In February Hillingdon Council advertised the sale of about 0.3 acres at Mad Bess Cottage. We do not know what came of it. In September it advertised about 4 acres. Both notices say the Council is proposing to ask the Secretary of State for consent.
Send your objection to the Council and the Secretary of State in one go.
Two notices, one piece of land
The 4 February notice covered about 0.3 acres, with objections by 11 March. The 16 September notice covers “about 4 acres”, with objections due by 5pm on 22 October. Each was made under the Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act 1938 and section 123(2A) of the Local Government Act 1972. In the Green Belt notice the Council “is proposing to apply to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for consent to dispose of” the land.
We asked the Council what the outcome of the February consultation was, how many objections it received, whether it applied to the Secretary of State, and whether consent was granted. We have had no answer. We also asked whether the Council will seek further consent for the larger area, since any consent sought in February would have covered only 0.3 acres.
The Council’s reply to the Ruislip Woods Trust says it has followed the statutory process for disposing of public open space “and release of the land from the Green Belt“. We will also be asking what that means, and which steps have been taken.
“Sold subject to contract”
Coopers Residential lists the cottage as sold subject to contract. We understand that the sale depends on the Secretary of State’s consent. If so, what residents say to the Secretary of State matters to the cottage sale as well as the field.
We’ve written to the Secretary of State
On 11 October we wrote to the Secretary of State’s Planning Casework Unit to ask how objections reach the Secretary of State and whether Hillingdon has applied for consent. We will report back if we hear.
Cllr Denys says objectors “can copy in” the Secretary of State if they wish but there is “no obligation” to, and that he does not know what the Department will do with the information. He has not said whether the Council will pass objections on itself. So we have built that step into our form: it sends each objection to the Council and to the Planning Casework Unit, and emails you a copy.
We do not know whether the Council has applied for consent for either area. We are asking, and we will report what we find.
Read the next Mad Bess Cottage article:
More on Mad Bess Cottage
Object to the sale using our form before 5pm on Thursday 22 October
Twelve questions about the Mad Bess Cottage sale, and no answers before objections close
Ruislip Woods nature reserve’s buffer zone: what we know about the Mad Bess Cottage field
What happens to the byway, the locked gate and the badger hide if Mad Bess Cottage land is sold?
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