On Tuesday 3rd December, Incredible Edible Mytholm’s Chair and Secretary will present Calderdale Planning Committee with a petition signed by 302 people, calling on the Committee to reject the Setbray/Belmont Homes planning application for a supermarket and hotel on the Mytholm Works/Brown’s Field site on King Street, Hebden Bridge.

The Chair, Margaret Boyle, will also speak against the planning application.

If the Planning Committee decide on 3rd December to approve the supermarket planning application, IncredibleEdible Mytholm’s plans for a community-owned sustainable food business, eco attraction and eco hotel on the site – as envisioned in the header to this post – will almost certainly be dashed.

The IEM response last August to the supermarket retail impact assessment is here.

There’s some new stuff on the Calderdale planning portal webpage that has been uploaded this month.

The papers for the 3rd Dec meeting are on this webpage and this is the relevant document : Planning Applications List [PDF Document 525KB], where the Planning Officer recommends that the Planning Committee permit the construction of a supermarket and hotel on the Mytholm Works site. Which might possibly make sense if there were a supermarket and hotel that wanted to locate themselves there – but there aren’t, as the retail impact assessment statement makes clear.

This is a purely speculative application, designed to increase the value of the site.

A year ago, when the developers submitted the planning application for a supermarket and hotel on the Mytholm Works/Browns Field site, the Planning Committee deferred its decision, because the developer had not submitted a retail impact assessment to show the effects the supermarket would have on Hebden Bridge shops.

The developer is now finally bringing its retail impact assessment to the Planning Committee. The Councillors’ response to this will determine whether or not they approve the supermarket and hotel planning application.

Incredible Edible Mytholm did its own retail impact assessment last winter, investigating both the impact of the supermarket and of our own proposals for an eco attraction and eco hotel on the site.

MEETING NOTIFICATION FROM CALDERDALE COUNCIL PLANNING SERVICE

Application Number: 12/01003/FUL 

Construction of retail store and five storey hotel. (Further retail impact assessment submission and removal of hydro electric power station) 

Site Of Former Mytholm Works King Street Hebden Bridge Calderdale 

The above application will be considered by the Planning Committee on 3rd December 2013 in the Town Hall, Halifax.

The officer’s report which will be considered by Councillors, is available on our website at www.calderdale.gov.uk/planning/ (Plain Speaker note: this link doesn’t go to officer’s report. Along with the Planning Committee Agenda, the report will be uploaded to the Council & Democracy section of the Calderdale Council  7 days before the Planning Committee meeting. I make that 26th Nov. I’ll try and find the link then, and post it here.

All the planning docs, including stuff added in November 2013, are on this Calderdale planning portal webpage)

If you have any further queries regarding this application please contact us by telephoning 01422 392237.

The meeting begins at 6.00pm.

The Committee is open to the press and public.

If you attend the meeting, the procedure is after the Planning Officer has introduced the item and answered Members’ questions, the opportunity is given (at the Chairman’s discretion) to one spokesperson on behalf of any objectors and the applicant to speak respectively and briefly on the application. At the end of each presentation Members of the Committee may ask questions of those who have spoken.

If your representation was signed by more than one or accompanied by a petition, please ensure that all signatories or petitioners are aware of the Committee date and time.

Updated 1 Dec.