Councillors listened attentively to the statements put to the Development Management Committee on Friday 1st March.  Some speeches are already archived in the Knowle Watch category on this website. Here is another key one, by Kelvin Dent of Knowle Residents’ Association, with highlights by SOS.

Thank you Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee

You have a hard job to do as Chair. I know that because before I retired I was a Solicitor working for a number of local authorities. Much of my work involved planning which I enjoyed and still do.

If I were your solicitor advising you on this application I don’t think I would sleep at night. It’s a nightmare and it’s full of holes.

On Wednesday, the Leader of the Council said that the purpose of the meeting  today was to establish the asset value of the Knowle.

With respect, it’s absolutely not.This isn’t a Mickey Mouse valuation exercise to see if planning permission would be granted in principle. This  is a serious application for outline planning permission. If it’s approved there’s every likelihood that a Housing Developer will apply for approval of details and implement it.

The only safe way to proceed is to treat this application in exactly the same way as if it had been made by a Developer and ask yourselves “Should we be granting planning permission for Wimpey or Barrett Homes to build houses on land which Sidmouth UDC declared as public open space specifically in order to keep it safe from Developers?”

I’m also worried about the way in which the application has been linked to relocation. The strict legal planning situation is that this application stands alone. To his credit, Mr Freeman, recognises that fact in his report. (Page 50). Unfortunately, he then forgets it and refers in at least 5 different paragraphs in his report  to the economic benefits that would accrue to Honiton from relocation.

That’s not right Chair. As the Leader also said on Wednesday, we don’t know if the Council is going to Honiton. If it is, we don’t know where. And even if we knew where, no assessment whatsoever has been made of the economic benefits.

So far as the proven economic benefits are concerned, it’s all negative. Can you honestly put your hands on your heart and support something which will lose at least 71 jobs? Jobs for your children and grandchildren and graduates from Sidmouth College who want to stay and work in the town.

There are plenty of other problems with this application, such as the Habitat Derogation Test, but I’m running out of time. I would just make the point that if you are unhappy about any part of the application site you can’t approve it in part, you have to refuse or defer.

My respectful advice would be to take the safe course of action, go with the existing local plan  and refuse the application.

Please bear in mind what the Council itself said in the Midweek Herald. “We’ll be sensitive with the Knowle” This isn’t sensitive. It’s wanton vandalism and it makes me very, very unhappy.

Thank you.

Thank you to the Herald for a full and prominent report in today’s edition, on last Friday’s DMC meeting.  The letters page voices  further related concerns from the public.

And the Youtube reference gives everyone a close-up view of the Knowle parkland which was (still is?) under threat.

See Save our Knowle rap at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrVUfkWy1CY&feature=youtu.be

At the meeting on 1st March, it was noted by an observer that the Chairman reminded everyone a total of 37 times, that it was simply” an Outline Planning Application” that the committee were considering. It was not, he said, about relocation of the Council offices.

For your information, some of the speeches from the floor have been posted on this website in the past week. Here is another, from Keith Northover  of the Knowle Residents’ Association:

My Association includes a number of very concerned local residents. They are
worried about a number of different aspects of this Planning Application:

• Loss of privacy, for example bungalows overlooked by three storey dwellings.

• Additional traffic on to Knowle Drive which is extremely narrow and is  already a danger to pedestrians.

• The loss of the park and much of the gardens which are enjoyed not only by local residents but by visitors and residents from other parts of the town. The evidence forms which were submitted with our application to register the park and gardens as a Town Green prove how popular these areas are.

There are a number of misconceptions which are going about.

• First that the site is a brownfield site. lt isn’t, both the Park and the Streetscene Depot, which is shown in the plans as Zone D and which is used for horticultural purposes, are all greenfield sites within the definition of the NPPF.   lf this Depot is no longer to be available to the Gardening Staff are they expected to travel each day from a new depot in, say Honiton, to the EDDC public gardens which are mostly along the coastal strip? This will increase the costs of maintaining these public gardens and will obviously increase EDDC‘s carbon footprint.

• Secondly, I would bring to your attention Planning Application 08/0850 /FUL  which involved the positioning of a Portacabin in the Depot for temporary use by Streetscene. Approval was given subject to a time limit of five years, this to  end on 6th May 2Ot3 and the area to be restored to its former condition. The reason given for this restriction was (and I quote the Council’s own words) “in the interest of safeguarding the amenities of neighbouring residents”. This was obviously and quite rightly the Council’s own policy. ln view of this policy how can building permanent structures on this site be justified?

• When the neighbouring private properties were built there was a height restriction placed on them, such that only bungalows or chalet bungalows could be constructed. However, the present proposal calls for multi-storey town houses to be placed here. This would be incompatible with the height restriction, and a blight on the current neighbouring properties.

Would you pass this application if it were from a private developer?