\n In a Havering Council strategic planning committee meeting on Thursday, January 22, representatives of Homes4Life presented the proposals to the committee.\n<\/p>\n
\n CGI of the proposed housing estate (Image: Kanda)\n<\/p>\n
\n Director of Homes4Life Marc Pennick described the proposal as that of one that “no other developer or housing association has ever delivered in your borough or London before”.\n<\/p>\n
\n He described the golf course as “uneconomical” as well as a “private, privileged, underused space”.\n<\/p>\n
\n He added that the land will become “free open space for everyone”.\n<\/p>\n
\n Conservative councillor Viddy Persaud spoke against the directors and said she “objects” to the proposal.\n<\/p>\n
\n She also claimed she had seen an “overwhelming response” from residents objecting to the proposal.\n<\/p>\n
\n Cllr Persaud said: “At a time when councils across the country are declaring climate emergencies, it would be contradictory, even irresponsible to approach a development that removes mature green space, increase traffic and diminished biodiversity.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We must protect the natural environment and ensure our residents have access to open, breathing space.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Once we start building on green belt, even a little, we set a precedent that is almost impossible to reverse.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Bit by bit, we lose the very spaces that make our area liveable, healthy and distinctive.”\n<\/p>\n
\n She urged the committee to reject the proposal and described potential approval as a “short sighted decision with long term consequences”.\n<\/p>\n
\n Cllr Persaud referred to the land as green belt although the Homes4Life representatives referred to the site as grey belt land.\n<\/p>\n
\n When asked about which type of belt the land officially sits in, a Homes4Life spokesperson said the site is designated as green belt but “there is guidance at a national level that we have used to assess the site and we have come to the conclusion that it is grey belt”.\n<\/p>\n
\n Fellow Rush Green and Crowlands ward councillor Timothy Ryan (Con) added that he was “very deeply concerned about the presentation” in relation to concerns over traffic and local wildlife.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a Havering Council report that was prepared ahead of the meeting, it confirmed that around 1,253 homes are proposed as well as a sports hall, public open space and a new bus route linking Crow Lane and Wood Lane.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to the report, 959 (76.5 per cent) of homes would be built on land in Havering and 294 (23.5pc) on land in Barking and Dagenham.\n<\/p>\n
\n A Homes4Life representative confirmed the company has been “working with Transport for London to introduce a new road” that would connect the two lanes and allow a bus to run through the estate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Homes4Life has agreed to buy Crowlands Heath Golf Course from Barking and Dagenham Council with plans to demolish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-400959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}