Go on Arma !

Thanks for this

I still owe IA a drink but haven't been back to Yorkshire to oblige. Absolutely a top man. Same goes to all who've played their part in getting us this far.

About time he did something usefull.

IA

Anyone got a brief summary of the first day?

Quote: Sesquipedalian "Anyone got a brief summary of the first day?'" https://twitter.com/#!/Res4Newmarket

Quote: Sesquipedalian "Anyone got a brief summary of the first day?'" https://twitter.com/#!/Res4Newmarket

LDF public hearings opened this morning. @Res4Newmarket were represented as is Barton Wilmore, who are representing Newmarket objectors!


LDF - Barton Willmore getting in a cheap shot this am about accessibility by public transport of site being poor!!!


Most sites that are yet to be built & more so B8 sites, have poor public transport... because they haven't been built yet! Cheap shot!



Barton Willmore struggling to find any meaningful points so far! Even planning inspector seemed to pull a face over cheap shot!



Interestingly, Leeds City Council failed to show today!!!



@andrew_ellis Not as such, but they are missing an opportunity to comment! They might show later in process... let's see!


@djcool62 in the planning application for Newmarket it has... but that information not in LDF. That is why it is a cheap shot!


Small victory in LDF hearing. No one questioned need for the additional 95ha in Wakefield. So inspector seems happy with B8 total allocation


LDF inspector also seems happy that Aire Valley has a large are of greenbelt between it & proposed Wakefield B8 sites & they stand alone!


However, Barton Willmore have asked what does M62 corridor mean & have said that other sites (than Newmarket) are better for B8!


@winitycats inspector kept saying, do you mean just W40A (Newmarket). They say yes & she says we will look at this in January!

@winitycats So, we will when the time is right. She is not letting them say too much & keeping them in their place!


The above has been posted on twitter through today.

Thanks for the summary, will be following on twitter now. Does anyone know what evidence IA / Yorkcourt gave for the positives of the site? Just all seems to be about the opposition.

Great to have updates.

Like others a million thanks to IA - a sane, intelligent and informative voice throughout all this. Has been the one source we could rely on and to point our efforts in the right direction.

Hi everyone and thanks for your comments!

Ok, I am not at the hearings today, as we don't have a place at the table today (this means we can't speak) and I know someone who will be there all day and I will be seeing him on Thursday for an update. They are discussing Green belt changes today, but only the principal of the proposed changes and they will not be discussing individual sites, although we expect that Barton Willmore will continue to try and state that they think Newmarket should be replaced with other site options, but they are Green belt too, so they will walk a fine line today. We don't think anything meaningful will happen today... but if it does we will get our chance later in the process to rebut it.

I didn't say a great deal yesterday because I didn't need to, but the inspector knows who I am and why she invited me to site at the table, and that was enough at this stage. She has invited me to sit at the table again on 25th January, when we will get our chance to talk about the site allocations in detail and defend Newmarket's selection. The following day Yorkcourt will get there chance to defend their site against the rejected sites, so they will get their chance too.

The minor victory to come out of yesterday may have been born out of the failure of Leeds City Council to show. The inspector asked about the overall allocation of 108ha and why it has risen from 95ha. This is simply the LDF is slightly behind so they are now planning until 2022 not 2021. She may say that this can stay at 95 ha, but this figure includes Newmarket, so if she does it will not matter. However, that brought her around to the Aire Valley and the impact of the plan in Wakefield now that the Aire Valley has been given Enterprise Zone status. WMDC said there was no impact and that had been confirmed by the Leeds Economic Regional partnership organisation and they could evidence this. She was also seemed happy that as there was a large amount of green-belt land between it and the Wakefield boundary, that this 95ha/108ha should stand in the plan. When she asked the room for any comment on this, everyone stayed quiet and that was that. This means that she would seem happy that Leeds can't claim that the 95ha figure should be reduced and they missed their opportunity to say something, as they were not there!

So, that means one of Leeds major objections to Newmarket will probably fall and I am sure WMDC, Yorkcourt and others will bring this to the attention of the planning inspector for the planning inquiry if Leeds bring this up!

It is also clear that objectors to Newmarket have decided that trying to battle to reduce the 95ha down, so as to exclude Newmarket that way, is probably a bad idea given the current economic climate and government guidance on planning and growth.

However, they are clearly going to argue about it's location, does it need to be on the M62 and therefore push alternative sites... even if they too are green belt!

That is about it for now.

Good work IA, keep it up!

Thanks for the update IA.

The sentence above amply illustrates why these people are called NIMBY's; they don't object to development on green belt per se, in fact they positively encourage it, provided it isn't near their house.

The essence of NIMBYism and the reason these people have zero credibility, even with the suddenly anti-development, even though their website says otherwise, Barton Willmore, behind them.

Have you been speaking to Mrs Armadillo?