Grove Airfield Network

Persimmon Homes and Taylor Wimpey's pre-submission consultation exhibition was help on 16-17 July at Old Mill Hall. This was the last chance for the public to talk to the developers before they submit a planning application later in the year. Around 700 people visited the exhibition over the course of the 2 days and Persimmon Homes received around 370 comments about the plans. But councilors and others have expressed concerns that many residents were unaware of the exhibition because of the exhibition was ineffective, and the Parish Council is pressing Persimmon to repeat the exhibition.

The displays at the exhibition showed the developers have clearly responded constructively to some significant objections raised during previous consultation exercises. Although the response is unlikely to be enough to satisfy all of those who have objected in the past. Most, but not all, of the quotes from attendees in the Wantage Herald newspaper article are negative as are most of the comments on the article on their website. The difficulty of course is in knowing whether this is the general consensus is our tendency to be more vocal in our criticism than in our affirmation of others.

In case you didn't get along you can see the displays from the exhibition on the Grove Parish Council website. It's not easy to find on their website but you can see them by clicking here. But if you want to make any comments you'll have to be quick as the current deadline for comments to be considered before the application is 31st July! Comments should be sent by email to Steven Sensecall at Kemp & Kemp SSensecall@kempandkemp.co.uk. I'm sure they'd welcome positive comments as well as negative ones!

Grove Parish council has contacted community groups encouraging them to have their say at what might be a last chance to influence the plans before it is submitted as an application saying...

Despite the change in government policy on the number of homes to be built it is very unlikely that this will affect the proposed airfield development as it is too far down the road.

Persimmon homes have recently informed the parish council that they intend to make a planning application for the site in the autumn, or certainly before the end of the year. This will consist of various required reports such as environmental, wildlife etc. As well as how they plan to address such items as drainage, traffic etc. Along with reports on the public consultation they have held. There will also be a master plan for the whole site showing the positions of schools, shops, community buildings and open spaces as detailed in the local plan document.

As promised we have ensured that they will be holding an exhibition of the new master plan for the site here in Grove at Old Mill Hall on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th July from 10am to 4pm on both days. Please make every effort to attend at some point during the exhibition and make your comments. This will be your LAST CHANCE before the application goes in and although you will be able to comment to the Vale when the plans are discussed what you say now will be taken into account and included as part of the application, it might even change parts!!

As Persimmon have told us:

The pre-application consultation is actually a comments gathering exercise. It can vary according to circumstances, but in Grove, where there have been a number of previous consultation exercises over a number of years, it offers a final chance for public comment before the application is submitted. As we have arranged the consultation early to avoid the summer holidays period there will be sufficient time for us to take on board comments before submitting the application.’

Please do go and make your comments, and also let as many people as possible know about the exhibition.