High and Low Bentham - A Local Matter POSSIBLE HUGE DEVELOPMENTS IN CRAVEN Your comments must be submitted by 5pm on 23rd November 2007
	Last updated 12/11/07

	If, like me, you live in the Craven district of the Yorkshire Dales you may not know about this. You should. Now is the time to learn, as there is not much time to make your views known - for or against. COMMENTS CLOSING DATE 23RD NOVEMBER 2007
What is being planned What is being planned - latest Where you can find out more	Maps - Sites put forward for Allocations DPD High Bentham Map My comments (.75 MB pdf) About the Author

WHAT IS BEING PLANNED

Building 3300 new dwellings, and allocating 37.5 hectares (92.5 acres) as "employment land" in Craven by 2021. Possible locations include (in order of "settlement hierarchy" - which I assume means from most to least development):

Skipton, Settle (with Giggleswick), Glusburn (with Crosshills & Sutton with Craven), High Bentham, Gargrave, Ingleton, Burton-in-Lonsdale, Carleton, Clapham, Cononley, Cowling, Embsay, Hellifield, Kildwick (with Farnhill), Low Bentham, Bradley.

There may also be restricted development in numerous small villages and possibly also in open countryside.

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WHAT IS BEING PLANNED -  LATEST 4/11/07

I understand that the proposed figures for High Bentham and for Settle (with Giggleswick) are as follows:
 
 

Pretty big, eh?

198 new dwellings for Bentham implies (on the basis of 2.5 people/dwelling) a population increase of about 20%. The figures are even more sensational for Settle, where the population could increase by somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2.

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE

I would like to say that you could find full details on the Craven District Council Web Site at www.cravendc.gov.uk but on 30th October 2007 pm the site was not responding, but was working the next day. Also, on an earlier visit to their site, I could not find local details.

So, if the Craven District Council web site does not come back to life, here are your possibilities for finding out more:
 
 

Craven District Council The Council Offices Granville Street Skipton North Yorkshire BD23 1PS	The information on this page is taken from a Craven District Council Leaflet: "CORE STRATEGY PREFERRED OPTION CONSULTATION" which the Craven District Council should be able to send to you, and which should be obtainable at the Council Offices (address on left), Skipton & Settle Town Halls, and Public Libraries in Craven.
Tel: 01756 706472 E-mail ldf@cravendc.gov.uk	There is also a web site address: http://www.cravendc.gov.uk/Craven/Residents/PlanningServices/PlanningPolicy/LDF It too wasn't working on 30/10/07 but was on 31/10/07. As far as I can see there is little in the way of local detail yet.

The booklet (pdf version) is concise and relatively readable. For more details you need to see the full length Core Strategy Preferred Option document, which you should be able to view at the above locations, and the Craven District Council Web Site from the links on the right-hand side of the page.You will need to refer to this document if you wish to comment in detail.

You can also read a few extracts from the leaflet at the Bentham Web Site at http://www.bentham.net/Community/LocalDevelopmentFramework.asp. However (maybe it's contagious) their "contact us" link wasn't working on 30th October 2007 pm.

You can comment with the official "Response Form" which you can get from the above locations and the Craven District Council Web Site for a pdf consultation form. We have since learned that you do not need to be this formal, and you can basically write letters to:

You can also comment online through the address given above (if working).

You can read my comments (.75 MB pdf) which are fairly comprehensive but would need local input for areas outside of Bentham
 

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MAPS - SITES PUT FORWARD FOR ALLOCATIONS DPD

Exciting and disturbing local details are to be found on "Sites put forward for Allocations DPD" maps. These show all the areas which have been identified as possible building land. You will probably need to ask Craven District Council directly (contact details above) for a copy. I have the High Bentham map which was obtained this way, and which I describe in the next section. Unfortunately I can't show it here because of Crown Copyright, but, if all the identified land were to be built upon, it would roughly double the size of High Bentham! Presumably there are similar maps for the other named Craven locations. I strongly suggest that you find out quickly!

These maps are not really part of what is being consulted on at this stage, but the fact that they exist shows that they have been compiled and will be discussed. Seeing them may well inform your comments. Probably most of what they display will not be developed, for now at least, but they bring into play new land, usually agricultural, which has not previously been considered for development. People in the vicinities of these sites will usually want to know what is going on.

If you're from Bentham please read on. If you're from Craven please find out what is being talked about for where you live. It needs to be out in the open!

HIGH BENTHAM MAP

Unfortunately I can't show it here for copyright reasons, but you can ask Craven District Council for a copy.

Over 20 areas are identified. These are my first impressions of them, as best as I can describe them without treading out the ground!

They include (amazingly) the Golf Club, The Auction Mart, and High Bentham Primary School!!

Working from west to east across the map:

A large area behind the last Low Bentham buildings to the south of Low Bentham Road and the railway line, going beyond Armstrongs Builders Merchants.

The field reaching up to what was once the Bentham Hatchery (south of the road).

A considerable stretch of land reaching along the north side of the road as far as the houses on Goodenber Road, possibly (it's not clear to me on the map) including the play area.

Fields to the west of the lane leading down from the Horse & Farrier to the playing fields - both north and south of the railway line.

An area between the caravan site and the last terrace of houses by the playing fields.

An area to the east of the industrial estate and adjoining the playing fields south of the railway station

A huge area reaching all the way down from the Auction Mart to the railway line, stretching from Station Road as far as Pye Busk.

The Primary School and its playing fields.

Fields to the north of Lakeber Road.

Fields to the east of Butts Lane and Robin Lane, including the Golf Club.

Butts Lane car park.

Fields to the north of Springfield and adjacent housing.

Fields to the north and south of the Clapham road, from Bentham to considerably beyond Tatterthorn Lane.

Remember.....

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I'm Dave Mulligan. I live in Bentham. Like almost everyone I have spoken to so far I didn't realise that this was going on.  My Web Site gets a lot of visits, as does the Bentham page. So perhaps I can spread the word a bit. I hope so. Whether you are for it or against it, this is too important and too far-reaching to ignore, so please get involved! If you'd like me to post any comments here please send them to me at info@nvmdigital.com with a suitable title to avoid deletion as junk. I reserve the right not to publish offensive, obscene, or similarly objectionable contributions. Thanks Dave Mulligan 30/10/07

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