Cherry Lodge Golf Course Back to Bromley Council News12 December 2012
Appeal allowed - see decision document here. 15 September 2012
The appeal (planning application 11/02499/FULL1) was heard in Bromley between 11 and 13 September. 27 August 2012
Cherry Lodge Landfill Action Group (CLAG) has mounted a campaign against plans to redesign the Cherry Lodge Golf Course. The reasons for local residents' objections are based on the traffic disruption which will be caused by 70 lorry deliveries every day between 9.30am and 4.30pm. However, referring to recycled soil as 'landfill' is inaccurate and emphasising 'Landfill' in the campaign's title is misleading, when the thrust of the campaign is about perceived inconvenience to local residents. The article in The Biggin Hill News of 3 April summarises the campaign and the response from the golf club. There is also a more recent article in The Westerham Chronicle of 16 August. Although Bromley Council's Planning Committee refused permission when the planning application was considered on 10 November 2011, the officer's report recommended approval, stating: "With regard to the construction phase of the development and the importation of the inert materials to the site required to facilitate the land works, it is highly likely that a degree of inconvenience would be caused to users of Main Road and the public rights of way in the vicinity of the site. The applicant has responded to concerns raised locally regarding this element of the works by way of the ‘Haul Road and Footpath Mitigation Strategy’ and has proposed amendments to the haul road to result in fewer crossings with rights of way." The Ecological Impact Assessment and Biodiversity & Mitigation Management Plan provide full details of the proposals to counter any environmental impact. There are numerous documents relating to the Planning Application, which can be viewed on the council's Planning pages here (enter 11/02499/FULL1 and click on the 'Documents' tab). The appeal against refusal is due to be heard 11-13 September at Bromley Civic Centre, Stockwell Close and is open to the public. CLAG's other considerations (see near bottom of page) which are mentioned on their website but are not being highlighted would make better arguments, given expert evidence to back them up - pollution and environmental impact on green belt land. By focusing on the grounds of temporary inconvenience to local residents and the false claim of 'landfill', the campaign does itself no favours. |