Plank Lane, Water Orton Status

Joe Piper made this Freedom of Information request to North Warwickshire Borough Council

The request was partially successful.

From: Joe Piper

21 June 2010

Dear North Warwickshire Borough Council,

I wish to determine the status of the agricultural land to the
South & South-West of Plank Lane, Water Orton. I would like to know
in particular whether Planning Permission has been sought - in
outline or full - for development for residential housing.

Jardin Smith in Singapore have been offering Water Orton land in
small plots to investors. Jardine Smith claim this land has
potential to gain planning permission in the near future under a
scheme known as Land Banking.

While Jardin Smith have not committed to converting this land for
building they have indicated that conversion is likely in the short
to medium term based on their expertise in gaining planning
approvals.

Can North Warwickshire release any related correspondence and
responses exchanged relating to this site to enable me to make an
informed judgement on the risk of otherwise of development
occurring in the short to medium term. Specifically I would like to
know if Jardin Smith has recieved any communication from North
Warwickshire BC indicating the possibility of gaining planning
permission.

Could you also advise of any instance in the last 10 years where
North Warwickshire Borough Council has approved the conversion of
Green Belt Land for the development of housing or other commercial
use.

This land plot has been identified as WK 441083.

Yours faithfully,

J Piper (Mr)

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Pierre B left an annotation (24 June 2010)

Singapore based Jardin Smith has another site in the UK called Shrimps Field near Kingswood. This site was recently declared to have open space deficiency and will not be develeloped.
http://www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/Image...

I suspect Water Orton will go the same way - Jardin Smith looks like a normal land banking company.

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From: Brown, Jeff
North Warwickshire Borough Council

21 June 2010

Your e-mail of 21 June concerning land at Plank Lane, Water Orton, has
been passed to me for a response.

No planning permission has been sought for, or granted to Jardin Smith,
for residential development in Water Orton.

Indeed it would be very rare for any planning permissions to be granted
for residential development in Water Orton on Green Belt land. This is
because residential development by definition is "inappropriate"
development in such a location. It therefore carries a presumption that
planning permission will be refused. This is Government Planning policy as
well as that of this Council.

Planning permissions can be granted on Green Belt land, but the applicant
has to convince the Council that there are "very special circumstances" in
order to override the presumption as set out above. "Land Banking" would
in my view not constitute such a circumstance.

If you have any further queries please contact me.

Jeff Brown BA, Dip TP, MRTPI

Head of Development Control

Direct Email: [1][email address]

Office Email: [email address]

Fax: 01827 719363

Swine flu. Remember - use a tissue, bin it and wash your hands.

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From: Joe Piper

7 July 2010

Dear Jeff Brown,

Thank you for your response on my enquiry. Since Jardin Smith is
clearly representing this as potential development land with
prospects I would like to klnow if there has been any
correspondence with them or others on this Water Orton site.

Examples of the kind of thing I mean are here in this response from
Hounslow

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/po...

You can see a lengthy discussion on Jardin Smith here.

http://www.lioninvestor.com/jardin-smith...

It would be useful if the council would make a public statement
regarding the status of Water Orton development.

Yours sincerely,

Joe Piper

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From: Brown, Jeff
North Warwickshire Borough Council

7 July 2010

I take the point but we have literally only had a couple of e-mails
about this issue, and thus we can deal with them on an individual basis.
The responses so far have been as succinct as the one you received!!

No- we have had no contact with Jardin Smith or its representatives.

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Joe Piper left an annotation (14 August 2010)

Yet another Jardin Smith Land Banking site in Gerrards Cross discussed here.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/st...

There does seem to be a pattern of consistently over stating the benefits of investing in Green Belt land emerging. The tell the UK land registry that these people in Asia are just buying a piece of English Green Belt for fun. They tell the investors in Asia that they are buying pre-planned land with opportunity to re-zone for development in around 3 years.

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Not. Law left an annotation ( 6 October 2010)

Well, enough said! Invest Land in the Canada or the USA instead. I chose Walton!
It just makes perfect sense, land being cheap and there is so much of land to grab in Canada compared to the UK.
Just look at the statistics below and you'll understand why.
With Jardin Smith, you'll be buying land in a country way too congested. The density per sq km is 652 in UK.
In Canada, the density per sq km is only 3!
I leave it to you to make the right choice. The best investors always go back to basics, which is demand and supply!
Once you do that, you will always be able to make a better decision!

UNITED KINGDOM
Land area: 93,278 sq mi (241,590 sq km); total area: 94,526 sq mi (244,820 sq km)
Population (2010 est.): 61,284,806 (growth rate: 0.2%); birth rate: 10.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.7/1000; life expectancy: 79.1; density per sq km: 652
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): London, 7,615,000 (metro. area), 7,429,200 (city proper)

Read more: United Kingdom: History, Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108078.h...

CANADA
Land area: 3,511,003 sq mi (9,093,507 sq km); total area: 3,855,102 sq mi (9,984,670 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 33,759,742 (growth rate: 0.8%); birth rate: 10.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.9/1000; life expectancy: 81.3; density per sq km: 3
Capital (2004 est.): Ottawa, Ontario, 1,142,700 (metro. area)

Read more: Canada: History, Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107386.h...

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Joe Piper left an annotation (12 October 2010)

Wow Not. Law ! How to extend a UK Land Banking scam article into a useless land program in Canada.

The issue with UK Land Banking plots sold in Asia is while they may appear to be in prime locations they are always protected or greenbelt land that cannot be developed . None of the schemes can be converted and once everyone realises that the land banking company shuts down the plot and starts selling elsewhere with the land plot investors losing all of their money.

The issue with Canadian land is there is so much land and so few people. Any attempt to charge a premium to a developer for a plot of land means that the developer just goes somewhere else. The land plot investor pays a huge premium for the land so you cant make any money.

The idea that valuable foreign land has to be offered at shopping malls and rented 4 star hotel function rooms in Asia should be considered laughable.

If the land was valuable it would already have been sold in its country of origin to local developers and those connected with tha planning and building organisatons.

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