Latest news with #conservationarea
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Suffolk A12 quarry plan approved after delays and challenges
Plans for a new quarry that attracted 263 objections have been backed by a County Council discussed plans to build a 36-hectare (89-acre) quarry on land at Brockley Wood, just off the A12 near Belstead, on plans had previously been approved last year, but were subject to a successful legal challenge and resubmitted. A decision on the re-submitted plans had been delayed to allow for extra consultation, after part of the site was designated as a conservation area. However, they were ultimately given planning permission. The quarry was proposed alongside a waste screening and crushing the lifetime of the application there were 263 objections raised, the Local Democracy Reporting Service included impacts on the landscape, noise and from parish councils in Bentley and Copdock and Washbrook said the quarry would be totally inappropriate, unenforceable, and had been mismanaged and misconceived from the Hill KC, a barrister, said the community had been left horrified and called for the crushing plant to be completely removed. Neil Ward, of NWA Planning, addressed concerns on behalf of the applicant by saying the proposals would secure 50 long-term jobs in the area and be a major contributor to the county's aggregate stressed the development was in the ideal location to limit lorry traffic and environmental calls for the crushing plant to be removed, Mr Ward said having waste management facilities at mineral sites was needed to minimise traffic movements.A new conservation area was established by Babergh District Council in April and meant the developer had to consider extra planning considerations and analysing new information submitted by Brockley Wood Ventures, which included an extra heritage assessment and updates to the environmental statement and traffic assessment, officers still felt the benefits outweighed the potential final vote was to grant planning permission, with eight votes for and three a compromise, councillors agreed to include a condition limiting the operation of the crushing plant to between 08:00 and 16:00, Monday to Friday. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
7 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Concerns as Douglas care home repairs take over six weeks
Concerns have been raised about the state of a residential home's living room after it has been left cordoned off for repairs for more than six work on front room windows is being carried out at Thie Milan residential home in Douglas, which is maintained by the Department of Infrastructure. Frances Tinkler, who's 29-year-old daughter Elizabeth is among the residents, said they "shouldn't have to get used to part of their living room being cordoned off like an accident site".A DOI spokesman said the repairs had "taken longer than anticipated due to the building being located in a conservation area". Ms Tinkler's daughter has Down's Syndrome and autism and has lived in the home for five years. "She is incredibly independent and able in so many ways, but needs quite a bit of support in other ways," she said. She said the living room was like a "building site" and it sent a message that the residents were "less worthy, or it is less important than it would be in a private home". She continued: "Parents in a home would have that work remediated fairly quickly, but this just seems to be put on the back burner, you shouldn't have to jump through a million hoops for something to be repaired."Her concerns came following the publication of an independent review which found some residential homes had been "poorly maintained" and there were cases in which "inappropriate workarounds" had become the norm. Ms Tinkler is also a director of local learning disability charity Manx home, which is owned by the Department for Health and Social Care, is run by Manx Care and has one member of staff responsible for the residents at a time, who Ms Tinkler said had been chasing up the situation with the said the cordon had meant her daughter had been going up to her room earlier as the residents were "squashed" in their communal area. "These are people who like structure, who like things in the right place, who are organised, so chaos does not go down well," she said."If it is dangerous, then residents should not be in that room, a bit of cordon is not going to stop them from going in that area."The DOI spokesman said the department had been working with an engineer at Thie team had been liaising with the building conservation officer to ensure the proposed works were "sympathetic to the character of the area", he expect to install new windows by the end of the week while masonry repairs would be completed by mid-August, the spokesman added. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Man at war with council over plans for seven-bedroom mansion after SIX protected trees were mysteriously axed... but he claims it was not his fault
A property developer has had plans for a sprawling seven-bedroom mansion blocked after six protected trees were mysteriously felled - but he insists he is not to blame. Mohammed Tayyab bought a derelict care home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, for £355,000 in August 2021, with plans to bulldoze the eyesore building and replace it with a lavish detached home. But his dream development has now been blocked by councillors, after it emerged that protected lime and horse chestnut trees were illegally felled from the site, which sits in a conservation area. Town hall officials discovered that the trees had been deliberately uprooted and damaged during unauthorised excavation work at the site. Councillors refused planning permission, claiming that doing so would effectively mean 'rewarding criminal activity', and open the floodgates to other developers cutting corners. Mr Tayyab, described by backers as a 'pillar of the community', claims he had no knowledge that the trees were chopped down and insisted it happened before he purchased the site. Bradford Council said the six trees were uprooted without consent between 2012 and November 2021, 'around the same time that the property was last purchased.' It said that regardless of whether Mr Tayyab was involved in lopping down the mature trees, he was responsible for replacing them as the landowner - making his housebuild impossible. Town hall officials concluded: 'It would be inappropriate to grant a planning permission which in effect rewards the unlawful removal of protected trees.' Despite offering to plant varied tree species on the land in Oak Mount, the council has applied for a legal order against Mr Tayyab to replace the trees in exactly the same location. At a heated council meeting, Cllr Sinead Engel said: 'I can't bring myself to sanction a plan that rewards criminal activity. 'Regardless of who committed the crimes - the person who did it has benefitted if it has increased the value of the land. 'Before this building shut it was a 10-bedroom property. I'm struggling to understand why, with a bit of imagination, someone could not just create an amazing family home without trampling over mature trees.' Councillor Paul Sullivan added: 'If we allow this then everyone is just going to rip trees down for their own benefit and let the site look like a wreck before they put plans in. 'We can't set that precedent.' The former care home has stood derelict for nearly a decade and has become a hotspot for fly-tipping and antisocial behaviour, with evidence of deliberate fire damage. Mr Tayyab had wanted to build a 'substantial' two-storey home boasting ensuites, open-plan living, a study, utility room and even a disabled-access ground floor bedroom. His three previous planning applications were also rebuffed, council papers show. The planning application, which generated just one objection, stated: 'The existing site is vacant as a former registered group home and harms the appearance of the conservation area through its redundant appearance without maintenance and upkeep. 'The proposed development provides an important opportunity to improve the appearance of the site and secure its optimum viable use.' Councillor Safina Kause said the site had been derelict for eight years before the applicants bought it. Voting in favour of granting planning permission, she said: 'It is almost like planning officers don't want to bring this property back into life. Why are they making it so difficult? 'The applicants are being penalised for something they haven't done. If this plan is refused, they will have no choice but to sell the property. I implore you to approve this application.' A council report states: 'The site has been altered over the years due to unauthorised works, excavation and tree removal, taking place which has detrimentally harmed the appearance of the site and the wider conservation area due to the loss and damaged caused to the boundary trees which collectively had significant amenity value. 'The engineering works which have been carried out have destabilised the remaining mature trees. These works have resulted in the significant damage and loss of mature trees which has harmed the character and appearance of the conservation area.' Under planning laws, chopping down trees in a conservation area without permission is a criminal offence, punishable by potentially unlimited fines.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
New McDonalds near Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve refused
A new McDonald's near a nature reserve has been refused planning permission. Guildford Borough Council said no to building the fast-food outlet at the fuel station on Blackwater Valley Road in Tongham. The proposal for the restaurant - which would have been located on land next to Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve near Aldershot - would have eroded the countryside, resulted in an "unacceptable" loss of land within a conservation area, and lies within an area at risk of flooding, according to a council planning document. McDonald's previously said it would create 120 jobs and that it was committed to enhancing biodiversity around the site and ensuring green space access for residents. The council planning document also said the plans had failed to provide sufficient information to assess the impact on protected species and whether harm to protected species and habitats could be restaurant would have contained a drive-thru, car park, landscaping and associated works, customer order displays and a play frame. More than 180 objections were raised to the plans, while eight submissions were made in is not yet known whether McDonald's will appeal the decision. The plans were first submitted to Guildford Borough Council in October 2023.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council responds after 'ugly' structure appears in Pembrokeshire town centre
Pembrokeshire County Council has said planning permission was not needed to build an 'ugly' bike charging station in the middle of a local conservation area. The e-bike charging station seemed as if it had popped up overnight towards the middle of May. The large grey object, which looks a bit like a picnic table with a giant platform, had locals baffled as to its purpose when it appeared in Fishguard's Fordd yr Efail. It has been built opposite the bus station on the multi-million pound Chimney's Link road scheme. Locals complained about the ugly nature of the structure. Some also questioned how it had been installed on the block paving without any planning permission. Pembrokeshire County Council said that the station, known as a Zolar Tree, came within the remit of permitted development and therefore did not need planning permission. A council spokesperson added that, because the structure is located in a designated conservation area, the authority's historic buildings conservation officer has been consulted and deemed the development 'suitable'. They added that the location of the Zolar tree opposite the bus station would allow easy transition between two modes of transport. 'The local planning authority is of the opinion that the scheme constitutes permitted development and as such the highway authority can carry out such works without a planning application being required,' said a council spokesperson. 'Given the location of the site within a designated heritage asset, Fishguard Conservation Area, due regard was given to the need to ensure that this structure was appropriate to the conservation area. 'The council's historic buildings conservation officer has been consulted and considers the structure to be acceptable at this location given the context of development within the surrounding area and the new public realm works around the Chimney Links and the new Co-Op Store. 'The site is also adjacent to the bus turnaround area and facilitates easy modal shift between modes for residents and visitors.' Last October cabinet member for resident services, Cllr Rhys Sinnett, told a meeting of council that the e-bike scheme had proved popular. Cllr Sinnett added that as many as 50 additional bikes, with extra security features along with 'solar tree' charging facilities, were expected soon at no additional cost and there had been requests for the scheme to expand into other areas.
