Unwelcome Developments

Back in October 2016, I reported that there had been no decision on the outline planning application for the field behind my house. A repeat check a few months later showed that the outline planning application had been approved in November.

Very quietly, without consulting the residents here (because we are deemed non-adjacent to the proposed development), the outline planning turned into full planning approval this year. Having not seen or heard anything about it, it was something of an unpleasant surprise when I saw renewed activity on 6th December. Diggers were moving in, and work started in earnest the following day, which sent me looking for the planning documents. Everything was passed, with not so much as a reminder that the ecology report had recommended a hedgebank on the north side, now reduced to a 1.2 m (4 foot) fence.

The site plan looks very nice (with the exception of most of the rotary washing lines, located way too close to the sheds and compost bins in the tiny gardens!). I'm sure the housing association who is due to take these 'dwellings' will be delighted, as will the potential residents in need of affordable housing. The jackdaws, starlings and seagulls have been enjoying the freshly turned soil (barely visible as black and white specks in the picture below). This phase of development is supposed to go as far as the mounds of soil. The planning was changed so that the buildings closest to the bungalows on the upper right of the picture were to be bungalows. However, I don't blame the bungalow owners for selling up; their view will go from a landscape across fields north to the Preselis, to a housing estate close enough to spit at.

The few horses left in the adjacent fields don't seem too bothered at the moment. However, although I heard lapwings after dark on 1st December, I haven't seen any yet (they normally settle on a portion of the fields out of the above shot to the left/north. It could be that they might find the disturbance too much.

Oh [expletives deleted]. Goodbye, peace and quiet, horses grazing just beyond the fence and the lack of need for bedroom curtains. What a way to start the year!