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ID sylw: 105940

Derbyniwyd: 28/02/2025

Ymatebydd: Louise O’Sullivan

I am writing in response to the Strategic Growth Locations SG20 between Bidford on Avon and Ardens Grafton.

Ardens Grafton is a non-service hamlet with a very distinct character. There are no facilities in the village besides a community bus service which provides 1 bus twice a week. There is no mains gas, and many properties have no mains drainage. Most of the roads serving the village are single track, which are ungritted in the winter.

In my view, I think it is highly inappropriate to consider building on existing arable land between Bidford and Ardens Grafton. From the document ‘Meeting South Warwickshire’s Sustainable Development Requirements’ section 4.3 states that

‘it is also important to define the boundaries between settlements and the surrounding countryside. This provides a distinction between the various scales of settlements and the open countryside’

SG20 would be a development in open countryside. Brown field land and infill should be the first consideration rather than building on land currently used for food production. This land was previously assessed in 2021 and rejected on the grounds of environmental suitability and landscape impact due to its elevated position.

Section 4.1 of the Spacial Growth Strategy states that Sustainable Travel and Economy should be incorporated.
‘ sustainable travel - rail stations and bus stops with good travel times to major towns’

Clearly there is no access to local rail stations, with the closest being in Honeybourne. Bus stops in Bidford would be over a 1 mile walk.
Development on this parcel of land would therefore increase traffic on the very narrow roads.