Pinner residents face anxious wait over housing plan decision

Pinner residents have begun an anxious seven-week wait for a decision on a major housing development after a four-day public inquiry came to an end on Friday.

For the past two years hundreds of villagers have been campaigning against plans to build a number of houses on the site of Eastglade and Woodpeckers, off Moss Lane.

Village Homes, the company behind the scheme, has had numerous plans rejected by Harrow Council in the past including a four-house, a three-house and a two-house scheme.

But in a last ditch attempt to get the go-ahead for one of the proposals, they called for a public inquiry.

In the two years that the controversial saga has dragged on Village Homes and a lumberjack employed by them have been convicted and fined for illegally felling a protected tree while protests were mysteriously sabotaged when placards put up against the plans were stolen and dumped in the River Pinn.

The council, Village Homes and Save Pinner Gardens - a group which has led the protests - all presented their cases with the key issues including road access and the impact on parking and the safety of residents.

The result should be delivered in seven weeks and Edwin Lucas from Save Pinner Gardens said: "We hope we win because we don't agree garden-grabbing is the way forward to enhance the beauty of many historical sites in the borough.

"We do not want the lovely houses and gardens in Moss Lane, Paines Lane, Waxwell Lane and many others changing beyond recognition just to satisfy the greed of developers."