Letter from Chair of Elton Parish Council

20230621IAR Sibson houses and A1 warehouses (b)

Dear Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk of parish councils and parish meetings near the parish of Elton

You will be aware that the HDC Local Plan to 2036 (issued 2019) is undergoing a legally-required 5-year review.
– This review will likely lead to a substantive revision of the Local Plan.
The present “Huntingdonshire Local Plan to 2036” (issued 2019) was very well prepared, with sufficient housing to satisfy needs throughout the district while protecting and preserving the rural character of Huntingdonshire; small, rural villages were not targeted for large-scale housing development or other major development such as warehousing.
The ongoing revision of the HDC Local Plan is a great opportunity for property developers to influence the revision of the Local Plan with an aim to allow major developments on greenfield land that would not be approved under the policies of the present 2019 version of the Local Plan.
– Property developers, agents and landowners are actively submitting comments to public consultations, submitting potential sites for development, and holding discussions with the Planning Policy Team of Huntingdonshire District Council.

As part of the ongoing HDC Local Plan review and update, there was recently a “Call for Sites Spring 2023” open until end-7 June 2023 where land owners, property developers, and their agents, proposed possible locations for future development. The HDC Local Plan “Call for Sites Spring 2023” resulted in:

* Phoenix Sustainable Investments (formerly Larkfleet Homes Limited) proposing a massive new settlement of over 5,000 houses around Sibson, between the villages of Elton and Wansford. This new submission for 5,000 homes is twice the area and twice the number of houses previously proposed by Larkfleet Homes Limited back in 2017-2018.

* Newlands Developments propose two sites for massive warehouse centres: a 220 acre site west of the A1 highway, from north of the A605 local road, up to the Oundle Road in the parishes of Haddon and Chesterton, plus a 120 acre site west of the A1(M) motorway, from south of the A605 local road, down to the Haddon Road, in the parish of Haddon. And there is another proposal for a further 68 acre site for warehousing west of the A1(M) motorway, south of the Haddon Road down to the border with the parish of Morborne. The three submissions propose a warehouse and distribution complex all along the west side of a 2-mile stretch of the A1/A1(M) highway, either side of the local A605 road.

Elton Parish Council will be objecting to these massive developments.
– Elton Parish Council believe that these massive developments are unnecessary; will destroy the rural character of Huntingdonshire in this area; will add to traffic loading on local roads such as the A605 road; will increase “rat-run” traffic through rural villages; and will be detrimental to the environment.

Should you have a view regarding these developments, you can pass opinion right now by submitting comments to HDC Local Plan “Issues Engagement Paper Summary” – deadline 5 July 2023 (or even the full “Issues Engagement 2023”, which is a lengthy document with a 100 questions).
– For further details, please see the attached .pdf document.
– If residents and parish councils/parish meetings do not bother to submit comments, then the only influencers are the property developers.

Thank you, and best wishes,
Ian Ross, Chair, Elton Parish Council