A couple of weeks ago I made enquiries with the planning department at county hall on behalf of residents who had raised concerns about groundworks that had begun on land around the Esso service station in Blackhall. Background details can be found in this link: Clearance works on land behind the Esso service station in Blackhall
In general, local residents had welcomed the clearance of the land opposite Coronation Avenue, which was in a very poor condition and had been left exposed after a perimeter wall collapsed there last summer. Background details can be found in this link: Wall collapse at Coronation Avenue
When I contacted the planning department I asked for an investigation to be carried out to determine the purpose of the works and also to confirm the planning status of the land to the rear of the service station. I asked for clarity on this issue because rumours had started circulating that the land was to be used for a housing development, which as far as I was aware had received no planning consent.
I've now received a post-enforcement update confirming that the land has no planning consent for housing development. I've reproduced a summary of the enforcement officer's response below:
Good morning Rob
I refer to your recent enquiry regarding the above site. I can confirm that I carried out a site visit on 27th February 2025 and noted that clearance works had indeed taken place, with the removal of vegetation and possibly some levelling of the land, however this does not constitute development and therefore it was concluded that no breaches of planning regulation had taken place.
I can also confirm that no planning consent has been granted for any development on the site, no planning applications are waiting to be determined and no pre-application enquiries have been received for the site.
Kind regards
