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Persimmon appeal rejected 15 October 2017 by Planning Inspectorate

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As reported here by the Ipswich Star, after an appeal by Persimmon (which was heard by the Planning Inspectorate over 4 days in August), on 15 October 2017 the appeal decision was announced rejecting Persimmon’s appeal for 300 new homes at Longstrops by Bell Lane. Planning Inspector, Paul Clark, said the development “would not be in a sustainable location because it is distant from opportunities to undertake day-to-day activities,” and added that growth patterns needed to be managed to ensure best development of infrastructure such as transport and public services, which the application did not provide.

As further reported here by the Ipswich Star, Martin Davidson, land director for Persimmon Homes Anglia, was reported to say: “We are obviously disappointed with the outcome of the public inquiry, and will need to review the decision with our consultants and counsel before deciding what next steps to take”.

Should Persimmon decide in the future to launch another application for any of the land at Longstrops on the border of Kesgrave, KAGE will again do what it can to raise awareness of the issues arising from any major expansion of Kesgrave, particularly without any investment in the surrounding infrastructure.

Court of Appeal turns down NANT’s Appeal

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As reported by the BBC today, the Court of Appeal has turned down No Adastral New Town’s (NANT’s) appeal concerning the allocation of 2,000 new houses at BT’s Adastral Park site, as part of Suffolk Coastal District Council’s core strategy. This decision has just been announced and follows a 2 day court hearing late last month. The Appeal Court judges also refused to grant NANT permission to take its case to the Supreme Court but NANT can still apply directly to the Supreme Court in an attempt to get their case heard (although such costly action is unlikely to prove fruitful for NANT other than again delaying the use of the Adastral Park site).

With SCDC’s core strategy finally free from legal challenges, the SCDC Planning Department will be better positioned to recommend that any major applications for planning permission away from Adastral Park (such as Longstrops) are rejected.

NANT go to Court of Appeal in 2015

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NANT’s appeal is to be heard in 2015 by the Court of Appeal, meaning the SCDC are left without a large portion of their core plan for future housing until the case is decided – hence developers are likely to try and push other housing schemes through in the meantime. For more information see this EADT article.

Update on Legal Action by NANT re Adastral Park

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No Adastral New Town Ltd (NANT) have been holding up Suffolk Coastal’s core strategy of establishing 2,000 new homes at Adastral Park by their legal actions against the local plan. An update on the latest position can be viewed here which states that whilst NANT’s leave to appeal against the High Court judgement has been refused by the Court of Appeal on 16 June, NANT have now asked for an oral hearing to challenge that decision. The longer that Suffolk Coastal’s core strategy is held up the more likely that housing developments outside of the local plan are given the go-ahead due to pressure to build new homes for the ever increasing local population.

Persimmon’s EIA Scoping Opinion Request – 3 weeks to give comments

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Kesgrave Town Council have passed on a notice from Suffolk Coastal District Council (SCDC) Planning that they have received a request by Savills dated 5 June 2014 (on behalf of Persimmon Homes) for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Opinion for the erection of up to 300 dwellings and associated public open space, landscape and infrastructure on land east and west of Bell Lane, Kesgrave. The ‘Scoping Opinion’ is aimed at ensuring the developer is aware of all aspects that need to be included within their EIA which would accompany any formal planning application.

SCDC Planning need comments back from the Town Council by 2 July i.e. only 3 weeks time for the Council to compile comments from local residents and submit them to SCDC Planning. Please contact the Town Council as soon as possible with any relevant comments on what should be covered in Persimmon’s EIA that isn’t properly mentioned in Savills’ Scoping Report below.

The documents related to the EIA Scoping Opinion are as follows:

Savills Scoping Report – Covering Letter – 04.06.14

Savills Scoping Report – 05.06.14 – FINAL

Appendix 2 – Screening Opinion

Appendix 3 – Screening Direction

Appendix 1 (Map):

Appendix 1 - Site Plan

Note: As per this earlier blog post, an SCDC Planning Services decreed that an EIA Statement must accompany any planning application. Regulation 13 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 makes provision for a prospective developer or their agent to request a formal opinion from the relevant planning authority on the information to be supplied in the Environmental Statement (ES) (known as a ‘scoping opinion’). Scoping is used to help identify where there is the potential for interaction between a project and the environment and it allows the applicant to be clear about those effects that the planning authority and other relevant parties consider to be potentially the most significant, and upon which the ES should focus.