Phew! The scrabble for postal votes has meant that I have had little time for blogging over the past few days. However, I am now having a quieter weekend and can write up one or two things that have happened recently.
On Wednesday I went with Peter Clifford, the Chairman of Chilton Parish Council, to make our case on behalf of Chilton residents with regards to the Homebase Car Wash.
The owners of the site had applied to have the hours of operation on a Sunday increased from 10 to 4p.m. to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
We managed to convince the Committee by a majority of 8 to 5 that this would seriously compromise the right of residents to a bit of peace and quiet on a Sunday. Members were ultimately unimpressed by the promise to keep vacuum cleaners in a box during the extended hours.
It has to be said that this is really a totally unsuitable site for this operation and I do wonder how it got planning permission in the first place.
Our victory may well prove to be somewhat pyrrhic. The operators of the carwash have to date largely ignored rules and regulations and it will be a challenge for Babergh’s officers to police the site.
Enforcement of planning conditions has been one of the biggest disappointments of my time at Babergh. Frankly the officers do not have enough teeth, or funds, to do the job properly. I would say however that they do try hard.
