Save Our Village
Dear WRAG Member,
Following up on feedback and information received from the planners who led the SWDP event in our village hall , your committee want to highlight an urgent concern which we are addressing. We are sure many of you may well have noticed that there is a presumption in the draft SWDP specifically against any large scale development that is outside of the Welland settlement boundary. Indeed several of the planners at the event seemed bemused that a developer would consider there is an opportunity to do just that in Welland. Please note that neither the draft SWDP, nor the views expressed by an individual MHDC Planning Officer, in no way prohibits any plan being put forward by Cerda. The South Worcestershire Plan that is currently published is only a draft and is still subject to amendment or change. Accordingly, as part of the ongoing consultation process, Cerda have a legitimate right to put forward alternative proposals and request amendments, and will most likely seek to include the Lawn Farm Site as available building land . The research undertaken by the WRAG Committee thus far clearly demonstrates that Cerda and Kler have a track record of doing so in order to see local plans amended to suit their own purposes. Indeed their responses to the SWDP to date, which are available to all on the SWDP website, confirms that this is exactly what they are trying to do and will no doubt continue to do with regard to furthering their plans for Welland. Please be in no doubt the fight to have the voices of Welland residents heard has a long way to go and responding to the SWDP in a manner which will protect our village from unnecessary and unwarranted development is only an initial, albeit vital, first step. Accordingly the WRAG Committee is planning to hold a ‘drop in workshop’ to assist and guide residents in framing their responses so that they not only technically conform to the response criteria required by the SWDP authors, but also to combat and mitigate arguments that will be put forward by Cerda and others to change the final version of the SWDP in order to meet their own purposes. Further details of this event will be circulated in an appropriate timeframe to meet the SWDP response deadlines. In the meantime I urge you all to keep up the momentum and continue the fight to protect our village from the developers and please keep the information coming. If any of you have any further information from the event which you feel may help in any way please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Yours sincerely
Alan Madsen
Chairman Welland Residents Action Group