Please see a message from ECCAN member Friends of Western Harbour Ponds:
Dear Friends and supporters
As you may already know, the prospective developer, FM Group, has lodged a second planning application for Plot A1 (the woodland plot) after withdrawing their previous application of November last year. See our website for more.
So, we're doing it all over again! Rallying to get as many objections in as possible before the 20 June deadline. But first, big thanks to everyone who objected last time. We hope you can muster the energy for round two!
So, what's changed in this planning application?
This proposal differs slightly from the last in a few ways, but not by much:
- The design has been tweaked. It now comprises two roughly L-shaped blocks of six storeys each, with the number of units increased from 104 to 154, with 18 car parking spaces. Crucially, it now meets (only just!) the minimum affordable housing allocation of 35% required by City Plan 2030. We strongly suspect the main reason why the previous application was withdrawn is that it didn't meet this minimum. No details of the tenure types are provided.
- More effort appears to have gone into trying to stress biodiversity enhancements and a 'greener' design overall. EV car charging points, heating by air source heat pumps and the roofs covered in sedum. More attention also seems to have been paid to the landscape design, with wildflower planting and planters, though there's no indication of how these will be maintained.
- The language in the Planning Statement seems to have hardened to emphasise the 'housing crisis' argument, and pit it against our biodiversity argument. We've added an additional point in our guidance to address this.
How to object
Below is a step-by-step guide to making your objection. Please submit it via the Council’s planning portal by Friday 20 June 2025.
PLEASE NOTE: commenting is NOT limited to one per household, so please encourage the other adults living in your household to submit an objection too! Residents Associations and other groups/organisations may also submit an objection. Crucially, this does not preclude individual committee members/trustees of that body from filing a personal objection too.
Below is a range of suggested grounds for objecting. You are, of course, free to object on other grounds not covered in the list. However, bear in mind that, for an objection to carry weight, it has to cite a material consideration (see the end of the email for more about this). We believe that each of the points in the attached document constitute a material consideration.
According to the advice we have received, an objection may carry more weight if it is personalised, rather than being simply a 'cut and paste' comment. So, we ask you to add at least a sentence in your own words - perhaps saying why the area is important to you - to introduce the substantive ground for your objection. Better still, you can make the same point as one of the drafts, but in your own words!
STEP BY STEP:
Go to the planning application (reference 25/01762/FUL) on the CEC planning portal here
Click on 'Comments'. This takes you to an online form to make a comment on the proposal. Complete the form, making sure that you select ‘Object’ in relation to your ‘stance’.
In the box headed ‘Your comment’ you should set out the grounds on which you object. We suggest that you begin with a personal sentence or two and then cut and paste your preferred ground from the document attached - or better still, reword it slightly, as suggested above.
Click on 'Submit'. If you provided an email address on the form, you will be notified by the Council of any developments in relation to the planning application.
Let us know. It would help us to coordinate objections if, once you have entered your objection, you simply email us (at this email address) to say you have done so and saying which of the grounds of objection you gave (simply use the number on the attached document). This will help us to ensure that all the suggested grounds for objection have been sent in.
What constitutes a 'material consideration'?
The following is an extract of the handy guide 'Responding to a Planning Application' from Planning Democracy.
There are two ways to help decide whether something is a material consideration:
- It should be related to the purpose of planning. This means it should relate to the development and use of land.
2.It should fairly and reasonably relate to the particular application.
Below are some examples of valid planning objections (the ones we think are most relevant have been highlighted, but feel free to cite others)
The proposed development will:
● be contrary to planning policy or other laws or policies;
● not be in keeping with the context or scale of the area;
● result in loss of amenities such as greenspaces, recreational grounds or community buildings;
● impact environmental health, a conservation area or green belt, or the natural environment e.g. a significant loss of trees;
● have a negative impact on the amenity of another property, e.g. noise,
odour, light pollution, loss of daylight, privacy, or late-night activities;
● have a layout or density that is inappropriate for the area;
● cause traffic congestion, access or safety problems;
● reduce available or provide insufficient car parking;
● be similar to other rejected similar developments in the area;
● create a precedent making it difficult to object to similar proposals;
● be piecemeal, preventing proper future development of the area;
● have a negative economic impact;
● result in loss of vitality and viability of the local high street;
● adversely impact listed buildings or sites of cultural or architectural
value such as monuments;
● not have sufficient landscaping;
● result in the loss of important public views (loss of a personal view is
not seen as a material consideration);
● not be able to be serviced by local infrastructure;
● have a cumulative impact alongside other developments.
Thank you! Together we can do this!
Please do feel free to ask if you have any questions! We will try to reply as soon as possible.
Many thanks and best wishes,
FoWHP committee - Ida, Stephen, Gareth, Creio, Jenni, Lucy, Pauline, Elaine, Rebecca, Chris.