“Unbelieveable!! £8,500 as a "sweetener" for allowing this ludicrous plan for yet more homes in Cowling - without one single house being an affordable one which the Council keeps telling us Cowling needs! This abismal amount is not even sufficient to keep the public toilets open which are due to close on Wednesday!

But the money is not the only issue here, the issue is that Councillors who are reponsible for looking after the people who they represent are treating Cowling's residents (and indeed most of Craven's residents as far as overdevelopment is concerned) with contempt. They are wasting tax payers money at an alarming rate, and no-one seems to be held to account.

The District Concillor who made this judgement of not forwarding this plan to have it debated by the Planning Committee and having it decided entirely by the Head of Planning, should speak out and tell us his or her reasons why.

This site has previously been refused planning permission due to the fact that there was no provision for affordable homes - can someone explain to me why now that does not seem to matter anymore?? The previous two applications were for 18 and 22 homes repsectively and so the space available is not even being used to its full potential, forcing more sites to become available to fulfill the affordable housing quota. There is no logic!”

Posted by Dawn -NODISC | 30/03/2009 10:30:08

“This absolutely stinks. Someone is being massaged here.”

Posted by Liz K | 09/04/2009 14:01:41

“I live in one of the buildings attached to the old mill. Skipton properties seem reluctant to send us any information about the demolition, or even if they are going to weatherproof the now external walls of our property”

Posted by Helen | 11/04/2009 10:04:57

“to add to this. Skipton properties contractors arrived to put up scaffolding outside our house. They'd been told by Skipton properties that they'd talked to us about it and that we were ok with it. When my Husband Tony saw them he told the demolition gaffer that that was not the case, (Skipton properties lying). The gaffer got someone from the office in crosshills to come over who was very apologetic. They were told we needed to know what was going to happen and that we needed access to the front door and balcony whilst they were working. We were promised that this would be the case, and that the workmen would sweep down everyday after finishing. Arrived home from school the following day, could not get to the front door. Told the scaffolders the next day and they changed it. This was 1 week ago. Our balcony has not been swept and is covered in dust. Today we arrived home and our stairs up to the door are covered in rubble. The bikes by the downstairs door are filthy and there is rubble on the floor around the carport, which was falling whilst the car was parked there. No-one has bothered coming to speak to us about tidying up or weatherproofing. Let this be your warning about skipton properties doing anymore development in the village as they obviously don't care about the residents of the village. Helen (Coachhouse Workshop, Carr Mill Mews)”

Posted by Helen | 27/04/2009 18:06:22

“May i make a few points............
Helen, i feel so sorry for you having to live in such a mess, someone should be accountable for this, maybe the person from the office should come up with a broom and sweep up, after all they made the promise.
Secondly, Has the council thought about the impact all these houses will have on the village school?? this year there were too many children who applied for the 22 places avaliable, is the council going to give the school a bigger budget, bigger building and more resourses to cope with an ever expanding village??? HMMMM i think not!!
Finally with the local elections aproaching i think the villagers should let there feelings be heard, it's obvious our present counciler does not care for the village so lets elect someone who does, we have not lost this battle yet, lets unite in our vote”

Posted by tracey | 30/04/2009 07:56:25

“Surely the "external" wall of Helen's property should be subject to the Party Wall (1999) Act and the developer should be presenting written notices regarding any work thereon?”

Posted by andy | 30/04/2009 08:45:45

“Isn't there someone higher up you can complain too - what about CDC Planning Department - there must have been some conditions attached to the planning approval that would protect existing residents. If not, try e-mailing the leader of the council, Chris Knowles-Fitton on chris@knowleslodge.com - I'm sure he would be interested to know of your plight.”

Posted by Liz K | 30/04/2009 12:40:44

“Tracey, there are local elections coming up, but the post of DC for Cowling is not one for re-election for a few years yet.”

Posted by andy | 01/05/2009 09:30:20

“thanks for your info, as tenants we don't apparently fit the criteria for using the party wall Act, but i will tell the other neighbours. (The landlord doesn't seem to care tho')
done a brief internet trawl after talking to colleagues at work who also live near their developments. you might find the following articles interesting.
http://archive.thisisbradford.co.uk/2002/12/14/118203.html
http://www.keighleynews.co.uk/contactus/aboutkeighley/4277570.Residents_have_the_hump_with_developers/
http://archive.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/2006/11/2/188775.html
http://archive.cravenherald.co.uk/2002/4/12/127615.html”

Posted by Helen | 01/05/2009 12:33:34

“Helen,

I understand the Party Wall Act considers the "adjoining owner" to include someone holding a leasehold title for a period exceeding one year. If this applies to you then the Act is there to help prevent the misery you describe.
In addition, if rubble and other debris is falling onto your side, the Health and Safety people may be interested because serious injury could occur and the persons carrying out the work must operate a safe system of work for themselves and others. Someone at CDC or at the H&S should be able to advise you on this aspect. If you think the parish council can help in any way, please contact them via their website. Alternatively, your District Councillor could be approached for help.”

Posted by andy | 01/05/2009 14:24:01

“Helen, I would be very interested in hearing of any help the District Councillor has to offer!”

Posted by Dawn | 02/05/2009 11:52:22

“if you could give me contact details or the name of the district councillor i'll contact them”

Posted by Helen | 05/05/2009 18:24:25

“Hi Helen, I believe these are the details you require -

Cowling District Councillor:
Ady Green
Squirrel Wood Cottage
Ickornshaw
Cowling
BD22 0DB
(01535) 631049

more information about your councillors etc is available on www.cravendc.gov.uk

”

Posted by Dawn | 05/05/2009 20:37:26