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ID sylw: 107680

Derbyniwyd: 26/02/2025

Ymatebydd: Shakespeare Line Rail User Group

The Long Marston Airfield Garden Village (LMAGV) and adjacent Meon Vale developments are only sustainable communities if the Stratford-Long Marston-Honeybourne railway line is reinstated immediately. The benefits were key points in the 2016 expression of interest and crucial in securing Garden Village status. The concept is incoherent if this is not brought forward. The Core Strategy inspector's report stated that the rail ink would "provide a long-term solution to the town’s traffic congestion".

The 2020 report by Transport for New Homes highlighted LMAGV in particular as a settlement which will be car-reliant and generate distressing levels of traffic. Projected housing growth in the Long Marston hinterland is 6,087 homes for approximately 25,000 people. The Long Marston Airfield Garden Village proposes 3,500 homes for over 8,750 residents, while Meon Vale plans 1,430 homes, including 380 on the adjoining Codex site in Worcestershire.

The SWLP’s proposal to expand the LMAGV site to potentially accommodate 10,000 homes - pushing the population of the Stratford-Long Marston-Honeybourne corridor to
85,000 - intensifies the urgency of appropriate rail services to address car dependency, traffic congestion, and the environmental amenity of the area.