This development is still being pursued by the City Council. It is now intended to put the planning application before the Development and Control Committee on 21st March. You can view the relevant documents on line on the Council’s website (http://www.facebook.com/l/7c4bbN2Lk5yIcyQ3U8pK8J5EBSw;leicester.gov.uk/planningdatabase – click on application no. 20090772 and then click on the 2nd pdf document at the bottom). You can go and have a look at the plans at Saffron Housing Office.
Mr. Paul Edwards (Paul.Edwards AT leicester.gov.uk)
Leicester City Council,
A12 New Walk Centre,
Welford Place,
Leicester, LE1 6ZG.
For those people who are not up to date, we understand that the council is planning to take land currently in the tenancy of Aylestone Farm, and incorporate it into the nature reserve in compensation for the land lost. We don’t think this is any compensation at all, as even though there is no public access because it is used for horse grazing, the land is there for us all to see and enjoy anyway.
We are not asking for you to write to the council with your objections to the scheme. We want you to write and tell Mr. Edwards why a local consultation event is needed . Reasons could be:-
They have never done an adequate public consultation
The issue is so sensitive that it demands an effort by the council to have a consultation
A local consultation, advertised both locally and in the Mercury, would reach the most people
The details which are on the website are quite hard to access and not everyone has internet access
It is not easy to get time off work etc. to view the plans in the council’s offices
PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO WRITE THIS LETTER – IT IS A VITAL PART OF OUR CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT THIS UNWANTED DEVELOPMENT. PLEASE DO IT URGENTLY, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
The City Council have now replied to the emails submitted over the past few weeks. See below:
Dear Sir or Madam
Planning Application No. 20090772
Thank you for your e-mail and your patience while I looked into the
request you made for a public consultation meeting regarding the
football development project at Aylestone Playing Fields.
I have noted your comments with regards to accessing the plans either
in person at New Walk Centre or via the internet and have taken the
following actions.
1. There is now a direct link to the planning documents on the
council’s website. The link, for your benefit, is:
http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/ep/planning/planning-news/
I trust this makes the plans more accessible.
2. I have arranged for a set of hard copies of the documents to be
placed in Aylestone Leisure Centre for the public to view. The leisure
centre is open seven days a week and generally for over fourteen hours
per day so, hopefully, that will assist people in viewing the plans who
are unable to make their way into the city centre due to commitments.
I am afraid that I cannot comply with your request for a public
consultation meeting. The last meeting was held in November 2010, where
over one hundred interested stakeholders were in attendance. Little more
can be added to the information that was shared at that meeting that is
not already in the planning application. In addition, general
correspondence has been shared between Aylestone Meadows Appreciation
Society and the project team, elected members, and in the media.
I am sorry if that disappoints you, but hope the actions I have taken
to make the plans and associated documents more accessible will
encourage people to make comment in the normal manner.
Yours sincerely
Paul Edwards
Sports Services
Culture
Now some consultation meetings have been arranged! see letter from the city council below…
Dear Sir or Madam
Further to my previous communication, I am pleased to inform you that the following public consultation sessions have been arranged for Planning Application No. 20090772.
Tuesday, 22nd February 2011, 12 noon – 7 pm
Tuesday, 1st March 2011, 4 pm – 7 pm
These will be held at Aylestone Leisure Centre, 2 Knighton Lane East, Leicester LE2 6LU. Staff members will be in attendance at both sessions to answer any questions and to help facilitate making comment on this particular application.