4 May 2022
Rod Stanczyszyn, chair of Bewdley Says NO to Gladman, elected as Mayor of Bewdley.
26th April 2022
Wyre Forest District Local Plan (2016 - 2036) was adopted at a meeting of Full Council and has come into immediate effect.
30th April 2020
The Wyre Forest District Local Plan (2016 - 2036) was submitted to the Secretary of State for Examination.
Gladman and other developers have raised objections to this plan which will be considered by the inspector.
Wyre Forest District Local Plan (2016-2036)
25th June 2018
Mr Justice Holgate has announced that he has refused permission for a judicial review of the Planning Inspector's appeal decision, stating that Gladman's case is "hopelessly unarguable and bound to fail".
More details are available in a press release from WFDC which can be read here.
Rod Stanczyszyn, chair of the Bewdley says No to Gladman committee commented:
"The Bewdley Says No to Gladman campaign group is delighted that the High Court has refused an appeal lodged by Gladman against the Government's Planning Inspector.
The Planning Inspector had said NO to Gladman and dismissed Gladman's appeal against WFDC's refusal to allow development across this valued and significant green landscape.
Gladman had appealed but this has now been refused - and Mr Justice Holgate's decision to refuse permission for judicial review on the grounds that Gladman's claim is "hopelessly unarguable and bound to fail" is very much welcomed.
It proves the appeal was an unjustified attack on the landscape and Gladman were just trying to play the system.
We are pleased that this decision will help protect this valued green landscape.
Had it been allowed to go ahead, Gladman's proposal would have done very serious damage to the rural character of the locality and the incursion of development into the countryside.
We have been told that the 800+ individual letters and emails from the community, expressing strong and well-reasoned objections, was unprecedented.
So I want to take this opportunity to thank all those from the community in Bewdley and Wyre Forest who have supported the campaign in any way, whether it was written, financial, time, energy or moral.
We hope that this draws a line under the issue once and for all, and that all community members can now go about enjoying these wonderful fields, and the rare flora and fauna, rather than worrying about their future."
17th May 2018
Gladman's documentation for their application for a judicial review of the decision of the planning inspector submitted to the High Court.
It may take the High Court up to three months to process this, with a judge's ruling on whether to proceed with the challenge expected before the end of August.
24th April 2018
WFDC informed that Gladman have submitted an application for judicial review of the decision of the planning inspector.
This will be a case against the Secretary of State.
14th March 2018
The Planning Inspectorate announce that they have dismissed Gladman's appeal and that planning permission is REFUSED.
Full text of appeal decision.
17th December 2017
Bewdley Civic Society's Winter newsletter 2017 provides a good overview of the reponse to the Inquiry.
23rd November 2017
Updated timetable published on the Planning Inspectorate website shows that the appeal decision is due to be issued on or before the 19th March 2018.
View here.
3rd November 2017
Report from Day Eight of the inquiry:
It was good to see so many supporters turn out to accompany the Planning Inspector as he toured the fields of the proposed site, the children's play area and the adjacent roads. Thankfully the weather 'played ball' and eventually those glorious views emerged.
We spent two hours in the Lakes Road area before a smaller group accompanied the Inspector to the Railway Station and the public rights of way on the east side of the Severn Valley; that is, the bridleway down from Hall Farm and the footpath linking Crundalls Farm Barns down to Northwood Lane. By now the sun was shining brightly so the views across the Severn to the site were prominent. If you haven't yet walked these paths I would recommend that you do; the views of Bewdley are almost as good as the views from 'our' footpath.
After that, it was back to Dry Mill Lane and, at the Inspector's insistence, over the stile for another walk along the footpath in the top field to the second stile, to look again at the "lovely view of the wooded and magnificent valley of the Severn beneath" (as the 1926 Official Guide to Bewdley proudly stated); now with the North Worcestershire hills clearly visible.
The Inspector has now driven away with a car boot packed with boxes of evidence and a memory full of images of his visit to Bewdley and the Severn Valley.
Community spirit was on show once again today, as it has been from the start of the campaign; many thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement.
This has been an unusually long Inquiry and we have been told that we will hear in due course. But we think it is unlikely that we will get a decision before the Spring; we can only wait and keep our fingers firmly crossed.
2nd November 2017
Report from Day Seven of the inquiry:
Mercifully a shorter day !
Hugh Richards - the Counsel for Wyre Forest DC gave his closing statement and then Paul Cairnes QC - the Counsel for Gladman gave his closing statement. It seemed slightly unfair that as the Gladman barrister got the last word, he was able to comment on the WFDC closing statement as well, but this is standard practice.
These closing statements are available to view here:
WFDC closing statement
Gladman closing statement
In the near future we hope to be able to provide links to some of the other documents that were used in the Inquiry.
That concluded the formal part of the Inquiry and the Inspector stressed that no more evidence can now be submitted.
He went on to thank the public for their levels of attendance and behaviour during the inquiry. He particularly made a point of thanking the BSNTG committee for the way that we had cooperated to avoid repetition and confine ourselves to relevant subject matter and questions. At this point both barristers also specifically thanked the BSNTG committee for the level of professionalism and civility that we had shown during the proceedings.
The Inspector was going to use this afternoon to make some unaccompanied visits.
Tomorrow morning the long awaited site visit will take place.
It will commence at 10am outside the field entrance in The Lakes Road.
Members of the public are welcome to attend, but may not be able to follow those parts of the route that are not on Public Rights of Way.
It must be stressed that during this visit the Inspector will not entertain any discussions of the site, evidence or related matters to take place. This also applies to the Council Officers and Gladman representatives who will be present. Please respect this request if attending.
1st November 2017
Report from Day Six of the inquiry:
Another day when the timetable went out of the window as things took longer than expected.
The morning was taken up with Mr Lane giving the planning evidence for Gladman, which, aside from the arguments about housing supply figures, mainly consisted of their opinion that the benefits of the development outweigh the harm when measured by what the NPPF calls the 'Tilted Balance' After the barristers cross-examination, Barry Maloy and Calne Edginton-White asked questions which recieved less that satisfactory or non-committal answers.
The afternoon was taken up with discussion of Conditions and the Legal framework for payments, including Section 106, if the development went ahead. It should be stressed that this discussion in no way anticipates the Inspectors decision, it is just something that is required to be discussed at this stage. There was a list of 24 conditions that had already been largely agreed between both parties, however when it came to the legal frame work things got more complicated ! This was partly due to the fact that for these agreements there are 4 parties involved - the Company that owns the site (Karma Development Company Limited), Gladman, Worcestershire County Council and Wyre Forest District Council. There was a Unilateral Undertaking regarding payments for Policing, Public Transport & Education that was relatively uncontentious. However there was a lot of argument about the Section 106 payment towards mitigation of the AQMA problems. It was acepted that WCC will receive a payment of £950,000 to provide new busses that conform to Euro 6 emission standards, however they also want a payment of £66,000 towards ongoing testing of the busses and Gladman are fiercely resisting this as they say it has never been put in place anywhere else. The Inspector will have to decide.
Tomorrow is another 9:30 start with the two sides barristers giving their final submission statements, WFDC first and Gladman second. In the afternoon it is planned that the Inspector will be doing some un-accompanied visits.
On Friday morning the plan is for the Inspector to conduct his accompanied site visit. It is stressed that during this no new evidence or comments will be allowed.
31st October 2017
Report from Day Five of the inquiry:
The morning was taken up with Wyre Forest's Planning Development Manager, Paul Round. As is the normal sequence, our barrister (HR) led him through the different points which he wanted to bring to the Inspector's attention. Gladman's barrister(PC), of course, tried to trip up Paul Round into making mistakes which might contradict the case that our barrister, HR, had made. For instance, on the subject of Heritage, PC tried to argue that the WF policy in the Core Strategy was 'restrictive' and did not comply with the advice given in the appropriate sections of the planning 'bible' - the National Planning Policy Framework. I kid you not that this document is referred to every minute (as we were told way back at our very first public meeting); but I promise that I will not mention it again! So PR was subjected to several hours of this he may have bowed at times when he had to admit various points; but he did not break, especially when it was suggested that any economic benefits of the development would outweigh most of the other issues.
The afternoon involved PC calling two witnesses which, apparently, he did not need to do but was doing so for the purpose of clearing up so-called 'misunderstandings' which local residents had highlighted in their submissions. The Inspector expected HR to ask questions and then, once again, he gave members of the public the opportunity to question the witnesses. So, firstly we heard from the Transport witness - all numbers and computer models - but 6 residents asked a number of well-reasoned and challenging questions. Secondly, it was the Air Quality expert going through his evidence which were even more open to challenge. We had two absolutely pertinent questions for him which, I believe, made the Inspector really think hard about that issue.
Tomorrow, Wednesday 1st November: The morning's proceedings will start at 9:30am, with the examination of the evidence of Gladman's planning expert.
27th October 2017
Report from Day Four of the inquiry:
Day four was all about the numbers and, as it turned out, about the averages as well. In other words, it was not for the faint-hearted !
We started at 9:30 with another of the little-known acronyms, the HELAA, or Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment issue. This was meant to be a sort of round table discussion but the desk layout meant that some witnesses had their backs to the public so the Inspector, who is a considerate man, had the tables changed so the two sides faced each other. For WFDC there was Dr Bullock, Mrs Helen Smith and Paul Round; for Gladman, Jason Tait, George Venning and Jason Donagh. The Inspector went through the disputed numbers for many of the housing sites in WFDC's current plan, with both sides giving opinions, but he did not say which figure he believed.
After lunch, it was the FOAHN - the Full Objective Assessment of Housing Need. WFDC's report said that this number should be 300 dwellings per annum; a large increase on the previous number of 200. The other side were trying to argue for a figure of 332 (something to do with extra "migrations" from the West Midlands!).
There was also a discussion concerning the number of "affordable" dwellings which would be needed in future. This term has a special definition (see below) which is not what we (or any sensible person) think it should be.
Then, it was back to witness/cross-examination process for the housing supply buffer. This is where the housing supply has to be increased if the Inspector thinks that an Authority has a history of 'under-supply. This was tricky due to slightly contradictory policies in WFDC's Core Strategy. WFDC were arguing that this buffer should be 5%, Gladman that it should be 20% - these being the only two options defined by the NPPF.
So a very mixed day,not finishing until nearly 6pm, discussing the numbers and now we can only wait and see.
The Inquiry will resume next Tuesday, 31st October at 9:30 am.
Definition of Affordable housing from the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework
Social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Eligibility is determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. Affordable housing should include provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.
Social rented housing is owned by local authorities and private registered providers (as defined in section 80 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008), for which guideline target rents are determined through the national rent regime. It may also be owned by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above, as agreed with the local authority or with the Homes and Communities Agency.
Affordable rented housing is let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of no more than 80% of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable).
Intermediate housing is homes for sale and rent provided at a cost above social rent, but below market levels subject to the criteria in the Affordable Housing definition above. These can include shared equity (shared ownership and equity loans), other low cost homes for sale and intermediate rent, but not affordable rented housing.
Homes that do not meet the above definition of affordable housing, such as “low cost market” housing, may not be considered as affordable housing for planning purposes.
It was explained to us that a simple way of thinking of it was 'Affordable Housing' is analogous to the old style council housing & is not available for purchase by the general public.
26th October 2017
Report from Day Three of the inquiry:
This morning Gladman's QC presented their Landscape witness, Mr Keith Nye of FPCR.
The afternoon was devoted to their Heritage witness, Mr Jason Clemons of WYG.
Each witness was first questioned by their own barrister, and then cross-examined by the WFDC barrister.
We were delighted to discover that there was then an opportunity for the public to ask questions of them - an opportunity which was eagerly seized upon by committee and BT council members present. Needless to say the answers received were mainly bland and non-committal, generally not really answering the points that we raised.
Finally Gladman's barrister had the opportunity to again question his witness, to attempt to satisfy points raised in the WFDC or public questioning.
The examination of the landscape witness took the entire morning, nearly three & a half hours, whilst the Heritage witness was dealt with in under two hours in the afternoon.
25th October 2017
Report from Day Two of the inquiry:
We started with a few closing questions from the Gladman barrister to Peter Bassett, the Heritage witness for WFDC. He was trying to get Peter to agree that there would be no detriment to Severn Heights, along Dowles Rd, and also that there was no historical significance with the top hedge being the former Shropshire border. Peter resisted that very well.
Next it was Neil Furber's turn - WFDC's Landscape witness. He was cross-examined for not far short of 3 hours about his report, with their barrister, repeatedly suggesting that his photographs of the site did not demonstrate the High Adverse condition that he was presenting, if building were to happen. Neil held up very well to this and gave solid answers to the barrister.
Then we had the WFDC witness for the position on Housing supply.
Lastly, a witness was called to discuss the Air Quality issue. This was the start of the big issue where there is some doubt about the projections for how pollution measurements will change in the future. Their barrister is saying that their expert has shown that paying for modern busses on the No.2 route will solve the problem. Talk about wishful thinking!
24th October 2017
The appeal finally starts !
All the public seats were filled, more had to be bought in and then a number of people were turned away and not allowed in !
7 'Bewdley says No to Gladman' committee members and 2 Bewldley Town councillors made nearly 3 hours of submissions to the inquiry. These seemed to be well received by the inspector as the committee had worked hard to ensure that each statement addressed different subject areas and avoided repetition. The inspector has assured us that all evidence submitted to the Inquiry will be considered, regardless of the source or whether it was included in WFDC's grounds for refusal.
The statements can be viewed from the links below.
Chair's statement including AQMA - Rod Stanczyszyn
Socio-economic impact analysis - Melanie Brittain
Ecological appraisal - Ian Machin
Road safety and accessibility & accompanying photos - Barry Maloy
Local support and Heritage - Mark Moreton
Wyre Forest visitor numbers - Gordon Roberts
Footpath use and landscape benefits - Lyn Stanczyszyn
Statement by Councillor Calne Edginton-White - Chair of Planning.
Statement by Councillor Philip Edmundson - Chair of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.
In the afternoon's closing session, Peter Bassett, the Heritage witness for WFDC started to give his evidence
20th June 2017
Gladman's appeal to be discussed @ WFDC Planning Committee meeting starting @ 6pm.
UPDATE:
WFDC Planning Committee unanimously voted to endorse the Chief Planning Officer's report and his grounds for recommending refusal which will to form the basis of the Council's case at the appeal.
The Chief Planning Officers report can be viewed here.
The meeting can be viewed on a webcast at : wyreforestdc.public-i.tv
A report of the meeting and the text of our chairman's statement to the committee can be viewed on our 'From the Chair' page.
16th June 2017
The Planning Inspectorate have announced that the appeal will be heard by means of a public inquiry sitting over 8 days from the 24th October 2017 at:
Wyre Forest House,
Finepoint Way,
Kidderminster,
Worcestershire DY11 7WF.
The inquiry will sit from Tuesday 24th to Friday 27th October, and Tuesday 31st October to Friday 3rd November.
Representations must be received by The Planning Inspectorate by 27th June 2017.
Representations may be done online using the appeal reference is APP/R1845/W/17/3173741.
28th April 2017
Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier writes to Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid asking him to reject Gladman's appeal. The text of his letter can be viewed here.
27th April 2017
WFDC announce that they have been informed that Gladman have launched an appeal on the the grounds of non-determination of the application. Mike Parker, Director of Economic Prosperity and Place at Wyre Forest District Council was quoted by the Kidderminster Shuttle: “We are extremely disappointed and frustrated bearing in mind the amount of additional technical information they have been submitting. Previously the company has agreed to give us time to consider the additional technical information submitted, but has now decided to decline any further extensions despite continuing to lodge new details in support of their application.”
13th March 2017
Agenda for WFDC Planning Committee meeting on 21st March published - 16/0550/OUTL not included. We believe that it will now be scheduled for inclusion in the May meeting.
28th February 2017
Gladman submit 5 revised/new documents, dated 28/02/2017, to support their application. View here
28th February 2017
Government response to 'All 4 Better Development' petition published.
Read Adam Zerny's comments on the Government response here.
13th February 2017
Agenda for WFDC Planning Committee meeting on 21st February published - 16/0550/OUTL not included.
7th February 2017
Government housing white paper published: Fixing our broken housing market
There is a consultation section open until 2 May 2017 to allow both individuals and organisation to express their views.
13th January 2017.
An alliance of groups with similar aims, 'All 4 Better Development' has been launched.
A key part of All 4 Better Development’s strategy is to force a debate in the Commons, by collecting more than 100,000 signatures on a petition to “Give communities back the right to decide where houses are built”.
We support this aim and urge all of our supporters to sign their petition: PLEASE SIGN HERE
Bewdley says No to Gladman have also affiliated to 'Community Voice on Planning' which was founded in 2014 and now has over 100 allied member groups.
5th January 2017.
WFDC have stated that Gladman's application, 16/0550/OUTL, will not be determined at WFDC's Planning Committee on 17th January. A council spokesperson said:
"Gladman have indicated that they will be submitting additional information which they wish to submit in support of the application and to address some of the specific technical issues. We have not received this information to date. As such the application will not be reported to the January Planning Committee meeting."
29th November 2016.
WFDC have informed us that Gladman's application, 16/0550/OUTL, will not be determined at WFDC's Planning Committee on 13th December as originally intended.
We understand that this is due to a request from Gladman for an extension to the preparation and response time.
10th October 2016.
Today WFDC refused the planning application to change the use of the fields to equestrian, along with the associated stables & access.
The refusal notice states:
The development as proposed would result in adverse harm to the quality and character of the surrounding landscape. In particular the proposed access road by virtue of its length and location would create a visible scar, severing the existing field enclosure pattern which is a key characteristic of the Forest Smallholdings and Dwellings Landscape Character Type. This impact will be exacerbated due to the sites land-form and topography. As such the proposals fail to protect the character of the landscape or provide adequate enhancements to mitigate such harm. To approve the application in these circumstances would be contrary to Policy CP12 of the Adopted Wyre Forest Core Strategy and Policy SAL.UP13 of the Adopted Wyre Forest Site Allocations and Policies Local Plan
The full set of documents are available on the WFDC site under 16/0328/FULL
28th September 2016.
Documents received from WFDC under a Freedom of Information request show that Gladman responded to the WFDC's 2014 call for sites with a proposal to build 400 houses on the site and adjacent fields, extending to the Wyre Forest SSSI boundary. The proposal was for a phased development in excess of 15 years, with the affordable housing apparently not being provided until the final years. It is reasonable to assume that if the current application is granted, then further applications will follow to extend the site in the future.
14 September 2016
Planning application 16/0550/OUTL submitted to WFDC:
Outline planning permission for up to 195 residential dwellings (including up to 30% affordable housing), introduction of structural planting and landscaping, informal public open space and children’s play area, surface water flood mitigation and attenuation, vehicular access point from The Lakes Road and associated ancillary works. All matters to be reserved with the exception of the main site access off The Lakes Road (DY12 2BP)
4th September 2016 after the Hands Across the Fields event.
Hi fellow campaigners/supporters,
What a wonderful morning – the sun was shining (I think I saw it once!), the breeze was gentle, the scenery was (and will always be) magnificent and, most importantly, the people were INCREDIBLE. I hope you enjoyed yourselves and perhaps even met some new friends. Thank you so much for being there.
So you will be asking now "what is going to happen next?". I can assure you that we (the committee) are going to be working hard on an Action Plan to combat this threat from Gladman. We all have to remember though that there is no actual planning application for this proposal at the present moment. If that does occur then we will need help from everyone in all sorts of ways.
Tomorrow's Bewdley Town Council Planning Sub-committee meeting contains an agenda item to discuss a letter sent by Gladman concerning the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment for the site. This is not the occasion to flood the meeting. I know I can't insist that you don't attend but that is what I ask of you on this occasion. Two members of our committee will be present. There will be other times when a full-on approach will serve our campaign better.
Please pat yourselves on the back for making it happen today and – if you haven't already seen it – watch BBC1 Midlands Today news at 10pm tonight Sunday to view yourselves HoldingHandsforBewdley.
Rod (Chair of Bewdley Says NO to Gladman committee)