Fight to block housing plan

CROFT Parish Council has thrown its weight behind residents fighting plans to build houses on the site of an historic war time naval camp.
The council believes the proposal by Elan Homes to build 26 houses on the site of the old HMS Gosling camp, off Lady Lane, would lead to unacceptable increases in traffic on local roads.
Cllr Les Hoyle (pictured) said: “We are opposed to anything likely to lead to increased traffic. In this case, we believe the development could cause road safety hazards at the junction of Lady Lane and Mustard Lane, because of the proximity of St Lewis’ Primary School.”
Residents of Lady Lane are opposing the scheme for four and five bedroomed houses on the footprint of the old camp site.
They say the site is in the designated green belt and involves a historic wartime training camp site – one the few remaining in the area. The land has remained fallow for 40 years and supports a wide range of wildlife, including bats, foxes, buzzards, newts, toads and various birds.
There are no sewage or gas main and no plan to provide them, nor plans to improve the potentially dangerous site access.
Residents believe the development would lead to a significant increase in traffic with implications for road safety and the local community, which is already under strain. They say police and the borough and parish councils are already concerned about traffic problems during “drop off/collection” times at the school.
They say there is no demand for more housing in Croft, where they are currently more than 30 houses for sale, with many similar-sized houses having been on the market for years.