Can you help a London yard and farm?

[piebaldproblems]

https://www.facebook.com/lizzie.robinson.33/posts/pfbid025Y4VjB7H1U2JWC7EgBt9aSk2tBxGytGCanMPLZhUKZEsSNsVZfYJ9exovYMUnceMl

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Typical council, care more about the ethnic minority of the mobile kind, than a farm where animals have called their home. Why do they need to do this as this ethnic minority normally just take land.

 

[cauda equina]

Signed

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Signed

 

[piebaldproblems]

Typical council, care more about the ethnic minority of the mobile kind, than a farm where animals have called their home. Why do they need to do this as this ethnic minority normally just take land.

Travellers should have pitch sites but this is totally the wrong area for it, very built up already and there's a history of issues with pitch sites locally too.

 

[AmyMay]

I hope they’ve got good solicitors .

Signed and shared

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Signed

 

[fetlock]

Get the horse owners to club together to raise some funds to enlist the help of a PR firm to get this maximum publicity in the media.

 

[Keith_Beef]

https://www.facebook.com/lizzie.robinson.33/posts/pfbid025Y4VjB7H1U2JWC7EgBt9aSk2tBxGytGCanMPLZhUKZEsSNsVZfYJ9exovYMUnceMl

The Facebook link in the original post is only displayed for a second or so, for me, before disappearing.

Here's a link directly to the petition on change.org:

Stop proposal for New gypsy & traveller residential site in Northolt - 16 Aug deadline

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

chng.it

 

[santas_spotty_pony]

Signed

 

[Rumtytum]

Signed

 

[splashgirl45]

Signed

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Signed!

 

[ycbm]

Signed.

 

[Reacher]

Have signed -
but from my (non professional) experience with planning permissions for housing estates (though not had experience of gypsy encampments) , I’m not convinced a petition will carry much weight. What the interested stakeholders need to do is go through the local plan (a horrible long document) and write an objection spelling out clearly where the development is counter to the values of the local plan.
Eg What carries weight is things like if the access to it is dangerous - if county highways object then that will carry weight.

Anyway I hope the petition is successful

 

[Widgeon]

I’m not convinced a petition will carry much weight. What the interested stakeholders need to do is go through the local plan (a horrible long document) and write an objection spelling out clearly where the development is counter to the values of the local plan.

Definitely this - if you can find one person willing / able to do this they can set up a template letter that others can then use to email in their objections.

 

[reynold]

Can they not find some newts or bats on the land/buildings? Get someone to do a wildlife survey. Are there any badger setts?

Sorry if that's already been covered but I'm not on facebook.

Signed

 

[Ratface]

Signed.

 

[SO1]

Signed. I know councils are obliged to find sites for travellers but surely there must be some unused brownfield areas that might be suitable.

 

[AmyMay]

Signed. I know councils are obliged to find sites for travellers but surely there must be some unused brownfield areas that might be suitable.

Exactly.

I suspect they’re going to need some professional help in the form of solicitors and planning consultants.

 

[criso]

I don't want to be negative but if the council has identified the site for development, then if this doesn't go through, it will be housing instead. It's happening so much round where I am and despite local opposition, they've all ended up being built on.

 

[Kunoichi73]

Signed.

 

[skinnydipper]

Signed.

 

[criso]

Signed. I know councils are obliged to find sites for travellers but surely there must be some unused brownfield areas that might be suitable.

Depending on the site if there are agricultural buildings they can be classified as brownfield. That's why developers like yards so much, there are existing buildings often not very attractive, so easier to get planning permission than a purely greenfield site.

 

[teddy_]

Signed!

 

[SilverLinings]

As others have said, the best way for them to fight this (and for others to fight similar plans) is by looking at the local plan and current planning regulations. Finding problems with issues like highways access and safety, environmental impact (e.g. of the building of any new structures, the disturbing of the land if there was previous waste etc buried there, the disturbance of any rare plants or wildlife) and the impact on local amenities such as schools and GP surgeries is the best way to fight unwanted development. If the buildings are old and/or unusual and/or the last example of the type in the area then Historic England can object to the planning (which holds a lot of weight), and the presence of a lot of trees with TPOs can also make a site difficult to develop.

The fact that this is the last remaining farm in the area means might be a strong angle to take as it has historical significance, and is the last connection of the area with it's past. This will hold more sway if the farm buildings are old (at least pre-war). If the farm/buildings were used for anything special or unusual in the past then this may also help (e.g. used as a secret outpost of the War Office, was the birth place of ballroom dancing, was the first place to have electric light installed etc*).

Locally there was recently a campaign against a totally unsuitable development and every councillor in the planning meeting said that they would have voted against it on moral and ethical grounds, but that they had to vote it through as it didn't breach any planning guidelines. They were all horrified by the application (it was about what the building was going to be used for, not that the site was being developed) but couldn't vote on emotions. Several abstained but the application was passed. A petition had been raised as well as many written objections but they held no weight.

*I have clearly made up these ridiculous examples but it would be worth looking into the property's past to see whether something of historical note occurred there.

 

[Sleighfarer]

I saw this on Facebook as I used to have a share horse at this yard. It's absolutely gutting for the liveries, many of whom live locally and have kept their horses there for years. It's very affordable and on a bus route. There are three massive fields and the horses can go out as much as the owners want, which is a precious thing to lose. It's technically a working farm, but is basically a stopover for cattle on their way to market/slaughter. Most of the yard is taken up with stables, but there is one shed for the cattle. I'm not sure what people mean by access, but it's off a fairly busy road and a little way down a lane that leads to a shooting school. Travellers coming and going wouldn't actually inconvenience anybody, or even be an annoyance - the residential area is set well back from the road on the other side.

I must say, I was always amazed that nobody had come along and tried to use it for something else, so I'm not altogether surprised about the consultation. It's a real shame, though.

 

[reynold]

Is there any history of flooding in the area? Could the land being undeveloped be 'essential' to avoid future flooding in the area as it is drainage for the local area? Do any of the fields have 'lakes' in them after heavy rain, indicating drainage to that part of the land? Flooding issues are very high up the agenda atm.

Flooding of any future traveller site may not be considered to be as much of a problem as it would for permanent housing though. I can think of 4 traveller sites near me that are all on high risk of flooding sites and 2 of them are right next to a river that floods frequently in the winter.

Still worth a try though, along with the 'green lung' aspect of farmland/parkland for a surrounding urban area.