Heritage assets ignored in Chilton as Prolog gets planning permission

Unemployment in Sudbury is relatively low compared with the national average, and local infrastucture is pretty inadequate. However,  it seems that if you wave the prospect of a job ('just one job' in the opinion of one committee member) in the face of a 'responsible' councillor then all other considerations go out of the window.

This was the only conclusion that can be drawn from the outcome of proceedings of the 'Planning' Committee at Babergh yesterday, as members gave the go ahead to the building of two giant warehouses in the Ward.  The decision was taken by 12 votes to 2 despite the damage that will be done to 'irreplaceable heritage assets' in Chilton and the inappropriateness of placing this sort of development half an hour from the nearest dual carriageway.

Permission was granted with little sensible debate,  despite the fact that under the terms of the disgracefully weak Section 106 agreement attached to the permission, the company could sell the land on to a third party without occupying one building, or even erecting the other. In addition there is no commitment to create a specific number of jobs at the site, despite numbers of 500 additional posts being widely trumpeted by the applicants when promoting their plans in the past.  There was no commitment to provide recognised training for staff either.  So much for Raising the Bar, which laughably was mentioned in the officer's report as an aspiration.

Members  disregarded  the opposition of Chilton Parish Council, Sudbury Town Council, English Heritage, the Suffolk Preservation Society, The Sudbury Society and Babergh's own heritage officer, among others.  They also ignored the fact that the impact of heavy lorries on our inadequate local infrastructure is one of the problems that gives greatest concern to our residents.

I am too depressed to put pen to paper in detail on the issue, but will post up my submission to the Committee on the tab above when I have tidied it up.

It seems it is just too difficult for some folks to understand that conserving the good things about a place can stimulate economic growth and prosperity all on their own!