Friday 15 March 2013

Home farm - 10 years on

Today is the deadline (5 pm) for comments to Pegasus about the Home Farm Consultation. You can make your comments by emailing cranfield@pegasuspg.co.uk

Here are my comments. I make no apology for the tone.

I think residents of Cranfield could be forgiven for some impatience with Persimmon's plans for Home Farm. A decade on from their initial presentation to the parish council they still have not significantly advanced this project. From the village's point of view, this appears to be entirely the responsibility of the company, which has failed to secure the land on which it hopes to build.
The community has acknowledged the reality of housing but has struggled to have some say in how its wishes are represented in the design. This includes the design of the community hall and the access to Lodge Road. This latest phase in the Home Farm project will inevitably increase local impatience. Comments by your representative from Woods Hardwick, at the consultation, that 'the parish council gave us a good kicking' when we raised legitimate concerns at a meeting last November have not helped.
And Persimmon's truculence when matters have spilled into the media also suggest an unwillingness to listen hard.
You already have a full a planning application that you are unable to deliver. It was entirely premissed on access to the centre of the village - ideal for schools, shopping and local activities. These proposals fail to deliver this.
You are hugely premature in your belief that the school playing field is going elsewhere. As I write, CBC still have to decide whether there will even be a school access through the Central Motors site and the Lower School governors have to decide whether they want to go there.
You do not have ownership of the Goodman land and there is no guarantee that we won't end up with exactly the situation there that exists with Denison.

This application is an admission of failure after 10 years to progress a development professionally and to listen to local people's needs. Speaking personally, as a parish councillor, and resident, I will oppose it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well said , it does seem an incredible situation for a National company to have let happen or was it all part of an existing fall back plan to ensure the greatest return for the least outlay ? IE Its gone this far no one can stop it now and no need to build all those community projects promised .

Living neighbouring the site, this whole episode has been unpleasant from the initial "consultation" - that was no such thing as the decisions had already been made, to the present purgatory which makes selling up hard as there is no telling what will be visable over the fence in a couple of years .