Latest News - August 2010
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Aug 18th 2010 Fasten our Green Belt now!
Join us in telling Doncaster Council that we want the countryside east of the Borough to get proper protection in future plans!
Doncaster Council is currently updating its main planning policy – the Core Strategy. This sets out the overall plan of development in the Borough for the next 15 years. The Core Strategy will also determine what happens to Doncaster’s Green Belt.
We’re campaigning for a full Green Belt all the way around Doncaster. Valuable countryside on the eastern edge of Doncaster still doesn’t have proper planning protection and could easily be lost to development. The aim of Green Belts is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open. The current boundaries of Doncaster’s Green Belt run north to south through the centre of the Borough, leaving eastern areas - including those around Armthorpe, Barnby Dun, Bradholme, Finningley, Hatfield and Thorne - exposed to the threat of being built on.
There are increasing pressures for distribution centres, roads and housing here. We know that Doncaster needs spaces for more homes and employment, but there are plenty of existing brownfield sites that should be regenerated first. Once countryside is built on, it’s gone forever.
Doncaster deserves a Green Belt all the way around it, and we have the chance to really make a difference. Doncaster Council’s consultation on its Core Strategy runs until 20 September. View it online and make your comments at www.doncaster.gov.uk/ldfcorestrategy. You can also make your comments via Doncaster's Public Acccess website.
Find out more about our Fasten Your Green Belt Campaign or contact John King to join us.
Aug 3rd 2010 Keep Armthorpe's green wedge
We're opposing plans for nearly 600 new houses and three large warehouses in countryside north of Armthorpe, Doncaster.
Developers have just submitted proposals to build on almost 30 hectares of land between Armthorpe and Edenthorpe.
This space is a crucial green wedge that separates these two settlements and stops them merging. It’s important that we keep our green corridors. They stop urban sprawl as well as providing valuable breathing spaces for local people.
The countryside under threat is used for farming, and is close to the attractive and valuable West Moor landscape. It is part of Doncaster Council’s Countryside Policy Area, and so protected from development in Doncaster’s own plans.
We alos think that the developers have got their figures wrong. They're arguing that their plans are necessary to meet government targets for a five year supply of housing land. However, the most recent survey shows that Doncaster has more than enough useful land for housing. So there is no need to build here!
