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The situation at Hartford is heartbreaking for the residents. The views of the ancient meadow are destroyed by the huge amounts of building waste allowed to be brought in and dumped by the developer. The roads are not surfaced, the television system consisted of scaffold poles, etc
Enforcement notice in relation to the temporary TV aerial and satellite structures
Another enforcement notice has been posted 15th October 2008, this time a 7 day period covering the temporary TV satellite structures, see here for details. The period has now expired.
The
issue regarding the removal of the temporary TV aerials, satellite
dishes and related structures serving Hartford Hall Phase 2
residents has taken an interesting turn of events.
HHE have decided that the best place to house the communal TV aerial is in the loft of one of the properties. Barry and Margaret Richardson, who own a self-contained first floor apartment in a block of 6 on Phase 2, have been under increasing pressure from HHE, their legal representation (Hay & Kilner), Hartfound (Estate Management) and Riverside Systems (Technical Consultancy) to provide access to the roof space to allow them to install cable(s) and communal TV aerial(s). Additionally, they want to install the communal satellite dish behind a roof parapet at the front of the property. Planning approval for this has not been sought.
HHE did not provide the property owners with any real details of their intentions but were led to believe that they only wanted to “lay a cable”, as part of an initiative to improve satellite reception.
Barry Richardson has told us: “Based on the information that we had been given, we assumed that all properties must require some additional cabling to enable the temporary structures to be replaced, so we agreed to provide access for this purpose. At no point did anyone mention anything about the intention to install equipment in the loft or mount a dish on the roof, and we had no reason to ask the question as we had always been led to believe that the permanent place for this equipment would be behind a garage block.
“When the service engineers arrived on site and it became obvious that the intention was to erect a communal satellite dish on our roof, we advised Riverside Systems that, due to the uncertainty surrounding potential planning requirements in relation to the intended location of the dish, we were not comfortable with the proposal. Riverside Systems decided to ask the workmen to leave the site. 2 days later we received a letter from HHE’s solicitor advising us that we have no power to prevent any of the work going ahead, as the property is leasehold and the landlord retains ownership of the loft space. We were threatened with court action if we did not allow the work to go ahead. It was only at this point that the full intentions were revealed, and we were absolutely horrified. It is clear that we were deliberately misled all along and the intention always was to get access to the loft, install the equipment and deal with any issues afterwards.
“The idea of having communal TV reception equipment housed in someone’s loft is absurd and could obviously impact a large number of residents should problems occur, and access had to be arranged to investigate. Considering the original plans to house the equipment behind the garage block, it is clear that this latest proposal would be the cheapest for the landlord to implement.
“The approach taken in this matter is clearly not that of a considerate or responsible landlord, but is yet another example of the devious tactics and insensitive actions that HHE are willing to employ in order to get their own way and keep costs to a minimum.”
Mr and Mrs Richardson have now sought legal advice regarding this matter and their solicitor has written to HHE’s solicitor advising him that the terms of the lease do not permit access for the purpose of installing new services. To date, no reply has been received
A 28 day notification was posted by Wansbeck Council 16th Aug 2008, see here for details. This date has now passed and works to clear the site finally commenced during the last few days of the notice period. The builders yard has been cleared, and removal of spoil/waste commenced, all of which was within the final few days of the notice period...photo's below
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| 31st Oct 2008 | ||
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Short video clip of the waste area, click here
Hartford Hall Phase 3 : Refused by Wansbeck District Council
Additional "Phase 3" development plans were refused by Wansbeck District Council, some of the main issues of concern are summarised below:-
"Inadequate financial assessment submitted with application; further explanation of submitted information and inaccuracies/inconsistencies is required"
"Site is within green belt and there is no justification of special circumstances"
"Proposal contrary to PPS3 as it is green-field development in non-sustainable location"
"Developer lost money on existing scheme due to his incompetence and
bad management and further development only required for his
financial benefit
Full details of rejection letter : January 2008
Historic Hartford Hall suffering environmental disaster...
Angry residents who bought homes at Hartford Hall in Northumberland are challenging the developer to complete the promise to restore the gardens and parkland as a haven for residents and wildlife
The residents claim that Mr TNH Sanderson is happy to receive awards for similar work at Eshott Hall but has completely forgotten about 200 year old Hartford Hall
As a result:
- Residents are having to suffer the tons of waste material that has been dumped on the ancient meadow land, destroying badger sets and which has caused the recent painful and prolonged death of a fawn trapped in the waste
- The so called spectacular terrace gardens have been derelict since the project started and the residents of the Hall were so tired of unfulfilled promises that they have restored the terrace themselves, a task they had certainly not expected to have to undertake
- The unsuitable estate lighting has decimated the once active bat colonies and now few bats remain
There are 71 homes on the estate, made up of 8 apartments in the Hall which was built in 1807, seven in The Stables and 5 in other converted buildings together with 51 new properties
Christine Purdon, secretary of the Hartford Hall Residents Association says: “The original sales literature extolled the virtues of living on the estate where the woodland and river pathways, flora and fauna would be carefully and compassionately managed making Hartford a wonderful place to live
“None of the promoted environmentally friendly and sustainable projects have come to fruition. In fact, there has been wanton destruction of the natural habitat and the management company has even been fined by the environment agency for polluting the River Blyth with sewage”
Mrs Purdon says the recent inclusion of Ho Sanderson and Eshott Hall Estate in the Big Tick Awards, as well as the finals of the prestigious Business in the Community Awards for Excellence, has added insult to injury
She says: “The development company owned and managed by Ho Sanderson has told Wansbeck Council that he has no funds to complete Hartford Hall Estate. We have been informed that unless building a further thirty houses is given planning permission the roads, pathways, meadows, woodland walk and conservation projects will never be completed
“We believe Wansbeck Council should place enforcement orders on the company to force the directors to fulfil the obligations of the original planning application.”
The “Conservation Management Plan” issued by Ho Sanderson in October 2004 for Hartford Hall Estate stated, “The plan ensures that in future not only will the gardens and parkland be restored and enhanced to form a superb setting for the restored buildings and new houses but most important will ensure that measures will be put in place to maintain the landscape to the highest standard, enabling the grounds to continue as a haven for wildlife. The entire grounds are under consideration - the restoration of the spectacular terrace gardens in front of the Hall, the riverside walks and the management of woodlands and meadows to improve the biodiversity in order to maintain and enhance the habitats for red squirrels and badgers”
Does this sound all too familiar?
