Some of you will already have heard this good news through our Facebook page, but we are delighted to hear that all of our worries over the use of the land around the Karakal warehouse on Penpole lane have just evaporated in time for Christmas. 

Keith Sawyer of Karakal wrote to us and confirmed that he has just managed to exchange contracts, with Matthew Webb, whose family have owned the site for about thirty years, and now owns the area of land around the Karakal industrial unit. The planning appeal for shipping containers has since been withdrawn, and YardArts will be unable to move onto the site; Keith has confirmed this to us and we join in him in his celebration and relief that the whole plot is in his hands. Karakal have only ever had rights of access and parking on the land around their unit since 1987 and, although they have always been keen to, have never been able to agree on a realistic price for the land with its owner.

They have shared our exasperation over many of the planning applications over the last few years that would have impacted on their business. We’ve been in contact with Mr Sawyer for a while and we are reassured that he has no plans to expand Karakal and that the land is now in safe hands. Naturally we were unaware of negotiations while they were happening, but we are incredibly grateful for Keith having emailed us just 10 mins after the exchange to let us know! 

It will be great to be able to direct our time and effort towards more constructive projects in the coming year rather than dealing with the planning problems we’ve been reporting on since 2011! We hope you will join us in celebrating this news!.  

Finally a BIG thank you to everyone who has supported us in objecting to the planning applications on this site; It’s been frustrating and draining, but all of your letters of objection have made a difference and have fended off development . We couldn’t keep going without your help and support!