Development next to Charlton Common, South Gloucestershire

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Redrow Homes plan a major development next to Charlton Common in South Gloucestershire.  They want to build 80 dwellings on the western side of the common.  We have objected to the planning application because the development involves building an access track across the common.  We objected to a similar proposal in 2012 and, in the face of massive opposition, Redrow Homes withdrew its application shortly before a public inquiry was to be held the following year

This time Redrow Homes has offered to give common land in exchange for that to be taken, but this will need to be approved by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under section 16 of the Commons Act 2006, in addition to the planning permission Redrow currently seeks.

Charlton Common. © Copyright Dr Duncan Pepper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

We are dismayed that this application will involve taking part of Charlton Common for an access road.  Charlton common is much loved by local people for informal recreation: the public has a right to walk over every part of it.  It is an important relic of a much larger area of common which ran through the heart of the former village of Charlton.  It is a special place with its echoes of the past, and is a vital green lung for those who live around it.  The proposed road will suburbanise the common and interfere with people’s rights to enjoy it.

We are concerned that the existing common is to be fragmented, and that the development, being right next to the common, will render the land less enjoyable by the public.

The developers appear not to recognise the special value of common land, and we believe the proposals do not take account of the value of the common to local people.  We hope it is rejected.

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