Yesterday local protesters rallied to try and save the Glenfall Way AONB site from developers. Due to my recent knee surgery I couldn’t be there to support them, but Lorraine du Feu from my campaign team was able to attend – here’s her report;
Part of the nationally designated Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is once again under threat from housing developers, despite two previous planning appeals having dismissed development proposals.
The field in question is adjacent to Glenfall School in Charlton Kings and provides an attractive wedge of countryside next to a substantial area of housing. It brings the AONB right into the edge of town, providing a valuable habitat for wildlife and connections to other nearby green spaces. I often pass it on my way to and from my allotment and it is eye-catchingly beautiful, the swaying meadow grasses framed by a rich variety of native shrubs and trees.
I was asked to attend the developers’ exhibition on Saturday 22nd by the local protest group. I expected a small crowd, but found well over a hundred indignant people of all ages rallying in front of the meadow. They were all very well-informed and many were veterans of previous battles to save the land from being built on. All in all something like 230 people attended the exhibition, most of whom were opposed to any development.
The quality of the field has been recognised at two planning appeals, one in 1980, another in 2008, where both inspectors dismissed development proposals because of the irreparable harm they would do to the AONB. In the 2008 appeal decision, while agreeing that there could be a shortage of housing, the inspector said: “I have no doubt that the current proposal would result in significant harm to the AONB through change in character and appearance that would be the inevitable consequence of residential development however carefully designed and landscaped.”
The Green Party recognises that the housing shortage has to be addressed, and has a lot of detailed proposals to do this http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ho.html. Ruining a precious piece of the AONB for the sake of 16 houses is not a good way to go about it, especially considering that there are around 33,000 houses proposed for the Joint Core Strategy area of Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury currently being considered by the planning inspectorate, and none of these is in the AONB.
There is no doubt that the current proposals are motivated by nothing but profit, and this is symptomatic of the coalition government’s contemptuous attitude to the countryside. Talking to people at Glenfall I was struck by the fear they expressed at the government’s damagingly hasty rush to sweep aside long-established planning laws in order to respond to lobbying from house-building firms (who are always very keen to develop in desirable locations). They have tried to sell off our forests, they want to change the law of trespass to allow fracking on private land. As the National Trust says, they are “putting short-term financial gain ahead of everything else and failing to protect everyday places that local communities love.”
It was great to see so many people out in force to protect their local “everyday place” and Cheltenham Green Party will give them all the support it can. You can keep up to date with the protest on the facebook https://www.facebook.com/saveglenfallaonb?ref=br_tf
Adam Van Coevorden 