Imagine purchasing a new home, only to find that you are significantly restricted in how you can use your garden at night, or that you cannot alter windows for better ventilation. Plans to protect light-sensitive bats would have put residents of a new home proposed for Adams Road in Cambridge in this situation, and so the planning inspector dismissed an appeal against the Planning Committee’s refusal of the application.
Last week I heard that an appeal against a planning decision made by the Cambridge Planning Committee had been dismissed, and I want to explain why I think this was the correct decision and why it might help us preserve wildlife in future.
The story is a bit complicated, as there have been two planning applications, two refusals at the planning committee, and two appeals which were dismissed, but the essence of the issue is that an application was made to build a house close to the Adams Road Sanctuary, which is a County Wildlife Site and haven for birds, bats and amphibians.
Continue reading “Shining A Light on Planning Issues”