Save Whalley Village 1, Cornmill Mews, Whalley Lancs. BB7 9ST

Chairman’s Report 2010 – 2011 Our first year as a constituted body has seen a great deal of activity concerned with the threat to the village from developers and planning issues. There have been highs and lows, successes and failures, but one thing remains: our resolve to Save the Village. SWV Action Group began in 2010 with the realisation that there were severe consequences for the village if the original proposals for the Ribble Valley Council’s Core Strategy were allowed to be adopted unchallenged. We have moved from a position of facing a possible 896 houses being proposed, to one of 140 for the village up to the year 2028 excluding those houses already passed or built since 2008. We are still challenging this figure and the rationale behind it. The Committee has produced documents to counter the proposals and has encouraged the village to respond in numbers to the various proposals which have come along. This the village has done and we are now accepted as having an important say in all matters concerning planning for Whalley. Our biggest challenge came with the Co-Op’s application to build 80 houses off Riddings Lane. While we were successful in persuading members of the Planning Committee to turn it down they were not successful in defending that decision at the consequent appeal despite a monumental effort by ourselves to do so. Committee members gave of their time and spoke at the hearing representing the views of the village. Sadly the officers of the Planning Department could not do so effectively. Were our efforts wasted? Not a bit of it. We cost the Co-Op considerable expense in having to amend their evidence; they had to change their land drainage proposals to take water from the site and pump it into a culvert on the other side of the A59 instead of sending it down the usual channel and risk flooding the village more regularly; they had to include contingency measures to protect the Great Crested Newt colony which inhabits the site and they had to come up with an extra £300,000 towards secondary educational provision. They also received negative publicity via the newspapers, radio and TV as part of our media campaign. We wanted to make the opposition as visible and loud as possible to make the Co-Op think twice before trying to develop the remainder of their site and to leave other developers in no doubt that there would be effective opposition to any plans they might want to bring forward. The Committee has met regularly and with good attendance when issues have needed action. Minutes are kept of all meetings and decisions. Planning and delivery have been successful and have been implemented on issues such as the Core Strategy, proposed changes to land use from G2 to G6 (Hayhurst Rd.), development proposals including those at Calderstones, Lawsonsteads and the CoOp sites, lobbying has taken place with ministers and MPs over the National Planning Policy Framework and the Localism bill. Meetings have been held with the local MP, Planning Dept.,

Lancashire C.C. (Education and Highways), Council for the Protection of Rural England, Whalley Chamber of Trade and soon with United Utilities. Contacts have been made with the Parish Council and representations have been made to their Planning Committee. We have been pleased that in all of these meetings we have been treated with courtesy and have been allowed to get our point across. The constant reinforcing of our message has a disarming effect on the listeners and, if nothing else, sows the seeds of doubt somewhere in their minds. As far as fund raising is concerned there have been many donations received some of which have been most generous. The Soul Nite and Auction raised a magnificent sum between them. This, added to the donations has allowed us to seek and employ professional help when it has been needed. We are currently having a Traffic Report compiled for the village by Capita Symonds. This will take a good portion of our funds but will be invaluable in fighting proposals on traffic issues. Our thanks go to all those who were involved in helping and particularly in organising events. My thanks are due to all those who have served on the Committee this year for their hard work and unstinting commitment to the cause and to the Support Group who have fetched, carried and counted for the village. Particular mention must be made of Susan Earnshaw our treasurer who organised and ran the auction, Janet Higgins who has used her terrier – like skills to comb through endless documents to find ammunition for objections and counter proposals and to Mike Harper, our Vice Chairman, without whose mathematical and analytical skills we would never have been able to tackle planning proposals or applications. What of the future? We are nearing the time when the Core Strategy will be finalised. It is our hope that this document will secure our defences against aggressive over development. Developers are lurking all around the village as they know that they can sell houses here even if those who live here can’t. We are a target. However, SWV will do everything it can to defend the village and tackle anyone and everyone whose actions would turn the village into an urban sprawl. Our resolve is sure, our nerve steady. If the village does likewise then we will have saved Whalley village!

Nick Walker. January 2012