What refusal means to the residents (From Hereford Times)

What refusal means to the residents

10:23am Friday 9th February 2007 in

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I CAN'T believe that the Southern Area Planning Committee understood what they were doing when they refused the application for the Hereford Steiner Academy in Much Dewchurch last week.

The local community have been denied access to the following facilities: a full-size gym, a hall and kitchen next to the church with an overspill car park for church or private functions, outdoor play equipment and a tennis court/outdoor games area.

All this would have been provided at no extra cost to Herefordshire Council because the academies are funded by central government.

One of the conditions of this funding is that the facilities are available to the local community of South Hereford-shire and not just the school itself.

The proposed new car park would have taken the current congestion completely away from the centre of the village,and there is also an obligation to develop an approved travel plan to reduce the amount of vehicles.

Any traffic from a potential future increase in pupil numbers of 18% (from 278 now to a maximum of 330)will be more than offset by the traffic reduction made by the implementation of a better funded travel plan.

Mike Whitfield, Mount Pleasant, Garway Hill.