Stay of execution for Vale’s ‘triangle field’
PEOPLE power has temporarily saved a green field in the Vale from housing development after residents told politicians that ‘enough is enough’ and that the remaining green spaces in the north must be protected.
Residents had seen red over the proposal to build two three-bedroomed houses on the so-called ‘triangle field’ opposite the Braye Road Industrial Estate.
They argued that it was the only visible green space for much of the Braye Road and, just because they lived in a built-up area, it did not mean that they did not appreciate nature and wildlife.
The recommendation from civil servants to the politicians was that they should approve the planning application, but at an open planning meeting the final decision ended in a three-way stand-off.
Deputy Dawn Tindall, the president of the Development & Planning Authority, went against the recommendation of her senior officers and said no, vice-president Deputy Victoria Oliver said yes, and Alderney representative Alex Snowdon abstained.
But victory for residents could be temporary because it was explained that by default the decision is deferred, and the fate of the green field will rest with the new DPA formed after the election, and there could be a second open planning meeting.
When they revealed their decisions after a three-hour hearing, an architect from the developer’s team said loudly ‘all that for no result, what a farce’, and later called it a ‘political’ decision close to an election.
However, residents were relieved with the result, even though it was not the outright refusal they had hoped for.
Mark Page, who has lived in the area for about a decade, said the island should be focusing on brownfield development rather than destroying the green lungs.
‘If you drive along the Braye Road, starting at Vale Rec, once you get to Troalic’s lawnmower shop there are no areas of green land that are visible until you get to the Vale School playing fields.
‘That entire road is developed and built up and it has that urban feel to it, and it’s important that the field remains to break up that urbanity.
‘Lining developers’ pockets to the detriment of the community is not correct in my opinion.’
Another resident at the meeting, John Le Hegarat, remembered the field from the 1960s, and said it was their last little green area, and that increased its importance rather than diminished it.
‘I was surprised, I thought it would be accepted and I was hoping it would be rejected.
‘I think at the moment we’re in a no-man’s land, it’s not an acceptance and it’s not a rejection. You could say that the longer it is stalled you could eventually get where you want to be.’
Jane Smithies has lived near the field for 70 years and remembers using it as a short-cut on the way to school. She described it as a breath of fresh air.
‘I would have been delighted if it had been refused because to say that the open aspect of the land doesn’t matter because it’s not with other open land, I didn’t quite understand that.
‘I feel very strongly about it. They said only the trees matter, but it gets full of daffodils every year. Of course that matters.’
