While the council fiddles, Archery Ground suffers – and at times burns.

Waiting for Gladedale

The council’s failure to set any deadline for Gladedale Estates to respond to its criticisms of the developer’s amended proposal for redeveloping the Archery Ground has prompted pressure group Stag, which has led objections to the plans, to push for a time-limit.

At a meeting with a Stag – Save the Archery Ground – representative this week, council leader Jeremy Birch agreed that a reasonable time-limit should be set for Gladedale’s response.

“I’m unhappy that this matter has been dragging on for two years,” Cllr Birch told HOT. “Whatever the result, it’s not good for a planning application to be around for such a length of time.”

But he made it clear that this was a matter for the planning department and not himself as council leader.

Stag has also pressed the director of planning, Tim Cookson, to indicate how much more time would be given to Gladedale to submit amendments. When this week he finally replied to a letter sent on 18 July, Mr Cookson said that the council would shortly send Gladedale its final comments on the amended proposal.

But he gave no specific answer to Stag’s inquiry, saying only that, “We will expect the applicant to respond to these and other comments received promptly so to minimise further delays in determining these applications.”

Two years on

Gladedale’s original proposal was submitted in 2009. According to a Stag spokesman, council guidelines call for such planning applications to be decided by the planning committee within 13 weeks. Not only has this guideline gone by the board, but in addition it is not normal practice to repeatedly invite amendments from an applicant whose proposal has been found wanting.

That Gladedale’s amended proposal has been found wanting is not in doubt – in July the council wrote a 10-page letter informing the company that its amended proposal was not of a standard which would allow it to be recommended for approval and detailing its many shortcomings and discrepancies.

However, it left the door open for yet more amendments, telling the developer that the council “await your comments as to whether you wish to proceed on this basis.”

Meanwhile the site itself is rapidly becoming a problem for nearby residents. It is now derelict, defaced with grafitti, vandalised and rubbish-strewn. Lead and other metals have been stolen and windows smashed. Recently vandals set fire to part of the Grade II listed former art school.

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