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Malvern Hills
| Contacts |
| Frank Hill |
01684 575041 |
frank.ed.met.cpre'btinternet.com |
Malvern Hills Reach Ten Years
True, they are millions of years old, but not so Malvern
Hills District group, which dates back to October 1997. Tentatively set up by
Muriel Jeffs and Rod Goddard, it was the third CPRE group to be formed
following the reorganisation of Worcestershire into Districts, after Bromsgrove
and Redditch.
The group
expanded quickly and around a dozen members met every two months at the
Conservators' office in Great Malvern, with the kind permission of the
Director, Ian Rowat. Judith Chamberlain became chairman for a short while.
Perhaps the arrival of Ray Ellis and Frank Hill signalled the beginning of a
slow decline.
Irene
Southall was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic member until her death in 2003.
Other regular members who made a valuable contribution were Ann Stallard, Alan
Shaw, Robin and Barbara Hardwick and John Elliott, some of
whom came to our recent AGM. Current members of long standing include Muriel
Jeffs, Ann Silk, Robin Lee, Mike Everitt and Iris Ellis (our treasurer).
During theten years, we have objected to 160 planning applications, of which 80% have
been refused or withdrawn. We took part successfully in the Public Inquiries
concerning the rebuilding of Christopher Whitehead School at Earls Court Farm
and affordable houses at Alfrick. Among the failures, the most significant was
the medical centre at Upton on Severn, which has recently opened to the public.
Upton has also been a battle-ground with regard to the major development of
the Marina, and this is at present the subject of an Inquiry.
In recent months we were pleased to see that the refusal of
a new lane at Leigh Sinton was upheld on appeal. A proposal for constructing
holiday dwellings and a visitor centre at Shavers End quarry was withdrawn.The
first two applications for blocks of apartments on Priory Corner in Great
Malvern were also opposed and this led to a much more acceptable design being
proposed by the developer.The outcome of a possible housing development on the
site of the old railway yard in Malvern Wells is not known at time of writing.
Our AGM was
held in early October at Christ Church Hall, Malvern and was attended by 30
members. Its success can be partly attributed to the efforts of Edna Hill in
providing most of the buffet, and to David Whitehead of the Hereford and
Worcester Gardens Trust for a most interesting and well-illustrated talk.
Frank
Hill/Ray Ellis
Muriel Jeffs cutting the birthday
cake - Photo by Frank Hill
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