Six hundred homes ‘threat to unique character of village’

The scheme, which includes a medical centre and pharmacy, retail and extra care facility for the elderly on land owned by Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, over the road from Castle Hill Hospital at Cottingham, near Hull, has sparked hundreds of objections. The cash-strapped trust say they do not intend to act as a developer, but selling the land will help generate much needed revenue. However Cottingham councillor Geraldine Mathieson said people were worried the village would lose its identity and end up joining Willerby, which itself had been subsumed into Hull. “We expect some development on hospital land at the bottom of the hill, but not all the way up the hill,” she said. “Going beyond the area where the local plan is agreed is a step too far. “It will be eroding the green space between Cottingham and Willerby and that’s what people don’t want. “The problem is Willerby is already joined to Hull and if we were joined to Willerby we would be joined to the conurbation. We want green space around us, we don’t want to be swallowed by Hull.” Coun Lena Slater, who was handing in a 600-name petition at County Hall, in Beverley yesterday, said villagers felt under threat from new developments, including plans for two supermarkets. She said: “The traffic will become so bad people won’t want to live here. “People say we are losing the character of the village. We do feel we are unique. “There are families who have been here 300 years. “It is a traditional village which feels under siege.” Three parish councils have objected, as has East Riding council’s forward planning department, saying they have “serious concerns that the development will significantly erode the open area of strategic importance between Cottingham and Willerby. “The application site plays a prominent role in providing an open setting for Cottingham and contributing to the settlement’s character.” Hull Council also objects, as does Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Cottingham Civic Society says the character of the area would be “irrevocably and adversely changed”. There have also been 119 letters of objection raising concerns over traffic, the loss of prime agricultural land and flooding. Duncan Taylor, the trust’s director of estates development, said, however, they had tried to accommodate the parish councils’ concerns and there wouldn’t be houses on “every square inch of land”. Money raised from the sale “would be invested straight back into improving healthcare for the residents of Hull and East Yorkshire”. He said: “We have come up with a scheme that we feel addresses some of the shortfalls within the area and we get the benefit in that the land sale comes back to the trust and can be reinvested. “If it was a private developer that money goes into their bank and won’t be reinvested back into the local economy.” He added: “We haven’t put houses on every square inch. There’s land on Willerby Low Road where a playing field and football pitch would be. “We have tried to include trees and drainage, to break the feel of it being just house after house. “People will see the number and say that’s a lot of houses – but it is a large piece of land.” Planning officers are recommending refusal at a meeting next Thursday, saying any benefits “would be significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the considerable departure from the development plan”. Comment: Page 12.