Jesus bypass local residents in land row
Jesus College is attempting to push through permission for residential developments on its rural property in Lincolnshire, to the dismay of local residents. The land owned by Jesus, in North Kesteven near Lincoln, forms a section of an as yet undeveloped rural ring around the county’s capital. Development has been threatening to spread into the area for some time, and many of the residents fear the urban sprawl of unrestrained building might soon engulf the countryside.
Amajor bypass is also currently being considered by the local council, but if it goes through the college will be unable to develop the area. The proposals have also come at the same time as the University of Lincoln plans to build 800 new homes. Arecent movement against the developments suggested the encircling land should be declared a green belt to halt further advances.
However, this has proved unpopular with some of the local authorities, as the rigid nature of green belt legislation means that any such move would make future developments in the locality extremely difficult. At the moment, excessive building around Lincoln is restrained by a series of ‘green wedges’ around the city. These act in a similar way to the stricter green belt, but leave much more scope for new construction projects, as they offer much less governmental planning protection.
The moves come after the local council’s planning department was awarded a Charter Mark by the government for their ‘continued excellent service’.
9th Jun 2005