Anda di halaman 1dari 2

Town Ward Labour Party

Cllr Megan Swift


Cllr Tim Swift
Cllr Bob Metcalfe

29 Rustic Avenue
Southowram
Halifax
HX3 9QW
Tel: (01422) 323529
E: timswift.labour@gmail.com

Ms J Branscombe
Planning Officer
Calderdale MBC

14 October 2016

Dear Sirs

16/00870/OUT | Redevelopment of a former industrial (B2 Use) site for a


residential development of 130 Dwellings (Outline) | Land Off Phoebe Lane
Siddal Top Lane Siddal Halifax Calderdale HX3 9JR
As Town Ward councillors, we are writing to object to the above application, and to request that it
is not dealt with under delegated powers but is referred to planning committee for determination.
The planning reasons for this are the same as those set out in our objection below.
Traffic and access issues
The site is accessed from the steep and narrow Phoebe Lane, and will double the number of
properties serviced by this route. The road is already unsuitable for the volume of traffic using it.
The only alternative route is along the narrow and steep roads via Whitegate and Siddal Lane
Top.
Siddal as a whole is already at breaking point in terms of traffic and congestion. Major
development on this site will increase traffic volumes on other highly congested routes including
Siddal Lane, Oxford Lane and Whitegate Road.
We are aware that there is a detailed traffic assessment included within the application, and we
will submit further representations on this.
Access and rights of way
The proposed access to the site would appear to conflict with existing legal accesses to Siddal
Top Lane. The junction at the top of Phoebe Lane is tight and steep and access onto a significant
residential area at this location will be unacceptable.
Likely density of design and visual impact
As it is an outline application, it is difficult to estimate what the actual density of development
might look like, but it would appear that it would be greater than the existing properties on
Blackberry Way and Elderberry Way. This would be unacceptable.
Although the existing site is allocated for industrial use, the actual existing buildings covers only a
small proportion of the site and have been well screened by tree cover. Replacing this by a dense
residential development over the whole of the site will have a significant visual impact well
beyond the immediate locality and is not acceptable.
Protected trees and loss of other tree cover
A number of trees on the site are already subject to Tree Preservation Orders. Whilst this is an
outline application, it is not possible to identify how these orders can be protected whilst allowing
the level of development requested.

Protecting local services

- 2 As outlined in the previous section, the current site is a mix of some buildings and broader tree
cover, and the loss of this would have a detrimental effect on visual amenity, as well as potential
impact on wildlife.
Risks associated with former coal mining activities
The Coal Mining Risk Assessment document submitted with the application clearly identifies
very substantial risks to the development arising from previous mining. It recommends a
significant and costly range of further investigation work, none of which is referenced in the
Design and Access statement.
When the nearby properties on Elderberry Way and Blackberry Way were constructed by Britannia
Homes, significant voids were discovered during construction which required massive quantities
of infill material and created major costs in terms of site stability. It is therefore highly likely that
similar issues will arise with this site.
In addition, there are known drainage issues associated with former mine workings throughout
the Siddal area. For example, these recently caused significant problems on Rosemary Lane
which is only a few hundred metres from this site. Before any application is considered, a full
investigation into these issues is required to ensure that development on this site will not create
drainage and land movement issues for existing properties.
For these reasons, an outline application which does not investigate these issues and identify the
likely costs of remedial activity is not appropriate as it could lead to a principle of development
being approved on a site where development is economically not feasible.
Yours sincerely

Cllrs Tim and Megan Swift

Anda mungkin juga menyukai