And you thought it couldn't get any worse.

[nytecam]

Sorry to hear that - nowhere is safe - actually here in heavily LP surburbia there's no land to develope so things remain quite and constant so some crums of comfort Luckily for me my simple AP 'snaps' on DSOs vastly outperform eyeballing through an EP so I get by

[nightvision]

Sorry to hear that - nowhere is safe - actually here in heavily LP surburbia there's no land to develope so things remain quite and constant so some crums of comfort Luckily for me my simple AP 'snaps' on DSOs vastly outperform eyeballing through an EP so I get by

Events like this are very sad, your closing statement underpins why I am getting into imaging, the local LP has steered me towards imaging, I may never produce aesthetically pleasing pictures but that won't lessen the experience.

[x6gas]

Really sorry to read about this.

Do fight it though. It will need someone to organize a campaign to oppose it, but it can work.

You might start by finding out if your parish council is supportive of the plan. If it isn't then that's the place to start and they can articulate their concerns to the county council.

All planning authorities have to have a Local Plan (http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/planning/planningsystem/localplans) and it is worth checking if these proposals fit with the current Local Plan for your area; you may find they do not.

Also, I think you will get limited traction trying to fight this on the grounds of light pollution (or noise for that matter). You are more likely to get somewhere if you challenge change of use or on traffic. The latter is potentially quite potent as authorities like nothing more than to instruct traffic impact assessments before making a decision. Inconviencing a niche hobbyist versus potential health and traffic danger to children... well you get the picture...

It may seem like David and Goliath, but even huge retail chains pick the low hanging fruit and will give preference to developing sites with less opposition just because of the hassle factor....

[Pauly]

This is, to me and no doubt most other sane individuals, a nightmare scenario. I wouldn't rely on the astronomy card as a valid objection, it probably wouldn't carry any weight in any negotiations. I would, as a group with any potentialy affected parties, enlist a good lawyer. Don't rely on any cooperation from the council. They will be getting big fat back handers of some sort to ensure this happens. Usually the developer will build a big car park or some such thing that will provide a stream of revenue. Definitely get any willing environmental groups roped in, and I for one would be pinging letters off to national press, t.v. and newspapers. This will not go away, these people are famous for riding roughshod over the likes of you and me and anyone else who gets in their way. You will need to fight hard, clever and dirty. I know it sounds gloomy, but don't be disheartened. You can win, as evidenced by the recent similar episode near Winchester that was eventually kicked into touch after a lot of objection from the locals.

Good luck with it and don't let the effers grind you down

[Catanonia]

Well I have been rather quiet for a week or so, so much going on.

I wasn't going to sit down and stay quiet, not with my skills on computing. Even though my web skills are rusty, my ambition is not.

Now I might get a hand slap here, so sorry admins, please slap away if I am breaking the rules, but I wanted to show what is possible with a bit of effort to fight light pollution amongst other things.

Search google for "Stop Old Mill Quarter" and I am sure you will see what I am on about. Please do not contribute to the search unless you are local.

[x6gas]

Good for you - and I hope this gathers some momentum.

Can I just check that you don't want people from outside your area to sign the petition?

[Martin-Devon]

I'm sure everybody shares your frustration, which is duly justified. It's a nightmare when this sort of thing happens. The same scenario also scares me a lot as well since we similarly moved to a very quiet area of Devon & enjoy low light pollution & low volume of any throughput traffic. However - the farm about 100 metres from us is a dairy farm & is struggling to survive. They've already put the whole farm up for sale before & proposals flooded in to convert the land to business units & even housing to build up the area. Thankfully that was rejected, but it's only a matter of time before it resurfaces again. What really hacks me off, and I'm sure that you feel the same, is that when you make a critical decision about where to live which is inflenced a lot by the surroundings you want, then along comes something later largely out of your control which makes a complete mess of all the plans......

Best of luck with the appeal, you do have a voice & a strong case. In these situations it always helps to invite round a few local county councillors, talk through your side of the situation and see if they would be prepared to back you. They would have more infuence and can push things behind the scenes.

[r3i]

Nice site but can I make one suggestion - the leaflet link on your site brings up a docx document (i.e. the latest MS Word document version) - not everyone may be able to read this. It might be better to have a pdf version of the leaflet available from the site then there's a much better chance that folks will be able to read it.

Very best of luck with your campaign. We've just moved into a house with lovely open fields out of the back - this thread has sent shivers down my spine

[JamesF]

I'm not involved with this (it's a hundred miles away or thereabouts), but a friend of a friend etc.... Perhaps someone in their campaign might be able to offer useful advice?

http://www.savebartonfarm.org/

James

[Catanonia]

Thanks all and thanks to the mods for letting this pass.

Please to all, only contribute to the site if you live in the area, outside views (more than 20 miles) will not carry much weight I am afraid.

I am already in contact with the cllr and the MP and both are on our side and we will meet with them soon.

We have a meeting this Wed night with all parties concerned to form a united attack plan.

[Catanonia]

I'm not involved with this (it's a hundred miles away or thereabouts), but a friend of a friend etc.... Perhaps someone in their campaign might be able to offer useful advice?

http://www.savebartonfarm.org/

James

Very nice and established site, may use some of their ideas.

[JamesF]

Actually, another point...

I've experienced a planning dispute (from the outside) where a small group of people objected to a proposed planning development that really honestly wasn't that contentious. The planned building had been designed to fit into the environment in the most unobtrusive way possible and the land-owner really tried to do everything possible to "hide" it. My house is probably one of the three that are closest to the development my some margin and I honestly wouldn't even know it was there now.

Nonetheless, the consultation over the proposal became the most bitter and acrimonious affair you can imagine. Neighbours who once got on well became spiteful towards each other and repeated all sorts of malicious gossip that did nothing but cause stress and unhappiness.

If it ever gets that far, it's time to stop, walk away and forget it. That is not the way life should be and no-one will ever end up a happier person for it.

James

[laser_jock99]

What really hacks me off, and I'm sure that you feel the same, is that when you make a critical decision about where to live which is inflenced a lot by the surroundings you want, then along comes something later largely out of your control which makes a complete mess of all the plans......

Spare a thought for those of us who have (had) peacefull village lifestyles threatened by the building of HS2. Will pass less than a mile from where I'm sat.

[cs1cjc]

I am so sorry to hear about your problem. Just some random thoughts. Was this land on the structure plan as agricultural or marked for development?

Record light levels now and look get agreements on levels afterwards. There are a number of iniatives on lighting that might make a big difference, see for example:

http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/noise/artificial-light-pollution/

http://www.lightpollution.org.uk/index.php?pageId=3

http://www.darksky.org/

Look to get them to agree to take the site dark after a certain time of day. They will have a budget for "planning gain" - how about an observatory!

The alternative may be to move but I know that is not easy, particularly now the the development is proposed...

[rory]

gutted for you. fight what you can at every turn even if it ends up being futile. if as you suspect, planning goes ahead for the build, id still push on high walls/ fences ect and push for minimal lighting and full cut off lights that shine light where its suppossed to. why do we keep building these things ? i bet theres already supermarkets in your local area ? crazy. good luck .

[keithmrris]

On the plus side of things though is, after it is built you may be able to get the supermarket buy you out for a lot more than the house is worth as compensation for changing your quality of life. Also I was told by a district counsellor who has a seat on the planning committee that it is virtually impossible to get agricultural land re-zoned for re-development but I believe these retail/business park or inter-prize zones get away with because it is just changing use from one form of commercial use for another form.

[Catanonia]

On the plus side of things though is, after it is built you may be able to get the supermarket buy you out for a lot more than the house is worth as compensation for changing your quality of life. Also I was told by a district counsellor who has a seat on the planning committee that it is virtually impossible to get agricultural land re-zoned for re-development but I believe these retail/business park or inter-prize zones get away with because it is just changing use from one form of commercial use for another form.

Sorry all wrong and I cannot explain without breaking the politics rules of the forum. Trust me, the main reason I have been off this forum for a while is all the research and forming of a residents group I have done.

So far in 2 weeks, I have formed the group, built the website, built a town forum, like this one, done press release, fired in countless freedom of information acts etc etc, been on the radio and managed to sleep a little.

Kicked up a right storm in the council

[Catanonia]

gutted for you. fight what you can at every turn even if it ends up being futile. if as you suspect, planning goes ahead for the build, id still push on high walls/ fences ect and push for minimal lighting and full cut off lights that shine light where its suppossed to. why do we keep building these things ? i bet theres already supermarkets in your local area ? crazy. good luck .

Plans are for a garden centre and supermarket on farmer green belt land facing across a single carriageway to opposing supermarket and garden center all in a small market twon of 20,000 people.

Check these links for more info, BUT PLEASE DO NOT POST IF YOU ARE NOT A RESIDENT

www.stopoldmillquarter.co.uk website

http://stopoldmillqu...k/smf/index.php forum

http://www.stopoldmillquarter.co.uk/media/Radio30-7-12.mp3 recent radio interviews.

Please keep politics out of this thread otherwise it will be closed.

[Tim]

Even if the light pollution was the same from my garden, the glow of a retail park next to the garden will kill the night sky for astro photography or visual. Basically if it goes ahead, I will have to sell up the house or astro photography, and it will be astro.

Not good Steve, but I live right next door to an airport and parcel force main hub, It's not the end of everything. They are also trying to build a business centre on the land adjoining our houses and all around here too