Hi I would just like to draw everyone's attention to a planning application which has recently been put in and if allowed will affect Spurn and Kilnsea drastically.As members of the Forum you will all have particular issues regarding the bird life and might want to comment. Here is a piece I wrote to send to the press which gives a bit of background. Apologies for breaking in and for the lengthy post but I wanted to make sure that all interested people got to know about this in time. Jan Crowther, Kilnsea.
A planning application with enormous implications for the Spurn Heritage Coast in general and Kilnsea in particular has just been presented to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council by the owners of Sandy Beaches Caravan Site, Kilnsea. The application is for 120 caravans, with their bases, car-parking, and access roads, to be built upon two fields between Blue Bell cross-roads and St. Helen’s church. Kilnsea is a small village of less than 30 dwellings, and the distance from the Humber to the sea is only half a mile, most of which would be occupied by the proposed caravan site. The grass-land fields upon which the development would stand are ancient ridge and furrow.
The present application is very similar to one made in 1995, when Sandy Beaches Caravan Site applied to extend their site into the centre of Kilnsea using these same fields. That application, which was opposed by many local people, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the Countryside Commission, the South Holderness Countryside Society, East Yorkshire Local History Society, and other local and national groups, was firmly rejected by Humberside County Council (the predecessor body to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council). Reasons given included:
• The development would be visually intrusive. Although the area is generally low lying, it includes some of the highest land in the Kilnsea area and is close to the highest point within the Heritage Coast. The site would be visible not only from the roads immediately adjacent but for significant distances from the south on the Point itself.
• The development would be damaging to the open rural character of the Heritage Coast. Permanent pasture land is at a premium within the area and is one of the landscape types which the draft management strategy highlights for specific protection. The application would result in the loss of a substantial part of the remaining acreage and the caravans, and ancillary buildings would significantly detract from the existing character of the Heritage Coast.
• The proposed development would be close to and tend to dominate the small village of Kilnsea. There would be no significant buffer of land between the caravans and the village as there is at present and this would lead to unacceptable loss of amenity for residents and a total alteration to the character of the village.
In recent years Kilnsea residents have been alarmed by the threat of flooding from the sea to their properties in the vicinity of the Blue Bell. In 2008 after a big campaign and the raising of money by the Kilnsea Flood Group, a scheme was put in action by the Environment Agency to give the properties around the Blue Bell cross-roads another 25 years protection. However it is felt by some residents of Kilnsea that the fields in question act as sponges in wet weather, and any development upon them would have a detrimental effect on water getting away at times of high rainfall and may lead to a higher risk of flooding of people’s properties. Moreover Kilnsea has only one road in and out of the village. There is no public transport so any new development will lead to a rise in car movements in the area.
Easington Parish Council will be considering the application at its planning sub-committee meeting in Easington Community Hall on 27th April at 7 p.m. (public welcome) and in full council meeting at the same venue on 4th May. The Parish Council has arranged for an extension for comments until 6th May because of the importance of this application. The planning application can be viewed at the East Riding Planning Public access at http://www.eastriding.gov.uk/myarea/disclaimer.asp. Planning reference number 10/00785/STPLFE.
A planning application with enormous implications for the Spurn Heritage Coast in general and Kilnsea in particular has just been presented to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council by the owners of Sandy Beaches Caravan Site, Kilnsea. The application is for 120 caravans, with their bases, car-parking, and access roads, to be built upon two fields between Blue Bell cross-roads and St. Helen’s church. Kilnsea is a small village of less than 30 dwellings, and the distance from the Humber to the sea is only half a mile, most of which would be occupied by the proposed caravan site. The grass-land fields upon which the development would stand are ancient ridge and furrow.
The present application is very similar to one made in 1995, when Sandy Beaches Caravan Site applied to extend their site into the centre of Kilnsea using these same fields. That application, which was opposed by many local people, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the Countryside Commission, the South Holderness Countryside Society, East Yorkshire Local History Society, and other local and national groups, was firmly rejected by Humberside County Council (the predecessor body to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council). Reasons given included:
• The development would be visually intrusive. Although the area is generally low lying, it includes some of the highest land in the Kilnsea area and is close to the highest point within the Heritage Coast. The site would be visible not only from the roads immediately adjacent but for significant distances from the south on the Point itself.
• The development would be damaging to the open rural character of the Heritage Coast. Permanent pasture land is at a premium within the area and is one of the landscape types which the draft management strategy highlights for specific protection. The application would result in the loss of a substantial part of the remaining acreage and the caravans, and ancillary buildings would significantly detract from the existing character of the Heritage Coast.
• The proposed development would be close to and tend to dominate the small village of Kilnsea. There would be no significant buffer of land between the caravans and the village as there is at present and this would lead to unacceptable loss of amenity for residents and a total alteration to the character of the village.
In recent years Kilnsea residents have been alarmed by the threat of flooding from the sea to their properties in the vicinity of the Blue Bell. In 2008 after a big campaign and the raising of money by the Kilnsea Flood Group, a scheme was put in action by the Environment Agency to give the properties around the Blue Bell cross-roads another 25 years protection. However it is felt by some residents of Kilnsea that the fields in question act as sponges in wet weather, and any development upon them would have a detrimental effect on water getting away at times of high rainfall and may lead to a higher risk of flooding of people’s properties. Moreover Kilnsea has only one road in and out of the village. There is no public transport so any new development will lead to a rise in car movements in the area.
Easington Parish Council will be considering the application at its planning sub-committee meeting in Easington Community Hall on 27th April at 7 p.m. (public welcome) and in full council meeting at the same venue on 4th May. The Parish Council has arranged for an extension for comments until 6th May because of the importance of this application. The planning application can be viewed at the East Riding Planning Public access at http://www.eastriding.gov.uk/myarea/disclaimer.asp. Planning reference number 10/00785/STPLFE.
