On Sunday 5th December, members of Mount Florida Bowling Club voted to conclude the sale of the site to Noah Developments.
Following this, NOAH announced plans to develop the site with residential properties while also retaining the Clubhouse. Any remaining green space would be ‘landscaped’.
The proposed reduction from 40 to 30 flats will still require parking and roadways within the site. If the Club house is to be retained, the remaining space will be minimal and not sufficient for sports or other activities.
THE GREEN SPACE WILL EFFECTIVELY BE ELIMINATED.
The implication is that the community can have either a green space for sport and outdoor activities, or a community hub. It is not possible to have both if the site is developed residentially.
The Trust believes the community deserves the option of BOTH green space and a hub.
The full text of an email received by the Trust on behalf of NOAH is available here.
The suggestion of financial contribution towards upgrading the club house is a distraction. In reality the Developer is taking a green space from the community, and taking the financial contribution from the sale price to the previous owners. It is entirely dependent on the planning permission being granted for the residential development. It is not clear what ‘community body’ will run their proposed hub, and the land will continue to be owned by the Developer and at long-term risk of future development.
The Trust has been quite clear in its objective for this space from the very beginning of this campaign.
We want to preserve the whole green space for the community with the retention of the clubhouse.
The clubhouse provides much less value without the keeping of the green space, which will be almost non-existent with the development of flats.
The Trust submitted a planning application for this space which was approved. It is still our intention to push to save the whole green space as per the comment made by the Reporter in the refusal of Noah’s original application. Item 70 in the Reporter’s findings states:
“I find that the site as a whole constitutes a community facility for the purpose of the local development plan.”
In conclusion:
The Trust will continue to fight to save the WHOLE GREEN SPACE for the community, as set out at our formation. We are confident of community support in this campaign and look forward to working together to achieve our long term goal to save this green space for future generations.