As Residents Councillor John Mason has already mentioned in a comment, the application by David Wilson homes for 330 dwellings by Rectory Road Hawkwell has been refused. In fact , it was refused unanimously, with all the councillors present following John Mason’s lead on this.
Once again, the council chamber was full of residents, with a few people standing. It was good to see one youngish chap stand up and give up his seat for an older lady who was stamding and looking quite tired.
The land is currently Green Belt, and although there are 175 new homes proposed for roughly this part of Hawkwell, the precise site hasn’t been determined yet and David Wilson Homes were after getting nearlly twice what the council had been planning.
Some of the proposed homes were 3 1/2 storeys high – not appropriate for a semi-rural setting – and as Chris Black pointed out, the amount of open space the developers were offering was much smaller than, say at Downhall Park Way and Priory Chase.
You can read John’s full speech on his website here