Back in February, Cllr Steffi Sutters submitted a petition calling on the Labour-run Council to drop the proposal to build over 100 homes on the Ashburton estate over 5 different sites. The petition had almost 800 signatures with support for dropping the plans being well over 50% in many areas.

The petition finally came to the Housing Committee in June and residents from across the Ashburton Estate, together with Whitnell Way, attended a packed meeting. 

Recognising the concerns local residents had every Conservative Councillor on the Committee voted for the plans to be dropped. Sadly, the Labour Councillors voted for the development to go ahead.

We feel this ignores the concerns, of local residents. We each have knocked on many doors and know that local residents have made it clear they don’t want the development. Residents would like to see the Council spend money on making existing homes better and talking about issues like damp and mould.

What happens next? 

We all recognise the need for more good quality affordable housing, but this scheme is not right and will mean a critical loss of parking, green space, storage, a children’s playground, and trees. You can see more on the detail of the impact on each area overleaf as we have got more information on exactly what the Labour Council plans to do. 

Firstly, if you haven’t already - please sign up to receive our updates - the more people we can communicate with the better. That way we can keep you updated. 

The application will ultimately have to come to planning before anything can be decided. If the Planning Committee votes against it, then the Council will not be able to go ahead. 

Just like on Housing Labour also has a majority on the Planning Committee.

We are opposed to this development and intend to work with local residents to fight this every step of the way. There will have to be a formal consultation as part of that and we will keep you updated on how you can object when that happens.

In the mean time please complete this form to receive our updates about the Ashburton Estate