unexpectedness of such manoeuvres (IR55). Like the Inspector, the Secretary of State considers that the lack of objection from the Highway Authority is a material consideration, but he has also had regard to the Inspector’s comments about its observations at IR57 and other representations on the issue (IR58). Overall, he shares the Inspector’s view that the proposed use of the access would be far from ideal, and considers that the Inspector’s conclusion that the proposal would prejudice highway safety along the A1245 is a reasonable one (IR59).