Who are No To Wivelstown and why have we formed ?
We are friendly, and just like you, ordinary people who live in the Parish! We are fed up with the multitude of largescale, speculative housing developments planned for the village. We are not NIMBY’s as we understand people need housing, but think that we have already had our share of new housing and that the village is simply at capacity. Further development will detract from our village lives, whether this is through; damage to our local biodiversity, loss of amenity, increased levels of traffic, difficulty in securing healthcare or places in our local school. Our moto is “Enough is Enough” and our group is working to contest and prevent as many of these large, new developments as we can
Is No To Wivelstown a Political Group ?
No. We have no political affiliation and we welcome all members from whatever political party and seek dialogue with and support from all parties.
Is the Parish Council aligned with our aims ?
Yes, although the Parish Council supports sustainable development in the village and must remain open minded to proposals, the size and number of applications is generally not supported and the Parish Council submitted an extensive and robust objection to the recent Taylor Wimpey application for 150 houses.
Can we succeed ?
It is difficult, but we believe we can. A robust approach to planning applications to ensure they are refused on factual grounds and a strong case when they come to appeal can work. Statistics show that more than half of planning applications are rejected at appeal, so it is not a foregone conclusion that the developer will always win!
What have we achieved so far ?
In addition to signs around the village and accruing a large number of followers, we have achieved considerable publicity for our campaign and been featured on local and national TV. Specifically through our successful marketing campaign which made reference to the village’s links to the classic TV series Camberwick Green. Though the hard work of our core group we also ensured that for the first development we are contesting, as proposed by Taylor Wimpey, there were nearly 1,000 objections ! This is a staggering number for such a small village with a population of only just over 1,000 people. A big thank you to all who objected.
In addition to these items we are pleased to let you know that through the hard work of a number of members of the group in collaboration with Parish and District Councillors, the planning application for the development of new homes at the Southern end of Slugwash Lane has been refused by the planning inspector. This shows that common sense can prevail and we can stop this onslaught of proposed development through hard work and sensible reasons which the planning inspector agrees with.
What can I do?
If you receive a flyer from a developer through your door asking for your thoughts on their proposals, the best thing to do is to put it in the bin. Even people objecting will reported positively by them. It is amazing how they can twist a negative into a positive. If you would like to let developers know what you think by putting up a No To WivelsTown sign, either A3 the smaller ones or larger A2, then please let us know. From time to time we will of course reach out to residents asking for objections to planning applications which is an easy process for you to do so please do this.
Currently 130 homes as proposed by Catesby Estates for Hurst Lane site are in planning and we ask that you object. You can do so via following the link accessed via this QR code
What are the Proposed Developments
It is difficult, even for us, to keep up with the number of developments planned for the village and those in build or having been recently built. Therefore we have prepared the plan below to illustrate the ones we are aware of, which illustrates the scale of new homes, more than doubling the size of the village.
How can I help?
As a small group, having help from a supporters is invaluable. Our supporters undertake a number of activities including; leafletting, advising, delivering objections, informing, reading and researching, writing to organisations, information seeking and so on. If you think you might be able to help us from time to time that would be much appreciated and please let us know by email to notowivelstown@gmail.com. Those undertaking regular, active roles in the group’s activities are welcomed to become a part of the core working group which meets at least monthly. Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or feedback please do let us know.