Dear Sir,
I haven’t written to a newspaper before but I would like to mention a few things.
In your edition of the Newton News w/e 29th April 2016 I noticed that Wilmott Dixon propose to build 450 houses on the former Equestrian Centre site and there is to be a public hearing at the Agnew Community Centre on the 24th May with no time given. Contacting the Agnew Centre I am informed this Hearing has been cancelled and they have no information on an alternative date. They are not given prominence?
Perhaps it might be an idea for all planning applications to be listed in your paper on a weekly basis so that the public have the chance to comment on such matters. The Council are unlikely to shout it from the rooftops and the housing presently under construction adjacent to the Agnew Centre is a prime example.
I only found out about that consultation when I went along to vote a short time before. If I remember rightly, you yourselves were not aware of the consultation until the last moment when you printed it only a few days before the meeting. Residents living nearby had not been notified either. If the Council are not forthcoming we could do with our local paper pursuing such matters on our behalf as in order to object/comment on matters we need to know about them in the first place.
When is enough – enough? Surely with all the new houses at Cobblers Hall, the 125 at Agnew and the prospect of hundreds more between Aycliffe and Middridge not to mention the possibility of yet more near at the A167 and some on the golf course! We do not need another 450 and I don’t know if that includes the playing fields that Woodham Academy were looking to sell off.
Newton Aycliffe’s infrastructure certainly can’t cope. Just try getting a parking space when you have to visit the Doctor at Cobblers Hall and parking in the Town is getting more difficult.
Whilst looking for further information on this matter I came across an application for a replacement of the telecommunications mast at Woodham Way. It is proposed that the 11.7m high monopole be replaced by one at 12.5m high (three feet in my ‘language’) which is quite a jump as well as the installation of 3 no equipment cabinets and associated development.
It is not clear whether these cabinets are extra or replacements but there are already eight cabinets of some sort and a second mast already in place. They are not painted green to blend in with the surroundings and are an eyesore standing alone on the verge when lamp posts are green. How does the public become aware of these things if they are tucked away on websites? Not everyone has a computer nor the time to trawl. I am sure the people in the properties nearby won’t be best pleased.
We need someone fighting our corner and your newspaper is just the tool we need. We need to be able to look at the Newton News and see at a glance what is being proposed and how it will affect us in order to have our say. With regard to the public hearing, how are people meant to comment – where are the plans, you cannot voice opinions without first seeing what is proposed and certainly not just at the Hearing itself.
A previous application on this site was turned down because it would have meant access onto the A167 which was considered dangerous (today must be worse), so on that basis where would access be now – through a current estate?
I might be an old pensioner with nothing better to do, but it would be appreciated if you could follow up such matters and advise the community of what is going on in and around their Town. Starting first with prominent information on the proposed development of 450 houses and the revised Public Hearing date and time (hopefully not the afternoon as in the case of the houses adjacent to the Agnew Centre when people are at work). If I hadn’t contacted the Agnew Centre, I would be turning up with nobody there!
Jennifer Whatley
PS: A former neighbour of mine who has moved away has said that what she misses most is the Newton News.