Late on the afternoon of Tuesday 25^th April – the day before Babergh’s Planning Committee was due to hear (amongst others) the Hopkins application, proposing a development of 100 homes on land off Days Road in Capel St Mary – I received this email:

“Regarding Items 1 and 2 of Paper S134, the Chairman of the Committee in consultation with the Corporate Manager – Growth and Sustainable Planning has decided in advance of the meeting to remove those items from tomorrow’s agenda, as provided for in para 9.5 of the Council’s Planning Charter. The reasons in each case are set out below:-

Item 1 – Capel St Mary – land north and west of Capel Community Church – B/16/01365

Capel St Mary Parish Council has made further detailed submissions as to the status of relevant planning policy matters including 5 year housing land supply. These submissions have been received since the preparation of the committee report. It is considered appropriate to take legal advice as to the interpretation and weight to be attached to those policy issues.

Ecological advice has been received since the preparation of the committee report that the emerging Recreational Avoidance & Mitigation Strategy (RAMS) being prepared for the Council and others in relation to the Stour & Orwell Special Protection Area is likely to establish a larger zone of influence on the advice of Natural England than was previously anticipated and reported. It is therefore foreseeable that the application will fall within the scope of the enlarged zone of influence and therefore require Habitats Regulation Assessment. On a precautionary basis further investigation and evaluation is required in line with past practice before the application is determined.

It is considered that these matters constitute significant new information arising between the preparation of the report and its discussion by the Planning Committee. This item has therefore been removed from the Committee agenda for further investigation and evaluation.

In addition the Secretary of State has received a request to intervene and call-in for consideration the duplicate of this application (reference B/17/00122). Confirmation is being sought from CLG that this application (B/16/01365) is subject to the same request. An undertaking has been sought by CLG from the Council that it will wait for the Secretary of State’s decision on call-in before issuing a decision if the Council make a decision to approve the application. The Secretary of State has the power to direct the Council not to decide the application until that time and it is considered appropriate to give the undertaking requested. “

[There was also a second item pulled at the last minute for an application in Long Melford.]

So for the time being, we wait for further news.  I would, however, like to thank all those residents who responded very swiftly to the Parish Council’s information leaflet, and sent in so many letters of objection and challenge.  And in particular, I applaud the tenacity and initiative of Capel Parish Council, whose members worked so hard and so effectively to provoke the action from Babergh.

It’s not that people are objecting to any new housing in the village.  What we object to is development in the wrong place, and on the wrong scale.  The Housing Needs Survey, the Parish Plan, the drop-in events and other consultations, have all pointed to a latent demand for around 100 new homes in the village – preferably for younger families and singles and also the needs of older people.  But because of the sudden change in the future land supply calculations in Babergh, it seems our rural villages are being targeted for speculative and opportunistic developments which are easy pickings for big companies.  It feels very much as if we are being threatened and bullied by developers and government alike into approving disproportionate and inappropriate growth.

There is much to commend in the proposal for the Days Road site.  The problem is the location and the inadequate road itself. As for all the other potential sites coming forward, councillors are being told they have to consider each application on its own individual merits and that they may not take into account the cumulative impact on the village and its infrastructure.  As we all know, the doctors’ surgery is already struggling to meet patients’ needs for appointments. The traffic impact of maybe thousands of new vehicular movements a day and general congestion and demands on the village centre would destroy Capel as we know it.  All of this lacks any long term strategy for either the village or the A12 corridor, which is already a daily nightmare if you’re heading towards the Copdock interchange.

There is currently no further information from the Council, but I will update this blog as and when.

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