Herefordshire Council have announced that they are not appealing against the High Court judgement against houses at Bullinghope.

The Council were about to remove mention of the Bullinghope housing in a Planning Meeting on Friday 15th August when news broke that Bloor Homes have applied for leave to appeal as an 'Interested Party'. So despite being in the published agenda the item was dropped from the planning meeting.

The Dinedor Hill Action Association is therefore still asking supporters for funds in case the Bloor appeal needs to be defended. This will be announced by the Appeal Courts in due course.

The full High Court judgement preventing the Council from building on land at Bullinghope and criticizing procedures (surprise surprise!) can now be downloaded on Gerald's files page.

Gerald has submitted a detailed response to the Local Development Framework (LDF) consultation which can be viewed in his download section. This innocuous sounding document is in fact the blueprint for the future direction of Herefordshire.

Here is the text of the NOTICE OF MOTION TO FULL COUNCIL that I am seconding with Cllr. Chappell, on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th,2006.

NOTES the Judgement by Mr. Justice Collins in the case of the Dinedor Hill Action Association v. Herefordshire County Council

NOTES that the Rotherwas Access Road has been completed without any financial contribution from J.S. Bloor Ltd.

NOTES that JS Bloor Ltd have submitted a Planning Application to build 300 houses at Bullinghope without any socially affordable element.

RESOLVES that the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Political Group leaders, should appoint suitable persons independent of the Council to conduct a full and public enquiry and to publish the outcome.

INSTRUCTS the Chief Executive to include in the Terms of Reference for this Enquiry:-

The circumstances that on July 28th 2006 led the Leader of the Council to move the rejection of a decision by his own Cabinet, despite assurances given to the contrary less than 24 hours previously.

Whether Cllr Phillips and others were warned by Legal officers as to the conduct now found unlawful by Mr. Justice Collins.

A full and detailed chronology of discussions, proposals and responses between Council Members, Council Officers and representatives of J S Bloor Ltd, concerning the Rotherwas Access Road and housing allocations at Bullinghope.

An investigation of whether or not inapropriate pressure was placed on Planning Officers during this process, and if so by whom.

What professional advice was given to Cllr Phillips concerning the Planning Inspectors view on future housing numbers.

How have the government’s targets for housing in Herefordshire been determined and whether that process been influenced directly or indirectly by JS Bloor Ltd.

What evaluation was made of proposals for alternative methods of funding the Rotherwas Access Road.

What understandings have been reached with JS Bloor Ltd about issues additional to the application for 300 houses at Bullinghope.

What pre-application discussions were held with JS Bloor Ltd in relation to Flood Risk, Water supply, sewerage and traffic.

Why the Council submitted its evidence to the High Court late and withheld crucial evidence.

Why the Council’s Scrutiny procedures failed to challenge the conduct that has led to the current circumstances.

Whether any Members failed to Register or declare Interests that should have been registered or declared in relation to JH Bloor Ltd.

Any other matters that they believe to be relevant to the matter and that the public would expect to know.


Proposed: Cllr. ACR Chappell Seconded: Cllr GFM Dawe

A cross-party group of Herefordshire Councillors have called a special meeting of council and have tabled a Notice of Motion.

Labour Leader Chris Chappell and Alliance Leader Gerald Dawe have tabled a comprehensive resolution listing a multiplicity of reasons for the Council to start a full and independent enquiry into the events that led to the recent High Court decision regarding the housing allocation at Bullinghope that was unlawful.

They also want the Enquiry to investigate why the Council submitted all its evidence late and withheld some crucial evidence altogether.

“I will never forget the morning of July 28th two years ago,” said Cllr Chappell, who supplied a witness statement for the Court case. “The Council Leader Roger Phillips telephoned me with assurances on the Thursday night and then broke his word the next morning, overturning a decision of his own cabinet. The Court has condemned him for that and we need explanations.”

Cllr Dawe commented: “this was not some minor technical judgment, I believe that an enquiry will reveal how Bloor Homes and some elements in the Council were hell bent on turning a massive and historic green belt area into a vast building plot for JH Bloor in order to fund highly dubious infra structure projects.

The councillors, who have some Independent and Lib Dem support as well as Labour and the Alliance have greeted the Council’s decision not to appeal against the High Court decision.

“I am pleased to see that common sense has prevailed and that they are not going to waste tax payers money on a futile appeal” said Cllr Marcelle Lloyd-Hayes. “However, it is thoroughly dishonest for the same announcement to emphasise that there is still a desperate need for socially affordable housing when there was no intention of building any at Bullinghope. I was the only member of the Council to vote with the local Labour Councillors against this dreadful proposal in the first place and I do hope that many colleagues who were not on the council at the time and some who were, will understand the need for a full enquiry into what happened and for those found guilty of wrong doing or gross incompetence to do the honourable thing and resign. It is the duty of all Councillors to hold the Leader and Executive to account.”

Cllr Ursula Attfield, another long term campaigner, said: “a significant number of people in my ward have been put through a nightmare quite unnecessarily. We need to know why this happened and who was responsible.”

Local councillors have hailed the decision of the High Court to block housing at Bullinghope as a victory for local democracy and accountability. On Thursday 24th July the Court ruled that Herefordshire Council had manipulated the democratic UDP process to allocate land for housing at Bullinghope simply to fund the Rotherwas Road and had thus:
- ignored the findings of the Unitary Development Plan enquiry
- Given inadequate consideration to the impact of development on the area
- Prejudiced a proper countywide assessment of future housing
- Constructed the Rotherwas Road without sufficient funding in place

Hollington Ward Member and Alliance leader Cllr. Gerald Dawe said: "The Council wanted housing at Bullinghope simply to fund the Rotherwas cul-de-sac. They ignored the inspectors decision that this was not a good enough reason for the housing. Now they have been told to pull their socks up by the High Court!"

"Being reprimanded by such an authority should by rights result in resignations at Cabinet level. Herefordshire deserves no less than the highest standards from it's leaders."

"I was elected by the people of Hollington on a platform of opposing this housing, so I am delighted that the High Court has confirmed the views of local residents. This is a victory for ordinary people over vested interests."

Former Mayor of Hereford, Cllr. Lloyd Hayes said: "I have been consistently opposed to the Rotherwas Cul-de-sac and Bullinghope housing which was to fund it. The fact that local people had to resort to the High Court shows how far Herefordshire Council has departed from good practice. If this were an isolated case it should result in resignations. In fact it is part of a pattern of shoddy and undemocratic processes from the ICT scandal, the covering up of the Rotherwas Ribbon from elected members and the chaotic schools "review" - none of which have yet to be dealt with properly."

"This result shows that local people can sometimes win against over mighty Councillors who think they can bend the rules. We hope that this inspires the Herefordshire public not to just accept the Council they have but to get involved in changing it."

Further information and the text of the full judgement can be found on www.dinedorhillaction.co.uk

It is the Hay Literary Festival, May 22 to June 1st and this year you can get there by bus. A full bus timetable is operating from Hereford Station, early morning to late evening. No parking, convenient run direct to the festival site. Please make use of it and enjoy the festival. If you can't read the timetable below click on it for a larger version.

The Alliance for Accountability and Democracy is currently working on the Bullinghope Housing Application. This is the 300 housing allocation that part funded the Rotherwas Access Road. We are questioning the application on several areas where facts are missing, e.g. how much money did Bloor promise under S106 (the developer contribution) and is this still forthcoming, why is there no affordable housing, where is the full archaeological assessment, and some issues around flooding. It seems extraordinary that this large housing application is out for consultation without these basic facts being available to the general public and councillors.