Blight on the area (From Northwich Guardian)
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New Hartford church hall sparks unholy row
12:10pm Friday 19th March 2010 in News
HARTFORD residents say they have been misled about the size of the new church hall.
The construction is being described as a ‘blight on the area’ by Hartford Civic Society, and many residents are up in arms about the building, which has been accused of ‘splitting the village in half’.
Planning authorities approved the plans last year after a long consultation period.
Rev Mike Smith, from St John’s Church, said it had consulted with church users and local residents and only one person had made a written objection.
But since the metal frame of the building was erected, there has been widespread consternation.
The Hartford Civic Society had members present at the planning committee and at the time, unanimously approved it.
But Dr John Swaffield, secretary of the society, said he believed all parties had been misled regarding the height of the building.
Pat Hadfield, the society’s publicity officer, said the metal structure had shocked everybody.
One resident, who lives nearby on Beech Grove, described the building as a blot on the landscape and accused it of being two metres higher than it should be.
In February, a website – lovethyneighbour.org.uk – was set-up with an online poll that asked residents if they loved or loathed the building.
But the poll was closed on February 25, after being hijacked by people voting hundreds of times in favour of the construction, despite the majority of comments being against it.
The website claims people were misinformed at a church meeting when they were told the building would be marginally higher than the old church hall.
“Because the building is so tall, the beautiful view from School Lane is in the process of being obliterated for ever, and the view from the centre of Hartford towards Northwich now encompasses something that looks very much like a warehouse,” the website said.
Rev Smith has said he would be happy to talk to anyone who had concerns about the building.
A spokesman for Hartford Parish Council said: “The parish council regrets the distress and concern felt by many residents, especially those on School Lane, and are equally disappointed that the planning process, of which the parish council is a consultee, and the public presentation to the community, failed to convey the impact of the new church hall.
“The council believes the absence of objection from both the community and the council was influenced by a desire to remove the existing eyesore, and by artist’s impressions, which did not show how the hall fitted into the neighbouring area – a lesson to be learned by all.
“The hope is when it is completed, it will at least look more attractive than it does now.
“The church is aware of the concerns but it is hoped it is sincere in its desire to involve all villagers in what will be a community facility.”
l What do you think of Hartford’s new church hall? Go online and comment or contact jessica.bell@ guardiangrp.co.uk
Comments(7)
Liam Byrne
says...
1:14pm Sat 20 Mar 10
The same old tricks are being used by the developers; vague artists 'illustrations' with an absence of familiar objects to prevent people grasping the true scale of the intended buildings, weasel words, without any legal enforceability about about traffic implications, the health risks, the type of waste that will be incinerated and how important a garbage burning facility is to the future etc. etc.
The good news is that it is not too late to do something to prevent what would be a crime against all of Northwich and the surrounding communities. CHAIN is putting arrangements in place which will give everybody who cares about the future of the town the opportunity to make a formal objection to the Government about TATA/Brunner Mond's insane plan. If the scale and quality of these objections is large enough they will effect the decision on whether to give planning consent.
So please watch out for details which will be publicised in the next week or so.
redviking
says...
11:15pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Liam Byrne wrote:Everything you have said in your comment is totally untrue. Brunner Mond have done everything legally and above board. They have given the increase in traffic levels which they estimate will be around 3%. They have given all the details of what will and what will not be used in the waste incinerator. They have also gone to great lengths to provide evidence and factual information about any health issues that people may be concerned about (even though it is proven to be ok). The drawing which CHAIN issued was laughable at best, totally out of scale and nothing in realtion to the actual size of the EfW plant that will be bulit.
At the risk of being accused of dragging it into every issue, I would like to draw readers attention to the fact that the same risk applies to the gigantic waste incinerator that TATA/Brunner Mond want to build in Northwich a short distance from Hartford and even closer to places like Kingsmead and Davenham. The same old tricks are being used by the developers; vague artists 'illustrations' with an absence of familiar objects to prevent people grasping the true scale of the intended buildings, weasel words, without any legal enforceability about about traffic implications, the health risks, the type of waste that will be incinerated and how important a garbage burning facility is to the future etc. etc. The good news is that it is not too late to do something to prevent what would be a crime against all of Northwich and the surrounding communities. CHAIN is putting arrangements in place which will give everybody who cares about the future of the town the opportunity to make a formal objection to the Government about TATA/Brunner Mond's insane plan. If the scale and quality of these objections is large enough they will effect the decision on whether to give planning consent. So please watch out for details which will be publicised in the next week or so.
There is no point turning this item into a debate again, enough has been mentioned on a previous item. But will CHAIN please STOP scaremongering the public with lies, you are doing more damage than Brunner Mond could ever do
Sue Statham
says...
12:17am Tue 23 Mar 10
As for the size of the incinerator, you should be able to calculate roughly how big it will be from figures supplied by Tata/Brunner Mond and comparisons to like-capacity plants. I think you will find that CHAIN are reasonably accurate in their calculations.
Scaremongering and "telling it as it is "seem to be the same, in your opinion. CHAIN stands firm on it's information to the public.
Hibernian
says...
10:13am Tue 23 Mar 10
Sue Statham
says...
2:07pm Tue 23 Mar 10
lyndajones48
says...
4:57pm Wed 24 Mar 10
Hibernian says...
1:59pm Fri 19 Mar 10
Residents knew that the hall was being replaced, but the impression was that the replacement would be similar in size. I'm sure that if people had been told (or had examined the plans) there would have been many objections to such a large building in Hartford's conservation area. I think the building is far too big for the site, and has inadequate car parking for the hall's capacity. I'm disappointed with the parish council, the civic society and with the church itself for not drawing the public's attention to these issues.
Moral: don't ASSUME that someone else will stop a bad development..