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ID sylw: 106356

Derbyniwyd: 05/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Ufton Parish Council

Ufton Parish Council has consulted widely with Parishioners both informally and through a well attended drop in session held in the Village Hall on the South Warwickshire Local Plan (SWLP). The aspect of concern to the community is the Potential Site for a New Settlement F1 – Land to the West of Ufton. The overwhelming view is that this is a totally unsuitable site for the following reasons.
1. In 2023 Stratford District Council gave planning permission for a large Solar Farm which will occupy a significant part of the potential new development site. Going ahead with the Settlement avoiding the Solar Farm would lead to a significant reduction of the Settlement’s size, but also would severely restrict access to the Settlement as the Solar Farm will extend some way down the Fosse Way and also up the A425 towards Ufton.
2. The land included in F1 includes the escarpment up to the village of Ufton. The Fosse Way in the valley is at an altitude of about 220ft and Ufton is at about 400ft. Much of this height gain is on a steep escarpment running across the proposed site on which building would not be possible..
3. The only access to the site would be from either the Fosse Way or the A425. These are both busy and dangerous roads. The Fosse way has seen a significant increase in traffic in recent years, as has the A425, which also is made up of a series of bends restricting visibility. Neither is suitable as an access route to a large new development.
4. The ownership of the land is fragmented and we understand that none of the landowners has expressed interest in providing land to the development. In fact a major landowner has approached the Parish Council to indicate his objection to the scheme on land his family has farmed for many generations and whose family intend to continue the tradition. The SWLP Team have identified that the fragmented ownership of this land puts into question the deliverability of a Settlement on this site.
5. Transport links to the site are not good. There are currently limited bus services and a significant increase would be difficult to achieve given that the only access roads are the Fosse Way and A425 as described above. The SWLP Team have indicated that proximity to a rail connection is an important consideration. Although this site is bounded by the Banbury/Leamington line there is no realistic prospect of a new station this close to Leamington.
6. It is intended that the New Settlements will each have both Primary and Secondary School provision. However it will take time for new schools to be built and in the meantime new pupils will be accommodated by the existing local schools. Given that the local primary schools are already at capacity with little possibility of expansion this would be a major issue. The local secondary school, Southam College has been recently extended, but we understand that the admittance of significant numbers of new pupils could not be achieved without a significant (short term) restructuring of catchment areas. Provision of the required number of temporary school places will be difficult/impossible to provide.
7. A requirement of the New Settlements is that they will enable the creation of new employment in the immediate area. Given the location and accessibility of this site it is very difficult to see how this could be achieved.
These are all good reasons why this is not a good location for a proposed new settlement. We can’t think of any factors that make it a good potential site.
We believe that Site F1 – Land to the West of Ufton should not be taken forward in the work to identify the final 3 Sites for New Settlements.