Ridgeway Farm decision deferred following cycle revelation

Councillors at tonight's meeting of the planning committee (11 March 2015) agreed that they did not have sufficient information to take a decision on the Ridgeway Farm planning application and voted to delay taking a decision.

The Council's case for approving the application - see http://rugby.lib.dm/a6TDL - fell apart under questioning by councillors. Cllr Lewis asked why the county council was going against the application's road safety audit. Local residents had written into the Council voicing concerns about the impact of the scheme on the local cycle route but it became apparent during the meeting that the Council was not aware there was a cycle route running along Ashlawn Road and could only offer hope that Warwickshire County Council had taken it into account in its highways assessment.

Exercising his right to speak as Paddox ward councillor Jerry Roodhouse said "Hope is not good enough".

Eventually Cllr Sandison said that the planning committee should "make decisions on facts and not on hope" and moved that the decision be deferred. Whilst three councillors disagreed and pressed for a decision to be taken at the meeting Cllr Sandison won enough cross-party support to have the decision delayed until a proper transport assessment could be carried out by the county council.