Stop Future Housing Development.

[Red Admiral]

LCAG are campaigning against future housing development on the playing field area of the Lofthouse Colliery site to retain this open space for the benefit of the local Community. To protect the land from development the status and designation needs to be changed. LCAG will be circulating letters and a petition and asking residents and interested parties to lodge their objection to housing development to Neville Ford, Spatial Policy Manager and Ian Thompson, Director of Planning, both of Wakefield MDC. Look out for details of our Open Meeting planned for early September and LCAG visiting our neighbourhood. Please let us know via this website if you can help in any way.

[Red Admiral]

Everyone is invited to our LCAG Open Meeting on Tuesday, 11th September at 7pm.
Venue:
Lofthouse Hill Golf Club
Leeds Road
Wakefield
WF3 3LR
01924 823703
This Open Meeting will have the main aim of working towards stopping proposed future building development on the former Lothouse Colliery site.
It will be an opportunity for all present to receive the facts as we have them to date and to understand the stage the group has reached in it's campaign.
It will also be a chance for people to get involved to help support these activities.

[Red Admiral]

Progressing the campaign against future housing development on the playing field area of the Lofthouse Colliery site. LCAG Committee each sent a letter to Wakefield MDC to request change of land status and designation of the site to Green Belt. Peter Gooding, Project Leader Spatial Policy Group, replied by letter dated 22 August 2007, on behalf of Planning Services. "Thank you for your representations concerning the above site. I regret that it is not possible to consider further development site proposals for inclusion in the Site Specific Development Plan Document Preferred Options report due to the lead times involved in sustainability appraisal, Council approval and printing etc. However, your proposals will be considered alongside the sites proposals put forward at the Preferred Options consultation stage for inclusion in the submission draft Document". LCAG are preparing their response.

[stantheman]

I use these fields and surrounding hills paths etc for both training a junior football team and for family time walking our dog or riding the bikes with the kids and I feel the the council will be letting the local people down if the proposed houses are built wasn't it last year when wakefield council put excercise on top of there plans as wakefields children had come out near the top in a national survey about for been unfit .
If you walk round Outwood the only playing fields available are these on the Lofthouse Colliery site,Outwood park the football pitch on Coach Road. There are school fields but these are out of bounds to the general puplic so WHY would Wakefield council want to take over 60% of play areas away from the people who VOTE for them and spoil what is a wonderful wildlife area in the district[/b]

[Red Admiral]

LCAG secured a meeting with Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families last week. Of course LCAG know that young families need housing but we are campaigning that housing is built in the right place and not to the detriment of valuable community places like Lofthouse Colliery Park. Ed has said that he will actively support our cause and he can be contacted on ed@edballs.com

[stantheman]

After reading your post about the contact you've had I have forwarded my earlier post to Mr Balls and will post his reply if I get one hope this helps

stan the man

[Red Admiral]

Thank you Stan the Man, keep corresponding. Ed Balls MP has committed to participate in our Clean & Green event (see Diary Dates) along with other agreed action points which we'll let everyone know about as we progress.

[Red Admiral]

Things are looking encouraging for our park! Don't stop! Please keep up the campaign by expressing your views to WMDC to let them know that we do not want any building on our open space. Get involved with LCAG and help us save our environment.

[Red Admiral]

WMDC have informed the 600+ people who wrote them a letter that they have reached the next stage of consultation on the first two documents to be submitted to Government which will form part of Wakefield's new Local Development Framework. The documents submitted can be found at the web site address shown below. You can make comments on these for the next 6 weeks until 28th February. We await the next stage of public consultation when the preferred options for the Site Specific Proposals document and map is released that will identify the future intentions for Lofthouse Colliery Park.

http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/Planning/SpatialPolicy/pub_LDF/CoreStrategy/CSDPSubmission.htm