Id like to share this as its so relevant and beautifully put: If anybody is in any doubt about the corrosive nature of inappropriate development and the duplicitous nature of developers you only have to visit nearby Upper Froyle. The site previously occupied by Treloar College is in the process of being developed and gentrified by Linden Homes. A previously rustic farming village is being transformed into a mini-Weybridge. Executive homes at stratospheric prices are materialising in the space left by the now demolished college like an ugly pestilence. Gone are the promised shop, village pond et al that so warmed planners hearts and looked so appealing in the developers planning application. In their place are manicured lawns, suburban pillars of leylandii and twee bay trees in Versailles tubs. Treloar Trust, the previous owners have shamelessly sold the village down the river and pocketed millions in the process...so theyre quite happy. But then they dont have to live there. In Alton, the Grange Hotel site [ridiculously renamed Barley Fields] being developed by Persimmon is another example of developers running riot and trampling all over local residents lives. This developer has torn down hedges, destroyed lines of screening trees and wantonly damaged a specimen tree with a preservation order on it: for the last indiscretion they were fined a paltry sum of £1k. Where are the compliance officers and the oversight from EHDC...? All those residents in Alton who are currently threatened with development on their doorstep BEWARE: developers are not your friends, they DO NOT have your best interests at heart. They are nightmare neighbours, interested in one thing only: profit. And they will trample all over your lives to ensure they get it.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 09:32:25 +0000