Whitton Mass Meeting Over 'Out of Scale ' Housing Project

5.16.25pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 19th May 2003

Approximately 200 people gathered in Chase Bridge School on Sunday afternoon to protest against council plans for a housing association project on a small piece of land adjacent to the A316, currently a childrens play area.

MP Vincent Cable chaired the meeting. Councillor Gina MacKinney spoke at the meeting and pledged to oppose the development saying that it involved an abandonment of longstanding council commitments to keep any housing development on the site of a scale which matched the

surrounding area.

Residents are concerned that as a result of building a 23 house

development on a small patch of land, the density will be too high with three storey flats looming over the surrounding roads of semi-detached houses. It also removes the only public playing space for children in that part of Whitton.

Vincent Cable said: "No one doubts that there is demand for 'affordable housing' but packing in inappropriately scaled development gives 'affordable housing' a bad name. I think most residents would welcome a development half the size, for key workers, leaving space for a properly equipped play area for children. But this proposal is very badly conceived and will lead to a good deal of opposition in the surrounding area. The council should listen to the very measured and reasonable "

"objections of the residents".

Contacts: Vincent Cable, Councillor Gina MacKinney, Sue Alderton, 76 Godfrey Avenue, 8898 2888