Extraordinary PC meeting last night

There was a large turnout of local residents for last night's Extraordinary meeting of Audlem Parish Council at St James' School. Many supporters of an allotment site sported DAHLIA badges while a significant number of concerned Paddock Lane residents also attended.

Three weeks ago, the Parish Council decided to hold an Extraordinary meeting to discuss a potential planning application for a dwelling, stables, grazing for horses and 4.5 acres of allotments in Paddock Lane to the east of the village. Local residents were invited to attend.

Parish councils are obliged to seek land for allotments if more than six people express an interest. Some sixty people have done so in Audlem. The Parish Council, working with DAHLIA, the local allotment and leisure gardening group, has approached numerous landowners over the past year in a search for a suitable site. The Paddock Lane site is the only one on offer, subject to planning permission.

Four residents were asked to speak at the meeting. Two, one speaking on behalf of DAHLIA, urged the Parish Council not to hold a referendum on the issue, arguing this would be expensive and that the money would be better spent on developing the site for allotment use.

In effect, their argument was to leave the decision to the planners who would, in any case, have the final say on whether the scheme was suitable, particularly as the site was outside the designated Settlement Area.

Paddock Lane residentsA spokesman for the Paddock Lane residents argued passionately against the proposed site. It would create parking problems and would be unsightly. Would people want to see allotments as their first view of the village as they drove in from Woore, he asked. He urged DAHLIA to find another site such as the common land in Longhill.

A councillor pointed out that an Act of Parliament would be needed before common land could be used and that Longhill was also unsuitable for allotments because of its previous use.

A fourth resident queried if there were compulsory purchase powers but councillors said this was untested despite theoretical powers under the 1908 Allotments Act which had never been used.

SurpriseThere was surprise amongst councillors and around the room when it was revealed that the house being proposed was to have four bedrooms rather than the three that had been expected. A representative for the landowner said that two were very small.

After discussion, councillors voted on the following proposal: "That the parish council seeks the views of local residents through a consultation exercise on whether they should support an outline planning application for a domestic dwelling, stabling, grazing for horses and allotments on land at Paddock Lane."

The motion was carried with only one councillor opposing and will be discussed further at the next Parish Council meeting on 12th April.

A number of residents tried to raise further points but the meeting was closed. Afterwards, as many lingered in the school hall, there was much discussion about the proposal and the meeting while many studied the outline plans that were on display.

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