New twist in site saga (From This is Hampshire)

New twist in site saga

12:00pm Saturday 20th March 2010 in

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A PUBLIC inquiry will be held to determine a contentious major planning application in Tadley after a Government minister stepped in.

The ongoing development saga at the Boundary Hall site has taken a new twist as John Denham, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has called in the application to be looked at by a public inquiry and decided centrally.

In February, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s development control committee approved plans for Cala Homes to build 115 new homes on the former Ministry of Defence site.

The application falls within a 3km Detailed Emergency Planning Zone surrounding the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, and following the committee’s approval, the Health and Safety Executive wrote to the Government Office for the South East (GOSE) to formally request that the application be determined by Whitehall.

Matt Laxton, head of housing and planning at GOSE, said: “What happens next is the parties involved in the inquiry – the developer, the local authority and Planning Inspectorate – will draw up a bespoke timetable.

“Then the inquiry will take place and the inspector will issue his or her report to the Secretary of State who will consider the report and make a decision.

“The timing depends on how ready [the parties] are. The Planning Inspectorate are keen to do it sooner rather than later but it depends on the timetable.”

Giorgio Framalicco, planning development manager at the borough council, said: “It is likely that a public inquiry will be held during the summer although the formal timetable has yet to be agreed by the Planning Inspectorate.

“Once the timetable has been agreed those residents who made a comment on the planning application will be formally notified of the arrangements.”