One month after it was originally planned the Secret Weapon 7 planning application will finally be going in front of the Staffordshire Moorlands Council Planning Committee. Next Thursday (15/03/12) the commitee will meet and discuss the planning application.
The meeting agenda recommends that the planning application should be approved, but the planning commitee will have the power to overule the recommendation.
Back in 2009 Alton Towers were in a similar situation as they waiting for the decision on SW6, now known as Thirteen, but the process went smoothly even with the discovery of historic ruins causing a few bumps along the way.
The multi-million pound investment, featuring a currently unknown world-first will be the biggest addition to the Alton Towers Resort since Thirteen in 2010.
There has been one letter of support for the application but two others against the new attraction citing noise issues, oncerns about the height of the rollercoaster, increased traffic, anti-social behaviour and that the proposal doesn’t benefit local residents.
Both Alton Parish Council and Farley Parish Council object to the planning application due to visual intrusion and also that Alton Towers have yet to sign a legal agreeement about roads which was part of the Thirteen planing application. Although the planning officer disagrees with this.
All other groups have agreed to the planning application. Although, interestingly, English Heritage are asking for the adjacent fast food outlet to be demolished and the area surrounding the development to be relandscaped to fit with the historic landscape.
TowersTimes will bring you the outcome of the planning meeting as soon as we have the details.
