Just to recap on the latest: Plymouth City Council unanimously rejected the original planning application last year. Wainhomes appealed and we are now in the process of a public inquiry. The decision being made by the government inspectorate. Plymouth City Council have been vigorously defending their original decision. The appeal is now in recess and will be continued on the 30th March 2015 for 3 days. The decision will then be made by the inspectorate, probably many weeks later.
Update: 12th April 2015: The Inquiry resumed for two days and finished on the 31st of March. We now have to wait for a decision to be made by the Inspectorate Gloria MacFarlane, This may still take many weeks before a final decision is made. As soon as we know the result we will post it on the website and email subscribers.
27th FEBRUARY 2014: Planning permission for Radford Quarry was refused unanimously! Thank you to all those that personally objected against this development. Thank you PCC and Councillors for a sensible decision.
Simon Osborne at PCC Planning – officer named as ‘delegated officer’, stated ” as there have been numerous objections, the application has now been ‘called-in’.
The application will now go before a full PCC planning committee meeting for a decision. This meeting is likely to take place on Thursday 27th February 2014.”
As the date has been moved any objections to the application will still be taken into account prior to the 27th Feb.
YOUR INDIVIDUAL INPUT AND PERSONAL OBJECTION IS STILL ESSENTIAL: You can do this online here
A planning application was submitted on the 28th December 2013: Wainhomes have applied for planning permission to build 57 houses in Radford Quarry, which includes building houses close to the foreshore by Radford Castle. Planning Application Number: 13/02114/FUL
On the 27th March 2013,Wainhomes held a Public Exhibition regarding use of the land at Radford Quarry. The proposal is regarding the building of residential homes within the Quarry. Radford Quarry is a designated County Wildlife Site – CWS and is situated off the South Eastern shore of Hooe Lake just behind the Castle. Note: The final planning application has yet to be submitted, but it is expected to be around the end of April/May 2013. The plans below are from the meeting. Click on the images to enlarge.
Click here to see our poster to help with awareness in protecting the Radford & Hooe Lake area.
[poll id=”2″]
Please also post your thoughts and comments below.
Such a travesty that Wainhomes are holding the council to ransom over access to Radford Castle that would make it viable for use as a cafe, holiday let or similar…in the meantime it slips into dereliction. I was down there yesterday and kids are risking themselves climbing on the roof, one of them told me he had already previously sliced his leg on the railway bridge and been in hospital. Plus despite the large Hooe Quarry development the opportunity was missed to create a cycle bridge across the old swing bridge, which would have been far more useful than the new Laira cycle bridge that’s parallel to an existing of-road cycle path on the road bridge and could have been funded by a Section 106 agreement.
Guy, Just to recap: Plymouth County Council did unanimously reject the original planning application last year. Wainhomes appealed and we are now in the process of a public inquiry. The decision being made by the government inspectorate. PCC have been vigorously defending their original decision, however Wainhomes are employing one of the top QC’s for their legal team. The appeal is now in recess and will be continued on the 30th March 2015 for 3 days. The decision will then be made by the inspectorate, probably many weeks later.
Some good points there, but It may be a bit late in the day for your comments as far as PCC are concerned, anyway they are on our side in this instance. You may have to go higher up.
As far as dredging the lake goes and building a marina, this would have the following issues:-
You would need to build a sill or a lock, from a wildlife point of view the wading birds would suffer, you would be dredging a County Wildlife Site, There are undisturbed toxins in the lake from the timber treatment days, which have halted similar ideas in the Plym.
Hope this helps…Thanks for your comments.
I strongly object to new homes here. I just submitted an objection and i thought i would share it here too. I haven’t lived here long but i dont want to see another beautiful aspect of it ruined.
Please let me know what you think of my ideas.
THIS IS WHAT I WROTE TO THE COUNCIL….
Whilst I would bemoan the loss of a wildlife habitat, the infrastructure in PL9 is at bursting point and coupled with the PCC policy of putting as many obstructions on the road as possible, including far too much on-street parking on main roads, slowing traffic to a standstill and obstructing the flow of traffic, meaning cars standing still cause more noise and more pollution. Anyone who has tried to drive into town from Hooe will know this!
The roads themselves are cracked and pot holed and the lorries alone during construction would make them even worse, and if PCC has no money to repair or replace the roads, the only people able to access the area would eventually be 4×4 drivers.
The roads from mount batten to horn cross should be an urban clearway, dont wait for an accident to recognise dangerous roads. The development will add AT LEAST 100 cars per day to this area, making the situation even worse. The houses, if built, will ruin the landscape & will be guaranteed unaffordable, falling into the hands of the ever-greedy private landlords in Plymouth who own much of the housing stock.
This is made worse by PL9 being at present (with all due respect) “God’s waiting room” and full of 4 and 5 bed properties with only one or two “economically in-active” OAP’s living in them, pushing rents up for the rest of us and pushing young “economically active” families out of the area, people who have the income to make sure no more shops in the area close and new ones open.
My own suggestion for the site would be to dredge hooe lake and tidy up the foreshore, make it navigable, create a low impact jetty and marina for high end yachts and boats with the USP of being a safe boat haven but with direct access to the Plym and sea, with a low impact eco building in the quarry with a bar, cafe and heritage/wildlife exhibition and learning space. The cost of this would NOT be prohibitive and the marina would bring business and money into the area from boat owners. Thats my 2 cents worth, and I hope this application is thrown out.
IMPORTANT: YOUR INDIVIDUAL INPUT AND PERSONAL OBJECTION IS ESSENTIAL BY 14TH JANUARY! The number of individual objections raised is the decisive factor.
Full details and documentation on the planning application can be found here.
http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/planningdoc-2?appno%3D13%2F02114%2FFUL
Some reasons for Objection:
It is a designated County Wildlife Site
It is identified in the Local Plan as part of Plymouth’s Greenscape network
It is classified as a greenfield site
Rich in Wildlife and Natural Habitat
Any development should enhance & embrace Plymouth’s existing waterfront and it’s maritime heritage.
An appeal for residential development on part of the site was dismissed in 2005 (Ref:
APP/N1160/A/05/1187268). The Inspector stated:
“the Radford Quarry site as a whole is an area of regenerated countryside within the city boundary. It contributes very significantly to the distinctive character and quality of this part of the city in terms of landscape, amenity and nature conservation. Such a valuable resource
within the built up area serves an important purpose and is worthy of preservation.”
Download the Hooe Lake poster here
http://www.hooelake.org/2013/04/hooe-lake-wildlife-history-habitat-brochureposter/
The Devon Wildlife Trust have a useful guide for planning objections here: http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/i/DIYPlanningGuide.pdf
Don’t forget objections need to be in by the 14th January!
You can do this online here:
http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/planningapplicationsv4/comment.asp?AltRef=13/02114/FUL&ApplicationNumber=13%2F02114%2FFUL&AddressPrefix=&submit4=Go
Wain homes have now submitted application for planning on 6 November 2013,for 57 houses in the quarry. Consultation period 16 December 2013 to 14 January 2014.
Application no. 03/2011/FUL, accessible on PCC planning website for info, comments & objections.