28th September 2023
Dear Ms Holmes,
I write with reference to the meeting arranged by MSDC with Bolney Parish Council on 13th September 2023.
Your email to the Parish Council dated 10th August 2023 to arrange the meeting indicated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the points raised in the Parish Council’s representation at the Regulation 18 stage of the draft Plan and the proposed Infrastructure Delivery Plan.
It is therefore very disappointing that despite the representations made in your email, there was absolutely no discussion at the meeting on 13th September about the concerns and objections raised by Bolney Parish Council in its response to the Regulation 18 consultation. Instead, after a brief presentation on housing needs and the Standard Method, the meeting focussed almost entirely on the Infrastructure Delivery Plan and the financial contribution being offered to the Parish by the developer of the Foxhole Farm site.
The Parish Council is frustrated by the lack of explanation from MSDC as to why Bolney has been identified as a settlement capable of sustainable development and why Site DPH18 Land at Foxhole Farm will be included in the Regulation 19 draft Plan, despite over 250 objections made by residents in the Regulation 18 consultation. The site has been previously reviewed and assessed for development by MSDC on at least three occasions in recent years and rejected on all three occasions. The last time was in 2020 in the MSDC Site Allocation Development Plan Document when the site for 190 houses was rejected because it was identified as having ‘notable landscape sensitivity and its open, undeveloped character contributes to the wider rural setting and character of Bolney’. It is therefore very hard for the Parish Council to comprehend why the site is now deemed suitable for allocation for 200 houses.
Overall, the Parish Council considers there has been a noted lack of communication from MSDC in the entire draft Plan process. Before your email dated 10th August inviting the Parish Council to meet, there had been no communication or update from the Council since a virtual meeting with the Parish Council on 7th December 2022. It is the opinion of Bolney Parish Council that MSDC’s lack of clarity in the site selection process, the failure to discuss the Parish Council’s concerns about the proposed allocation in the Parish and the general lack of engagement with the Parish Council are breaches of the Council’s own General Principles of Community Engagement and the Community Involvement Plan dated September 2022.
Bolney Parish Council is taking specialist planning advice on its position, but it would very much welcome the opportunity to meet with MSDC and members of the planning team again in the very near future to discuss the Parish Council’s Regulation 18 response and particularly its concerns and objections to Site DPH18.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs D Thomas, Clerk to the Council, on behalf of;
Cllr Nicky Hanley
Chair Bolney Parish Council
Cc:
Cllr Eggleston Leader of the Council
Cllr Bennett Deputy Leader of the Council
Cllr Avery and Cllr Knight
Ms Sally Blomfield Mr Andrew Marsh
