Council Forces Through Plans to Build on Lake Farm and Botwell Common

Last night the Council convened a special Planning Committee at short notice to force through its plans to build on Lake Farm Country Park and Botwell Common. The Planning meeting degenerated into near chaos as information contained in the Council’s reports recommending the development was comprehensively challenged by local residents and local Labour councillors.The Councillors heard that there was no need for a new school to be built on this green belt land as pupil numbers could be catered for in the new Guru Nanak Free School to be opened later this year in the samee ward,. In addition a Governor from the new Rosedale Primary School repeated the Governors’ and School Headteacher’s offer to expand this school by a further form to assist in preventing the need to build on the green belt. It was revealed atht the old Hayes Swimming Pool site could also accomodate a new 2 form of entry school, thus avoiding the need to build on Lake Farm and Botwell Common. All this was rejected by the Conservative councillors on the committee, not one of whom lives in the Hayes area. The campaign against this disastrous destruction of our green belt is now moving on to lobby Boris Johnson to call this planning application in for him to determine as it flies in the face of his policies to protect the green belt. I will be joining local residents at 1pm at City Hall next Tuesday to deliver our letters to him urging him to intervene to save our park from these local vandal Conservative councillors. Come and join on Tuesday. 

submitted by John on 06 Mar 2013 at 15:58