Houghton and Wyton Parish Council

Parish Council Invites Huntingdonshire District Council to re-run meeting

At the end of July, the Hunts Post reported on the approval by Huntingdonshire District Council to allow up to 120 homes to be built on remaining land between Houghton and St.Ives.

Houghton & Wyton Parish Council held a meeting shortly after the decision had been made and voted unanimously to take the unusual step of inviting the District Council to re-run the meeting properly or risk judicial review.

Speeches at the Development Committee meeting of the District Council from concerned locals, neighbouring town and parish councils, and subsequent deliberations lasted nearly two hours. During this time Councillors repeatedly expressed reservations about the number of homes which Homes England wanted to build. They were particularly concerned about the resulting density of development on the edge of the village, and the squeezing of the remaining gap between village and St.Ives.

The Parish Council believes that being told that the number of homes being applied for could be amended at a later stage, played a major role in Councillors feeling able to approve the application on the night.

Therefore further to this decision, Houghton & Wyton Parish Council have taken the unusual step of writing to the District Council to give them a chance to rectify the legal error that allegedly occurred when making this decision: namely that misleading advice was given to Members stating that the number of homes granted permission could be revisited at a later stage (at the Reserved Matters stage).

Houghton & Wyton Parish Council are not against some development within the remaining field, but want it to be an appropriate scale and density for the edge of their village, they want it to comply with the planning policies for the area, and not to result in urban sprawl with the village simply being seen as an extension of St.Ives.

A spokesperson for the Parish Council said ‘offering the District Council a second chance to put things right saves both sides (and Homes England) the time and expense otherwise involved in full judicial review proceedings.’

Whilst remaining optimistic that good sense and justice would prevail, the Parish Council did also approve a budget of £40,000 just in case it needed to begin judicial review proceedings.

The District Council have replied saying they will respond by the end of August.