Residents taking their daily exercise in the direction of Common Piece Lane may have seen the planning notice on the gate there (off Sycamore Drive) relating to the making of a temporary Tree Preservation Order by South Derbyshire District Council; the notice also gives details on the consultation with the public on whether the order should be made permanent.

The Order is for trees on land off Common Piece Lane, Findern. This is the land that the Parish Council unsuccessfully tried to buy at auction in February.

With the land recently sold to another party it is now, in part, subject to development proposals which are likely to compromise the integrity of this green space on the outskirts of our village.

South Derbyshire District Council therefore considers that the making of the Order is necessary to protect the area of trees, that along with others subject to a County Tree Preservation Order to the south and east of the site, form an attractive wooded backdrop in the wider landscape and which offer a valuable public amenity and biodiversity value.

The order came into force, on a temporary basis, on 1 May 2020 and will remain in force for six months. During this time, South Derbyshire District Council will decide whether the Order should be given permanent status and to inform this decision they are seeking input from the local residents and visitors to the area.

At their meeting on 14 May 2020, Findern Parish Council voted unanimously to support the making of a permanent order and the Clerk has already written to South Derbyshire District Council to request this; but the more people who support the request the more likely the order will become permanent.

Having your say

People affected by the Order have a right to object or make comments on any of the trees or woodland(s) covered before the District Council decide whether the Order should be made permanent.

If you would like to make any objections or comments, please send them by email to: planning@southderbyshire.gov.uk or to the Head of Planning and Strategic Housing, South Derbyshire District Council, Civic Offices, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 0AH no later than 4 June 2020 and quoting reference TPO531.

Alternatively, letters in support of the order becoming permanent can be dropped through the letterbox of 1, Sycamore Avenue (bungalow opposite the gates to the land). The resident there is collating responses in the immediate area and will physically take all responses received to the District Council Offices at Swadlincote on Monday 1 June; therefore if you wish to use this method of delivery please ensure you have dropped them off at 1, Sycamore Avenue no later than the last day of May.

Your comments must meet Regulation 6 of the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012. (See below)

For a copy of the full Planning Notice click here and for a copy of the plan click here.

Regulation 6 of the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012. (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/605/regulation/6/made )

This states that: –

Objections and representations

6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), objections and representations—

(a)shall be made in writing and—

(i)delivered to the authority not later than the date specified by them under regulation 5(2)(c); or

(ii)sent to the authority in a properly addressed and pre-paid letter posted at such time that, in the ordinary course of post, it would be delivered to them not later than that date;

(b)shall specify the particular trees, groups of trees or woodlands (as the case may be) in respect of which such objections and representations are made; and

(c)in the case of an objection, shall state the reasons for the objection.

(2) The authority may treat as duly made objections and representations which do not comply with the requirements of paragraph (1) if, in the particular case, they are satisfied that compliance with those requirements could not reasonably have been expected.