On Thursday 19th October Rossendale Council’s Development Control Committee met to decide whether to approve the application for the conversion of Holly Mount House to 15 apartments and the building of an additional 20 apartments and 18 3-story houses on the site behind Haslingden Old Road.
The report which came with the application, made out by the Council’s senior planner, cited the following objections:
1. An objection by the Ancient Monument Society who felt the scheme would seriously damage Holly Mount House, a listed building.
2. An objection by the Georgian Group who seriously objected to the conversion of Holly Mount and building of other houses so close
3. Objection from Lancashire County Council who advised that the development was contributed ‘unacceptably to housing oversupply’ in the area. In addition LCC felt the proposal would have a ‘significant adverse affect on the appearance and internal arrangement of Holly Mount House’. They felt the proposal was ‘so unsympathetic as to warrant refusal’. Further, they felt the level of parking spaces did not accord with the locally adopted Parking Standards.
4. Strong objection from the Rossendale Civic Society who felt the development failed to respect the intrinsic character of the listed building.
5. Letters of objection from 15 properties in the vicinity of the site raisng issues such as the development did not accord with the Development Plan for this area, the size and scale of the development, loss of light and privacy and the presence of bats in the area amongst others.
The application only received one letter of support (HORRA members having ignored Daniel Hartley’s threats to make us support the application) from the local Chamber of Commerce, who welcomed the contribution of £10,000 Hurstwoods would make to providing CCTV in the town centre IF this application was approved. In addition to this £10,000, Hurstwoods offered the Council £32,000 for ‘regeneration projects in the Town Centre’ if the application was approved.
Despite the weight of objections clearly being on the side of refusing this proposal, the Councillors on the Development Control Committee decided to approve it. With comments such as ‘this proposal will clearly increase the value of surrounding properties’, they clearly either didn’t read or understand the objections that were raised by local residents and groups. Why the Councillors decided to approve the application against the advice of the County Council and numerous objections remains a mystery. It maybe because the pinstriped men from Hurstwoods were out in force that night and they felt intimidated or because Hurstwoods are currently threatening to sue the Council for £2m over another application and they want to placate them? It surely has nothing to do with the fact that the Chair of the local ruling party in Rossendale and president of the Chamber of Commerce is also a paid ‘consultant’ of Hurstwoods. Nor can it be down to the £42,000 which Hurstwoods are offering to the Council if the application is approved. What we can be confident about is that once again the Council take the arrogant, but unethical, option. Ignoring the wishes of the people they are supposed to represent, the objections of national bodies and the advice of the County Council they believed they knew better and caved in to big business and bucks. The fact that on the same night they also ignored pleas from the residents of Cowpe, who had been subjected to a campaign of intimidation by Hurstwoods, and once again approved an unpopular housing development demonstrates which side of the bed they lie on.
I have attached the planner’s report on the application to show how the objections stack up. Please tell me if you can phathom why this application was approved!
Planners Report
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Hurstwood’s Plans for Holly Mount Approved
On Thursday 19th October Rossendale Council’s Development Control Committee met to decide whether to approve the application for the conversion of Holly Mount House to 15 apartments and the building of an additional 20 apartments and 18 3-story houses on the site behind Haslingden Old Road.
The report which came with the application, made out by the Council’s senior planner, cited the following objections:
1. An objection by the Ancient Monument Society who felt the scheme would seriously damage Holly Mount House, a listed building.
2. An objection by the Georgian Group who seriously objected to the conversion of Holly Mount and building of other houses so close
3. Objection from Lancashire County Council who advised that the development was contributed ‘unacceptably to housing oversupply’ in the area. In addition LCC felt the proposal would have a ‘significant adverse affect on the appearance and internal arrangement of Holly Mount House’. They felt the proposal was ‘so unsympathetic as to warrant refusal’. Further, they felt the level of parking spaces did not accord with the locally adopted Parking Standards.
4. Strong objection from the Rossendale Civic Society who felt the development failed to respect the intrinsic character of the listed building.
5. Letters of objection from 15 properties in the vicinity of the site raisng issues such as the development did not accord with the Development Plan for this area, the size and scale of the development, loss of light and privacy and the presence of bats in the area amongst others.
The application only received one letter of support (HORRA members having ignored Daniel Hartley’s threats to make us support the application) from the local Chamber of Commerce, who welcomed the contribution of £10,000 Hurstwoods would make to providing CCTV in the town centre IF this application was approved. In addition to this £10,000, Hurstwoods offered the Council £32,000 for ‘regeneration projects in the Town Centre’ if the application was approved.
Despite the weight of objections clearly being on the side of refusing this proposal, the Councillors on the Development Control Committee decided to approve it. With comments such as ‘this proposal will clearly increase the value of surrounding properties’, they clearly either didn’t read or understand the objections that were raised by local residents and groups. Why the Councillors decided to approve the application against the advice of the County Council and numerous objections remains a mystery. It maybe because the pinstriped men from Hurstwoods were out in force that night and they felt intimidated or because Hurstwoods are currently threatening to sue the Council for £2m over another application and they want to placate them? It surely has nothing to do with the fact that the Chair of the local ruling party in Rossendale and president of the Chamber of Commerce is also a paid ‘consultant’ of Hurstwoods. Nor can it be down to the £42,000 which Hurstwoods are offering to the Council if the application is approved. What we can be confident about is that once again the Council take the arrogant, but unethical, option. Ignoring the wishes of the people they are supposed to represent, the objections of national bodies and the advice of the County Council they believed they knew better and caved in to big business and bucks. The fact that on the same night they also ignored pleas from the residents of Cowpe, who had been subjected to a campaign of intimidation by Hurstwoods, and once again approved an unpopular housing development demonstrates which side of the bed they lie on.
I have attached the planner’s report on the application to show how the objections stack up. Please tell me if you can phathom why this application was approved!
Planners Report
Like this: