Minutes of Public Consultation held on Tuesday 15th March 2022, at Great Sampford Village Hall.

Present:    Cllr Woods (Chairman), Cllr Beaney, Cllr Boyce, Cllr Thompson, Cllr Deuce
DC Smith 
        Luke Brown (Clerk)


36 members of the public


MINUTES


Planning Reference: UTT/22/0618/OP
The Chair opened the meeting, informing those present that it was important that they as individuals wrote their own comments regarding this major application and submit them to UDC’s planning portal before the 5th of April 2022, and to keep in mind the material considerations for planning matters when writing those comments.  It was noted that the quantity of comments will have an impact on the outcome.
  
The Council will consider their comments to submit at the next Parish Council meeting to be held on Tuesday the 22nd of March at 7:45 PM.


The following are the main points made during the meeting:

• There was a question posed; Is there a height restriction of one and a half storeys on buildings in the Sparepenny Lane South area? – The answer was unknown.

• There would be a loss of privacy due to the height and location of these proposed properties overlooking the nearby gardens of established homes.

• There are a number of bungalows in the vicinity of the proposed site, which house aged and vulnerable people that would be negatively affected by the extra noise and pollution created from the initial development and then from those that take up residents there.

• There is a real concern that the developer’s intentions are for growth, should this development be granted. The plans show half the site is to remain as a field, but in the near future another application could be submitted for far more development that takes up the rest of the site.  If this were the case, then it would be extremely difficult for UDC planning to object.

• The proposed site is outside the village envelope and would intrude into the largely open countryside that surrounds Great Sampford and would not be in keeping with the character of the village. 

• There are flood defences permanently in place at a property on Monks Corner due to flood and drainage issues in the area that have been ignored by the developer’s plans.

• The village has a working community building already established.  The cost of maintaining another building could unnecessarily cripple the Parish Council financially.

• There is very little support in the community in favour for an allotment.

• The proposed access road is designated a B.O.A.T. (by-way open to all traffic), which is predominantly used for walking or horse riding and therefore unsuitable for the level of extra vehicle traffic this development would cause.

• The access road shown, seems to be far too narrow to allow for dual way traffic.

• The access road shown, does not seem to take into account access for large emergency service vehicles and utility vehicles, and that there seems to be nowhere for such vehicles to turn around.

• Sparepenny Lane South and Sparepenny Lane North is not a through road and there have been many vehicles, mainly delivery vehicles following sat nav, getting stuck along the by-way.  This issue would only be exacerbated by this development.

• Sparepenny Lane South during school pickup and drop off times is often congested with traffic, which is not considered in the developers plans.

• There have been car accidents at Monks Corner, that have been ignored by the developer’s plans.  The car accidents have caused major damage to the homes situated at Monks Corner.

• Monks Corner is a narrow, blind bend located at the entrance to Sparepenny Lane South and Parsonage Farm Lane, which is an issue, especially for large vehicles that need to cross the centre line to make the corner.

• The local primary school and public house/restaurant are over-subscribed.

• The site is unsustainable.  There are no shops or post office and little work opportunities in the immediate village.  There is a very limited bus service that runs to Saffron Walden making it essential for those living in the village to own a car to access places of work or other essential amenities.  This will also result in additional increase in traffic due to the proposed properties relying on deliveries.

Closing Statement
It was requested that the list of Material Considerations be made available to the public via noticeboards and the Parish Council website.  It was requested that the minutes of this meeting be made available and distributed via the Sampford Signal as soon as possible.


The Chair thanked all of those that came to the meeting.  Cllr Boyce encouraged those that came, to speak to the rest of the village that were unable to make it, to motivate them to submit comments as well.


Consultation Closed @ 8:55 PM.