Parish council slams housing site work
A PARISH council has “deplored” the lack of action taken by Charnwood Borough Council after work began on a new housing development, even though planning conditions have not been met.
Jelson Homes has been given planning permission by the borough council to build 70 homes off Cropston Road in Anstey.
As part of the permission, certain conditions need to be met and signed off by the council before construction work begins.
But Anstey Parish Council says it is “deeply con- cerned about the work that Jelsons have already carried out and continues to carry out” on the land.
Anstey Parish Council said in a statement: “The planning enforcement team at Charnwood Borough Council asked Jelson to cease works; which they refused to do.
“Despite this breach of planning conditions, Charnwood Borough Council decided not to serve a ‘Temporary Stop Notice’ on Jelson, as the current site works are not considered to be causing public harm. Anstey Parish Council deplores this lack of a more positive response by Charnwood Borough Council in not taking any enforcement action against Jelson.
“The parish council believes that this lack of action by Charnwood Borough Council sends the wrong signal to all developers and feels it will serve to undermine the faith that the public have in the planning system.”
A spokesperson for Charnwood Borough Council said: “We’re aware of the concerns raised by the parish council and some residents about work at the site.
“When we receive reports of a possible breach of planning permission, our process is to visit the site and consider whether we need to take formal action.
“We look at if the work has breached any conditions of the planning permission and how it is affecting residents.
“Then we decide if issuing a stop notice is in the public interest and the correct response, or if at that point we are satisfied that no harm is being caused and formal action is not required.
“In this case the devel- oper has started preparatory work at the site but building has not started.
“We’ve warned the developer that they are in breach of the planning permission because the conditions have not been formally discharged yet.
“We have advised them to stop work because they are at risk of formal action being taken.
“We’ve looked at the work which has been done so far and decided it’s not causing significant harm to residents at this stage, so a temporary stop notice is not required.
“We are closely monitoring the site and if the situation changes then we will take formal action.”
Jelson Homes declined to comment.