Executive homes ‘will blight valley’


A LOOSE councillor is leading the fight to block a develop- ment of executive homes pro- posed for Valley Drive. Cllr Sue Grigg has been col- lecting names on a petition to block the proposed develop- ment by Wealden Homes, which would leave the houses towering over the Loose Valley. Two bungalows face demoli-


tion and replacement by seven executive homes, which Cllr Grigg says are out of keeping with nearby bungalows and will block views. Planning inspectors have al-


ready dismissed a similar ap- peal for eight houses, saying the developmentwould be “signifi- cantly at odds with the existing open nature of Valley Drive and detract unacceptably from its pleasing character and appear- ance”. Wealden Homes has now


come back with a revised plan, with just one home less. Cllr Grigg said: “Wealden Homes says that when the in- spectorate rejected the appeal, it was on ‘relatively minor grounds’. “I don’t agree. The plan was comprehensively rejected, yet the new scheme is almost iden-


Jasper Gerard and Sue Grigg talk to resident Elaine Smith


tical. Screening will not block nine-metre houses, especially with the loss of mature trees.” Cllr Grigg believes the plan


falls foul of a number of plan- ning rules, and is unhappy that no application fee has been paid to the council for the re- vised plan, which Wealden Homes claims “is a similar ap- plication to that dismissed at appeal on November 19, 2012”. She said: “Why is Wealden Homes re-submitting a plan which even it admits is so sim- ilar? There is an argument to say that the company is just wasting public money as this plan will now have to be evalu- ated all over again.” Cllr Grigg will present the pe-


tition – and her arguments against the development – to a future planning committee.


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great feeling


Pupils at


Southborough Primary


School were fascinated to hear about


protecting the environment in their


school garden Pupils go wild in garden


PUPILS at Southborough Primary School learned more about nature andwildlife with the help of Loose Valley conservationists. The youngsters from the


school’s gardening club, which meets once a week during term time, opened their keenly-tended garden to theentire school for just one day. Childrenwere able to enjoy pond dipping while trying to catch sight of a newt and look at the fruit and vegetables growing among sculp- tures such as the “welly tree” and the scarecrows. Senior teaching assistant TheresaSamways’ sonJames(21), a former pupil of Southborough and Cornwallis, works as a gar- dener and helped turn a derelict pieceof landat the school into the garden, joining the RHS scheme for school gardens. The scheme measures success


on things such as variety of con- tent, composting, greenhousing


and links with outside bodies. The garden hasnowattained Level5– the only school in the borough to do so. Such has been the interest in gardeningat the school,members of the gardening club have to ro- tate each term. Salad, potatoes, purple carrots


and tomatoes are among the pro- duce grown in the garden which now find their way into the school kitchens. Members of the Loose Valley Conservation Society visited the school to speak to the children about the importance of nature and protecting thewildlife and en- vironment. Mrs Samways said: “The chil-


dren love to get outdoors and it was really exciting for those who hadnot had the chance to get into the garden before. It’s important that they learn about the natural environment and the benefits of good food andgrowing practices.”


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