Save Roding Valley Village Green

Thursday 28th - Friday 29th August 2008	It shall be determined whether the land is a village green or not at a public hearing.
Tuesday, 29th July 2008. 10AM	Mr Hamidi is selling his land at auction. Full details may be found on the home page. (Lot 266)
Tuesday, 10th June 2008.	The planning inspectorate refused Mr Hamidi's appeal on the following grounds*.
Thursday, 21st February 2008.	Mr Hamidi applealed his planning refusal to the planning inspectorate. His grounds for appeal may be seen here.*.
Monday, 24th September 2007.	Mr Hamidi was refused planning permission for his 4 bedroom house on the following grounds. 1. The proposed development, by reason of its design, size and appearance, would represent an intrusive development, out of keeping in the street scene, and would have a serious and adverse effect on visual amenity. This is contrary to policies BE1 and H4 of the Essex and Southend-on-Sea Replacement Structure Plan and policies DBE1, DBE2 and DBE9 of the adopted Local Plan and Alterations. 2. The proposed development would result in an unacceptable loss of the existing area of open space and would harm the setting, character and townscape of the surrounding urban environment, contrary to policy CP2 of the Adopted Local Plan and Alterations, policy CS2 of the Essex and Southend-on-Sea Replacement Structure Plan, and Government Advice as set out in PPG17. 3. The proposed development would result in the loss of an area of open space previously used for informal recreational purposes by the local community. This is contrary to policies CF12 and LL5 of the Adopted Local Plan and Alterations and Goveernment [sic] Advice as set out in PPG17.
Wednesday, 5th September 2007	The consultation period for the planning permission for a 4 bedroom house ended.
Wednesday, 8th August 2007	S Hamidi applied for planning permission to build one 4 bedroom house on the green.
Late June - July	S MacLaren sold the land out of auction to Sheik. S Hamidi for £32,000.
Tuesday, 5th June 2007	A public-committee meeting took place in Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School. It was attended by over 40 people.
Monday, 14th May 2007	A telephone conference took place with the judge, S McLaren's legal team and our legal team to decide how costs were to be awarded. THE JUDGE RULED THAT MR McLAREN SHOULD PAY BOTH HIS AND OUR FULL COSTS! Mr McLaren's legal team requested 'leave to appeal' (no costs payment while he appealed). THIS WAS ALSO REFUSED! S McLaren can still appeal, but to do this he must pay costs, then submit an 'independant appeal'. An independant appeal means that the court of appeal decide (based on papers) whether the case has merit before deciding whether to hear the case in court or not.
Friday, 11th May 2007. 10.30AM	A judgment was handed down. The court ruled that the case should be struck out! In other words, we've one a very important test case! The full judgment may be found here. A report shall appear here soon. The decision may be appealed. Please continue to watch this space. Roding Valley Residents' Committee would like to thank the public for financially supporting the case.
Friday, 4th May 2007. 10.30 AM	A summary judgment took place before Mr Justice Pelling at the Royal Courts of Justice, London. The case was argued for over four hours in court. A judgment was not made at that time. It is expected 11th of May 2007.
Friday, 20th April 2007.	S McLaren notified L Kubiak in a witness statement that he had submitted a statement of objection to Essex County Council, out of time, on the grounds that he moved house and therefore didn't receive the original notification of 'application to register' letter from the council.
Friday, 13th April 2007.	An application was made to register the land as a Town or Village green under the new act. This application and the old one will be processed concurrently.
Friday, 6th April 2007.	An amended version of the commons act came into force. For more information about this act, please click here and here*. .(exterior content).
Thursday, 1st February 2007	The consultation period for the village green application ended. No objections were received during the period.
Monday, 29th January 2007.	S McLaren submitted a second witness statement* (the first being the one submitted with the court proceedings) in response to the witness statement submitted by RVRC’s legal team, on behalf of L Kubiak. *The ‘witness statements’ referred to are totally separate to the witness and support for the village green application statements, that were sent to Essex County Council. The court witness statements of witness to evidence.
Wednesday, 17th January 2007	A skeleton defense (a witness statement) was submitted by RVRC’s legal team, on behalf of L Kubiak. At this stage RVRC do not wish to publish witness documents online so as not to prejudice the court. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. The ‘witness statements’ referred to are totally separate to the witness and support for the village green application statements, that were sent to Essex County Council. The court witness statements of witness to evidence.
Monday, 15th January 2007	A hearing was going to take place. This was later revised to a directions hearing, that is, a hearing at which the Court is told about a timetable both sides have agreed to. The Summary of Directions agreed upon may be seen here.
Friday, 12th January 2007	An article, written by Valentine Row, was scheduled to appear in today’s EVENING STANDARD, but didn’t appear. It is not understood yet why it didn’t appear. Apparently, it was approved by all of the relevant parties but didn’t end up being printed.
Wednesday, 13th December 2006	The consultation period for the village green application started. Any one may object within the 6 week objection period. The signs may be seen below (click on each sign to open the full size image in a new window.) image 1(text) image 2(map) Note: Any objections are objections to the land becoming a village green, not the other way round!
Tuesday, 12th December 2006.	EPPING FOREST DISTRICT COUNCIL REFUSED PLANNING PERMISSION FOR FLATS ON THE GREEN! The reasons for the rejection are given below: 1) The proposed block, by reason of its design, size, bulk and inappropoate appearance, would represent an intrusive and overbearing development, out of scale and character with the prevailing pattern of development, and would have a serious and adverse effect on visual amenity. This is contary to policies BE1 and H$ of the Essex and Southend-On-Sea replacement Structure Plan and Policies DBE1, DBE2 and DBE9 of the adopted Local Plan and Alterations. 2) The proposed development, by reason of its size and layout, would make inadequate provision for landscaping, contrary to Policy LL11 of the Adopted Local Plan and Alterations. 3) Insufficient information has been submitted in respect of how the proposal seeks to retain the existing preserved trees on the site so that the Council is unable to fully consider and assess the proposal. In the absence of this information it is considered that the development would have a serious and adverse impact on the trees which would result in the loss of trees significant amenity value, to the detriment of the visual amenities of the locality, contrary to policy LL10 of the Adopted Local Plan and Alterations. 4) The proposed development would result in the loss of exsisting area of open space and would harm the setting, character and townscape of the surrounding urban environment, contrary to policy CP2 of the Adopted Local Plan and Alterations, policy CS2 of the replacement Structure Plan, and PPG17. 5) The proposed development would result in the loss of an area of open space previously used for informal recreational purposes by the local community. This is contrary to policies CF12 and LL5 of the Adopted Local Plan and Alterations and PPG17. This decision may be appealed.
Tuesday, 12th December 2006	A public meeting and carol service took place in St Elizabeth’s church, Cestnut Avenue.
Wednesday, 12th December 2006	The objection period will end. A planning decision will take place by Graham Courtney, planning officer. If the verdict is taken to appeal, the application will go to committee.
Monday, 4th December 2006	A RVRC conference with Richard Buxton, solicitor and Douglas Edwards, barrister took place.
Wednesday, 29th December 2006	A RVRC meeting took place. Amongst the items discussed were: the appeal and the option of formerly registering as a Residents’ Committee.
Sunday, 26th November 2006	Roding Valley Residents’ Association appeal for £1,410 (see below). The majority of the door-to-door collections took place. *Roding Valley Residents’ Committee would like to thank everyone who donated so generously.* *We continue to update you with the proceedings.* Donations can still be: Handed in to 74 Chestnut Avenue (Laurie Kubiak) at any time of day or night, made via the Secretary, Jane Davies, who will arrange collection or handed to any of the people on the ‘contact the committee’ page. Cheques: If you wish to donate be cheque, please make it payable to Laurie Kubiak (Chairman of RVRC).
Friday, 24th November 2006	Roding Valley Residents’ Committee launched an appeal to raise £1,410. (see below) Roding Valley Residents ’ Committee writes to inform you of the latest developments in our fight on your behalf and for our local community for the Green, Junction of Chestnut Avenue / Hornbeam Road, Buckhurst Hill. Mr Stephen McLaren is taking us to the Chancery Division of the High Court to try to make us prove before the Court that the Green is a registerable new Green. This is a test case and has never been done before. Our legal advisors have told us that this is an abuse of process, because it is an attempt to get round the normal village green registration process. Because it is an abuse of process, we intend to ask the High Court to strike the case out, or stay it until Essex County Council has ruled on our Village Green application. If the Court doesn't strike it out or stay it, we have to prove to the Court that the Land is a Village Green, just as we have had to with Essex County Council. To do these things effectively we need a good, experienced legal team, in what is a highly specialised field. We have therefore started discussions with the best in the business: Richard Buxton, solicitor, and Douglas Edwards, barrister. Douglas Edwards’s success rate with village green applications and appeals is second to none. *We are launching an appeal for £1,410.* This £1,410 covers the cost of preparing the case, obtaining documents and holding a conference with the solicitors and barrister on 4th December. We need to have paid the legal team before they will formally commence work on our case. They have already been generous in advising us thus far without charge. This is a lot of money, but think of it like this. If 70 local households give £20 each, we’ve made the £1,410. If 140 households give £10 each, we’ve made the £1,410. If 280 households give £5 each, we’ve made the £1,410. We will be recording how much each household donates because, if we are successful, and costs are awarded against Mr. McLaren, we intend to refund the money each household has given to this appeal. Depending on what happens on the 4th December, we may need to launch an appeal for further funds. We already have researched the following options and our immediate future intentions are to: Instruct the solicitors to get a cost limitation order from the court, limiting our future liability to £2,000 - £3,000. We are in the process of finding out whether we can insure against this level of liability. Instruct the solicitors to approach the Lord Chancellor for funding from a fund he has earmarked for public interest cases. Approach the Open Spaces Society for funding. We have already done this, and await their decision. If we do not fight this case, we may lose the Green. Please give as generously as you can. All door-to-door collections have now taken place. Donations can still be: Handed in to 74 Chestnut Avenue (Laurie Kubiak) at any time of day or night, made via the Secretary, Jane Davies, who will arrange collection or handed to any of the people on the ‘contact the committee’ page. Committee members can be identified by our “Save our Green” T-shirts. Our names may be found by visiting the ‘contact the committee’ page. If you have any doubts about who is at your door, phone Laurie Kubiak on 07740 817 257, or Jane Davies on 07966 638 825, and one of them will identify the person for you. Email secretary@saveourgreen.com 58 Chestnut Avenue, Buckhurst Hill 020 8504 6120 *The green belongs to the local community and we urge you to show your continuing support.*
Saturday, 18th November 2006.	Laurence Kubiak received official notification that, as an individual, ‘proceedings would be commenced against [L Kubiak] in the Chancery Division of the High Court for a declaration that the land is not a registrable new green’.
Wednesday, 1st November 2006	An RVRC meeting took place to discuss the course of action with regard to the planning application, and other items.
Saturday, 28th October 2006	The planning permission application for 9, 2 bedroom flats went to public consultation. (see Tuesday, 17th October 2006). The objection period has closed. Planning permission was not granted. (See 12th December for further details). Reference: PL/GC/EPF/2038/06, land at junction of Chestnut Avenue and Hornbeam Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex (commonly known as Roding Valley Village Green). Suitable objections from the Local Plan for Epping Forest District Council include: Policy HC4- The council will not grant Planning Permission for any development which would damage or be detrimental to the historic or landscape character of protected lanes, commons or village greens. Policy LL5: The council will not grant planning permission permission for development which will result in either total loss of or excessive adverse effect upon any urban spaces which contribute or have the potential to contribute significantly to the amenity of the locality. Policy RST3: The council will not grant permission for development proposals which entail the loss or unreasonable diversion of public rights of way. Policy RST2: The council may seek to secure public access onto privately owned land for informal leisure purposes. Other points to remember are highway issues, lack of parking, the loss of privacy to surrounding residential properties, the proposed buildings being out of character with surrounding buildings and the TPO’s on the two oak trees on and adjacent to the Green. A REQUEST BY RVRC FOR AN EXTENSION OF THE CONSULTATION PERIOD WAS TURNED DOWN BY THE COUNCIL, DESPITE S McLAREN BEING GRANTED 2 EXTENSIONS OF DEADLINES FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE FENCES. The plans may be viewed here.
Friday, 13th October 2006	A public meeting was held on the Green. The petition (with 1571 signatures) was presented to Eleanor Laing, MP. Eleanor Laing addressed those who attended and Laurence Kubiak, Chairman of the residents association, updated residents on progress being made by the committee. Steve McLaren appeared three times to watch what was happening but remained in his vehicle.
Tuesday, 17th October 2006	Steve McLaren applied for Planning Permission to build 9, 2 bedroom apartments. The plans may be viewed here.
Monday, 9th October 2006	Steve McLaren’s solicitors announced to Laurence Kubiak (Chairman of the RVRC) or their client’s intention to ‘commence proceedings against [L Kubiak] in the Chancery Division of the High Court for a declaration that the land is not a registrable new green’.
October 2006	The tree preservation orders on the remaining oak tree and the two trees on the other side of the bridal path were converted from temporary 6 month TPOs to permanent TPOs.
Saturday, 23rd September 2006	The pile of mounting blocks and fence braces dumped at the bottom of the bridle path (as reported in the above news item) were removed. It is not know who removed them.
Friday , 22nd September 2006	The fences were (finally) removed from the site. Whilst the fences were removed, the mounting blocks and fence braces were dumped in a pile at the bottom of the bridal path. No maintenance of the land (apart from the removal of the fences) took place despite S McLaren agreeing to do some, when the fences were removed.
Saturday, 16th- Sunday, 17th September 2006.	The fences were due to be removed and the green maintained by S Mclaren.
Monday, 11th September 2006	The fences were still present on the land so a planning official from Epping Forest District Council contacted S McLaren who apologised and said that ‘his fencing contractor was away’. McLaren informed the Council official that the fences would be removed ‘this weekend’ (16th-17th September 2006). At the same time, as part of the same enforcement, he told McLaren to maintain the site.
Wednesday, 6th September 2006	A committee meeting with Eleanor Laing, (MP for Epping Forest) took place.
Friday, 18th August 2006	Epping Forest District Council confirmed that S McLaren had been given until 11th September to remove the fences that he had placed on the green. If he did not remove them by then, he would be liable to prosecution.
Friday, 11th August 2006	S McLaren’s planning permission application for ‘erection of temporary boundary hoarding’ was rejected on the following grounds: 1. The proposed boundary hoarding, due to its height and visual dominance, would be an incongruous feature detrimental to the character and appearance of the surrounding area, contrary to Policies DBE1, DBE2, and DBE9 of the replacement Local Plan. 2. The proposed boundary hoarding, due to its height, appearance and means of enclosing an open area, would harm the setting, character and townscape of the surrounding urban environment, contrary to Policy CP3 of the replacement Local Plan. 3. The proposed boundary hoarding would result in the enclosure of an area of previously open space used for informal recreational purposes by the local community, contrary to Policies CF12 and LL5 of the replacement Local Plan. 4. Inadequate information has been supplied for the retention and protection of the Preserved Tree located on the site, contrary to Policy LL10 of the replacement Local Plan. To see the application decision in full, please visit http://www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/Library/files/planning/DecisonNotices3/1224-06.pdf. (exterior site)
Wednesday, 26th July 2006	81 more statements of witness and support were taken to Essex County Council to bring the total of statements being held by the council to 195.
Thursday, 13th July 2006	The website became www.saveourgreen.com.
Thursday, 29th June 2006	S McLaren’s planning permission application went to public consultation.
Wednesday, 28th June 2006	The application for the village green registration and 114 statements of support and evidence were presented to Essex County Council at Chelmsford.
Tuesday, 27th June 2006	A Residents-RVRC meeting took place. The meeting was attended by 101 local residents who voted unanimously in favour of having the green officially registered as a village green. Statements of support and evidence covering a range of 80 years were collected for the application.
Thursday, 22nd June 2006.	A Parish and District councillors-RVRC meeting took place.
Wednesday, 17th June 2006	Steve McLaren applied for Planning Permission for the ‘Retention of temporary 2.4m boundary hoarding’.
Wednesday, 7th June 2006	A RVRC meeting took place.
Thursday, 1st June 2006	A Parish and District councillors-Residents meeting was held and all of the points decided upon in the 30th May residents’ meeting were discussed.
Tuesday, 30th May 2006	A residents meeting was held to: A: discuss the points to be raised at the council meeting (see next date) and B: appoint a chairman, secretary and committee (Roding Valley Residents Committee [RVRC]).
Wednesday, 10th May 2006	Steve McLaren purchased the land for £5,210 from the Charles French Trust
Saturday, 6th May 2006	The removal of the trees by Steve McLaren took place. (click here for more details).

Chairman Laurence Kubiak Secretary: Jane Davies

A website run on behalf of Roding Valley Residents’ Committee by Jonathan Kubiak (committee member).

Other links.

(exterior content)