At a specially convened planning meeting, Brading Town Council (BTC) rejected the planning application to develop the buildings and land that previously held the Brading Experience.
The future use of the site has caused much trouble and consternation in and around Brading, leading to the formation of the Brading Residents’ Action Group (BRAG).
The well-attended meeting ran for just over two hours. Most of the time was spent with the residents of Brading raising their analysis of the potential problems with the planning application.
Well-mannered
It was very well-mannered with the mayor and councillors chipping in where they thought fit.
It was widely felt that many of the fourteen proposed houses would be too small, some containing kitchens that are only 9ft square. Access to the whole site was strongly thought not to be sufficient.
One major concern was around the application papers giving the strong impression that the Town Council was supportive of the application. This was denied by the councillors a number of times.
Phase one?
A number of times it was pointed out that the planning application in front of them, would probably only be the first of a number of phases of the development around the area.
Towards the end of the meeting, the Mayor, Lodi Brand, said “I personally don’t like what’s proposed – but, I’m also aware that we cannot remain static. The town will slowly die, losing its facilities – doctors, schools, etc.”
“I suggest that we don’t support this development, but we do support some development.”
The head of BTC planning committee, Cllr Sullivan, added, “I believe this is in-line with what we want for Brading – but there are about 40 things that need to be changed.”
The vote
At the vote, all of the councillors voted in favour of rejecting it, with support of people in the meeting.
