Rebecca Charley responded to last night's email .......... "I would be very happy to meet up with you to talk through the Juniper Hill field issues. I am not sure if you have seen the response from our enforcement team. Copied below in case not".
( from Griff Bunce, SDC Developement Team Manager: Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding Juniper Fields and the concern that the land has changed use. I visited the site and from my assessment, no change of use has occurred. I noted that some fence posts have been installed, these are likely to be permitted development and have a minimal impact on the character of the area. Consequently, there is no new breach of planning control. The planning enforcement team have previously assessed the tracked and deemed in inexpedient to pursue. The planning system cannot pre-empt breaches of planning control. This means that the local planning authority has no grounds on which to intervene in this matter. Kind regards, Griff)
Rebecca again: " I am involved (on the steering group) for the development of the Gloucestershire Local Nature Recovery Plan and as part of that the nature corridors and priority areas for nature are being mapped and recorded. It is important that any information about what has been recorded on site is passed to the Gloucestershire Centre for Environmental Records because this will add to the information and data showing the importance of the site. This mapping will then feed into the local plans and be taken into consideration with regard to planning.
I do fully appreciate the importance of this site, knowing the area around it and the position it is in linking grasslands. The difficulty is that at the moment the landowner has not actually broken the law so there is nothing SDC can enforce. We are keeping an eye on the site monitoring what is going on, but currently there is not much more that SDC can do. I completely understand that is not what people want to hear, so sympathise with the frustration felt.
As I said, I would be very happy to meet up to talk it though further if that would help."
For myself, I appreciate Rebecca for her prompt and gracious response, and her invitation to meet.
What purpose would there be for a meeting with Rebecca .......... and are there any other legal, effective ways to go at this?
Thank you to all who care - especially those engaged in the bid to maintain Juniper Hill as native grassland.
Rebecca Charley responded to last night's email .......... "I would be very happy to meet up with you to talk through the Juniper Hill field issues. I am not sure if you have seen the response from our enforcement team. Copied below in case not".
( from Griff Bunce, SDC Developement Team Manager: Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding Juniper Fields and the concern that the land has changed use. I visited the site and from my assessment, no change of use has occurred. I noted that some fence posts have been installed, these are likely to be permitted development and have a minimal impact on the character of the area. Consequently, there is no new breach of planning control. The planning enforcement team have previously assessed the tracked and deemed in inexpedient to pursue. The planning system cannot pre-empt breaches of planning control. This means that the local planning authority has no grounds on which to intervene in this matter. Kind regards, Griff)
Rebecca again: " I am involved (on the steering group) for the development of the Gloucestershire Local Nature Recovery Plan and as part of that the nature corridors and priority areas for nature are being mapped and recorded. It is important that any information about what has been recorded on site is passed to the Gloucestershire Centre for Environmental Records because this will add to the information and data showing the importance of the site. This mapping will then feed into the local plans and be taken into consideration with regard to planning.
I do fully appreciate the importance of this site, knowing the area around it and the position it is in linking grasslands. The difficulty is that at the moment the landowner has not actually broken the law so there is nothing SDC can enforce. We are keeping an eye on the site monitoring what is going on, but currently there is not much more that SDC can do. I completely understand that is not what people want to hear, so sympathise with the frustration felt.
As I said, I would be very happy to meet up to talk it though further if that would help."
For myself, I appreciate Rebecca for her prompt and gracious response, and her invitation to meet.
What purpose would there be for a meeting with Rebecca .......... and are there any other legal, effective ways to go at this?
Thank you to all who care - especially those engaged in the bid to maintain Juniper Hill as native grassland.
James Showers
The best view in the Cotswolds!!