Keep Eastington Rural

 KER wins Planning Appeal

On 25th April, the Secretary of State, no less, dismissed the appeal for 36 houses and a so-called doctor’s surgery. This is the third key appeal won by the parishioners of Eastington in the last 30 months, protecting our green fields from predatory developers.

The Secretary of State said the proposal broke six of Stroud’s Local Plan Policies and also Policy EP1 of Eastington’s Neighbourhood Development Plan. The presence of the Grade II * listed Gazebo helped a lot as well as our strongly expressed wish to maintain green buffers between hamlets.

This is a complex set of refusal reasons which should stand the test of time.

What this means to the defence of Alkerton

The three appeal refusals, taken together, form a set of green barriers between Alkerton and the surrounding hamlets.

Site “a” below is the latest one, 36 houses plus the surgery

Site “b” was won in 2016, 4  large houses overlooking the Glebe Field. That was won on “intrusion into the countryside” from the Stroud Local Plan and “erosion of gaps between hamlets” from the Neighbourhood Plan.

Our first big win in 2015 was site “c”, 30 houses proposed for Bath Road. This was dismissed on environmental grounds, including the erosion of gaps between settlements. That was before the Stroud Local Plan and our Neighbourhood Plan were finalised – a very bold decision by the Government Inspector at the time.

K.E.R. is not being complacent, of course, with Ecotricity spreading non-compliant ideas around the place. However it is worth taking a breath, thanking the dozens of people who wrote letters and attended the Appeal Hearings and reflecting on the combined significance of our achievements.

Tom Low, KER .   

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