Testun llawn:
I must object strongly to this ill-considered proposal.
I grew up in Cubbington, moving there in 1956 at the age of nine. I've watched the gradual accretion of new housing which has made the village a vital, prosperous and busy place to live. I chose the word 'gradual' carefully. As new families have come to live in the village, they have become villagers and taken their part in the life of the community. Today, Cubbington is seen as a good place to enjoy retirement. So my first objection is to do with the enormous scale of the proposed development. The proposed building at Glebe Farm would swamp the village of Cubbington, turning it into another anonymous suburb of Leamington Spa. There's little industry or commerce in the area, so presumably this would be 'commuter belt', housing a huge new population with no loyalty or affiliation to the parent community.
My next area of concern relates to the events of 2007 when Cubbington's already overloaded drainage system proved incapable of removing the vast amounts of water (and sewerage) which deluged the lower lying streets of the village. It's been suggested that additional housing on The Grange, the site of the old Sawmills, the Vicarage and Coventry Road have all used the existing drainage system which has not been improved to cope. Warwickshire County Council and Severn Trent responded rapidly - by bravely denying responsibility. This was of no comfort to my many friends who saw their houses made uninhabitable for many weeks and now live in permanent fear of a repeat performance. Now the Council has a proposal. It suggests building hundreds of new homes on green belt land on the hillside above the village. Brilliant! Sewerage, stormwater and thousands of gallons of hard surface run-off will now travel in the only available direction - downhill - straight to the scene of 2007's disaster.
The third problem is to do with access to and from the proposed development. Just months ago the Kenilworth to Leamington Road was closed by road works and drivers diverted along the Cubbington Road and Leicester Lane. Having queued interminably at the Leicester Lane/Coventry Road roundabout every morning during this period, I know exactly what effect the hugely increased commuter traffic would have on the existing road system. Years ago I saw a proposal for a new road which would cut across from (I think) Parklands Avenue to the Radford Road. Of course this would inconvenience Leamington's golfers but only something so radical could relieve the enormous load on the road system that such a massive development would generate. Sadly, while helping traffic going south and shoppers aiming for Asda and Whitnash, it wouldn't help with cars heading for North Leamington, Coventry and Kenilworth. Oh yes, someone mentioned an access point from the Offchurch Road. This twisty country lane enters the narrow bottleneck of Offchurch via a single track hump-backed bridge. No help there then!
I'm not saying that no new homes should be built. Nor am I arguing that the Green Belt between Lillington and Cubbington can never be utilised. I AM saying that the sheer scale of this proposal is the architect of all its failings. A small development, preferably of 'starter' homes to encourage younger people to move into the area would enrich the community and would be more quickly assimilated. Please don't build 'Cubbington Newtown'!