ADD UPDATE, 17 November 2016: ADD believes that Eastleigh Borough Council will make a crucial decision regarding its proposed Local Plan at its full council meeting on 15 December. In particular, we believe it will decide in favour of its most destructive options for the plan, namely options B and C.
As time is now ticking fast, we are urging everyone in Bishopstoke, Fair Oak, Upham, Owslebury, Allbrook, Colden Common, Twyford and Otterbourne to write to their local Borough Councillors to ask what they are doing on your behalf to prevent this planning and environmental catastrophe, either directly (if you live in Eastleigh) or by taking up the case with neighbouring politicians (if you live within Winchester City Council). Borough Councillors should know what their constituents think and value, particularly given the magnitude of this issue!
Whilst we strongly encourage you to make your letter/email as personal as possible (using your own reasons to object to options B and C), please find below a draft to give you some ideas.
Please also find below email addresses for all relevant Borough Councillors, plus relevant MPs and County Councillors (whom we encourage you to copy on any emails).
If you are sending a hard copy letter to anyone at EBC, please use the available free post address: Freepost RTLH-YXCX-BKXE, Eastleigh Liberal Democrats, 107 Leigh Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9DR. No stamp is required.
Thanks to everyone’s support, our campaign is gathering momentum! Please keep up the pressure!
DRAFT LETTER/EMAIL (CONTACT DETAILS BELOW)
STARTS
Dear [your Councillor],
I am writing to ask what you are doing to address the threat to [name of your village/ward] posed by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s current development proposals within their proposed Local Plan till 2036. Anyone who has studied options B and C of EBC’s proposed Local Plan to build 6,000+ houses and a major new road (https://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/media/184064/151217-Issues-and-Options_postcabformat.pdf) will realise that we face a planning and environmental disaster [and, if you live in Eastleigh, huge financial risk to the borough] if EBC chooses these options (the website www.add-eastleigh.org is informative on these issues).
In particular, options B and C would:
- Destroy much-loved, precious countryside, impacting a Site of Special Scientific Interest, two sites of Ancient Natural Woodland and numerous Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation.
- Destroy the unique identity of each of our communities.
- Destroy our quality of life in many ways, including through vastly increased traffic congestion (due to the estimated 30,000 extra daily car journeys that, despite the proposed new road, would ultimately end up back in the current road system).
Incredibly, I am told that EBC is likely to favour options B and C at its council meeting on 15 December so – as I am sure you are aware – time is of the essence to ensure this does not happen.
Of course, I understand that we need new homes in Eastleigh but options B and C seem to be calculated to cause maximum damage to our precious environment whilst there are other places in the Borough that could absorb this kind of growth with far less impact, in particular EBC’s options D and E in the area around Allington Lane. One would never believe that EBC’s slogan is “tackling climate change”!
Indeed, from a planning perspective, there are plenty of reasons why options D and E make the most sense, not least because they would produce a compact, sustainable community, well connected to the centre of Eastleigh and therefore directly boosting the town centre. In contrast, options B and C would produce a series of unconnected housing estates strung along a road (of questionable value) that won’t relate to Eastleigh town centre at all.
As my local Borough Councillor, I assume that you are also very concerned about this issue and are doing everything in your power to ensure EBC [or if you live within Winchester City Council – “to lobby neighbouring politicians to ensure EBC”] makes the right choice regarding its Local Plan. Are you, for example, lobbying hard for the Chickenhall Lane Link Road to be built as soon as possible? As you’ll no doubt know, this long-planned road, favoured by many stakeholders, would increase the viability of more appropriate development options.
I much look forward to hearing what actions you are taking to prevent this planning and environmental catastrophe.
Yours sincerely,
ENDS
CONTACT DETAILS
Borough Councillors – prioritise contacting the ones for where you live!
Eastleigh – full list (with postal addresses) is at: http://meetings.eastleigh.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?fn=ward
Bishopstoke West: Cllr Anne Winstanley (cabinet member) [email protected]
Bishopstoke West: Cllr Vickieye Parkinson-McLachlan [email protected]
Bishopstoke East: Cllr Trevor Mignot [email protected]
Bishopstoke East: Cllr Angela Roling [email protected]
Fair Oak: Cllr Des Scott [email protected]
Fair Oak: Cllr Rob Rushton [email protected]
Allbrook: Cllr Sarah Bain [email protected]
Allbrook: Cllr Maureen Sollitt [email protected]
Allbrook: Cllr Chris Thomas [email protected]
Winchester – full list (with postal addresses) is at http://www.winchester.gov.uk/meetings/councillors/
Colden Common & Twyford: Cllr Sue Cook [email protected]
Colden Common & Twyford: Cllr Richard Izard [email protected]
Upham and Owslebury: Cllr Lawrence Ruffell [email protected]
Upham and Owslebury: Cllr Amber Thacker [email protected]
Otterbourne: Cllr Jan Warwick [email protected]
Otterbourne: Cllr Brian Laming [email protected]
Otterbourne: Cllr Eleanor Bell [email protected]
FOR COPYING ON EMAILS
Relevant MPs
Steve Brine, MP for Winchester [email protected]
Mims Davies, MP for Eastleigh [email protected]
George Hollingbery, MP for Meon Valley [email protected]
Hampshire County Councillors
Bishopstoke and Fair Oak: Cllr Martin Lyon [email protected]
Colden Common, Twyford, Upham, Owlsebury, and Otterbourne: Cllr Rob Humby [email protected]
IN ADDITION:
As we believe EBC will favour its most destructive options at its meeting at 7.00pm on 15 December, we need as many people as possible to attend in order to demonstrate support for our cause. Please ink this date into your diary.
IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, PLEASE ALSO:
- Sign this petition to get the Chickenhall Lane Link Road built as soon as possible. This long–planned road, favoured by many stakeholders, would increase the viability of more appropriate development options.
- Email us to register your support and offer your help. In particular, we want volunteers to deliver campaign leaflets and to help with our research.
- Consider donating to our cause to enable us to afford the best planning traffic / highways consultants and other professionals to ensure we have the highest possible chance of success. Donate here. Any donation – big or small – will make a difference.
If you value living in this area, and wish to protect it, please ACT NOW!
