Kennet Valley Park – now is the time to object
As part of our campaign against the large scale development of Kennet Valley Park, we need to do all we can to bring our objections to the notice of those people who will be making the decisions. To that end your urgent help is being sought to send letters of objection to the Government Minister who has recently taken over the Housing portfolio (in the recent reshuffle following Peter Hain’s resignation).
A sample letter is shown below, which can be used as a basis for your own letter. You can use it in the form provided under your own name or you can adapt it to suit your own particular perspective and style. The most important thing is that we lodge as many objections as possible to ensure that the issue gets on the new minister’s agenda.
Please act quickly to help this issue to get the attention it deserves.
Many thanks for your help.
Note: Just in case there is any confusion, the “land west of Reading and north of the M4” refers to the area covered by the proposed Kennet Valley Park development.
Ms Caroline Flint
Minister for Housing
Department for Communities and Local Government
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU
28 January 2008
Dear Minister
South East Plan ? EIP Panel report
Land west of Reading and north of M4
I write to draw your attention to a serious error by the panel in section 21.67, 21.68 and 21.69 of their report. It is potentially going to lead to an error in planning housing for the Reading area and grants an unreasonable advantage to a consortium with a seriously flawed proposal.
The Report suggests that land west of Reading and north of the M4 is suitable for building 7500 houses in the Reading area (the land is in fact in West Berkshire) and the first planning application for this development was withdrawn after considerable opposition from local Councils and the Environment Agency, as well as national and local wildlife groups and local residents.
The location should not be included for the following reasons:
- The land is mainly on the functional floodplain of the Kennet valley and has been protected from many years for this reason.
- The area forms part of several Wildlife Heritage Sites, and is a haven for wildlife with a high density of species and notable international wintering and regionally important breeding species as well as Schedule 1 Wildlife & Countryside Act species.
- The Environment Agency and Highways Agency object to this development because of the floodplain, conservation and transport implications.
This letter urges you to remove the specific reference to this site from the South East Plan to avoid a serious mistake. Naming this location could influence the planning process before all objections have been heard and lead to an undemocratic result.
Yours faithfully
Colin Wilson –