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4/9/10

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Local Development Framework.

LDF - "A Step Back." 22/3/11

Kedington Boundaries to change? 14/9/10

No North-East Relief Road Between Kedington And Haverhill 4/9/10

Poor Turn Out For LDF Meeting 22/5/10

LDF Consultation Shambles 14/4/10

New Proposed Estate For Next LDF Consultation. 21/3/10

Haverhill Relief Road - The Next Round. 20/10/9

Will Carisbrooke's LDF Plan Benefit Kedington? 2/10/9

Good Turnout For General Meeting 28/9/9

Villagers Come To View Local Development Framework 11/9/9

Parish Chairman's Plea For Kedington People To Take Interest In The Local Development Framework 5/9/9

No North-East Relief Road Between Kedington And Haverhill

As Part of the process of developing the Local Development Framework (LDF) for building in the St Edmundsbury area (his includes Kedington and Haverhill) between now and 2030 St Edmundsbury Borough Council must send their proposals to be examined by the Core Strategy Inspector. The Inspector's conclusions are binding on St Edmundsbury and his recommendations must be followed in the LDF. The Inspector sent his conclusions to St Edmundsbury this week and these have now been released to the public. This includes the conclusion "The proposal for a north-east relief road at Haverhill between the A143 and the A1017 to be deleted."

This refers to the the controversial plans to build a Haverhill by-pass around an equally controversial planned new estate on the Kedington side of Haverhill. This now in theory can not be built (at least until 2030).

For those in Kedington who oppose the growth of Haverhill towards the village this may seem like a victory since representatives of both Haverhill and St Edmundsbury councils have at different times suggested the road is vital to the creation of any new estates on the Kedington side of town, however the inspectors report endorses the proposal of the "Option 3" plan to expand Haverhill in the direction of Kedington and rejected the suggestions that some of the development should be placed in the "Option 1" area to the west of Haverhill around Hanchett Hall on the grounds that much of this would be on the far side of the A1017, saying of suggestions that bridges over the road could solve the difficulty "Some sustainable transport links into the town might be achievable via new bridges but I am not certain how attractive such routes would be."

The most threatened part Kedington Parish, the hamlet of Calford Green will be particularly distressed by paragraph 14.5 of the inspectors document where he talks on the subject of maintaining separation from the neighbouring villages and says "In the case of the hamlet of Calford Green, careful attention would be needed to achieve the landscaped buffer zone" Indicating that the area between Calford Green and any new estates would need to be landscaped to hide them from each other, or in other words building will be in an area currently visible by Calford green.

Work on the Area Action Plan which will include settlement identity buffers are currently in progress, but even if one is to ignore the plight of Calford Green, without a road to form a solid line in the mud the risk of Haverhill creeping across the fields further than currently planned must now appears a future threat to Kedington's integrity.

St Edmundsbury Borough council now have to decide whether to accept the inspectors decision or start the whole process over again. The Inspector’s Report and required changes to the LDF Core Strategy is expected to be considered by the Council’s Sustainable Development Panel on the 5th of October, followed by a meeting of the Full Council on December 14th, when a decision will be made on whether to adopt the LDF Core Strategy.

To see the full inspectors report visit The St Edmundsbury Borough Council website.


Article by M.P.Upton - 4/9/10
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