BASE HEADER

1. The large size of the site (approx 12 acres) would greatly increase traffic from the new residents along Parklands Avenue and its junction with Cubbington Road. This would occur because the main access to the new houses would have to be along Parklands boundary. The junction with the Cubbington Road would be overloaded.
2. The heavy clay subsoil causes part of the site to be prone to flooding and surface water run-off is a well known problem. The lie of the land on the site contains significant slopes and dips and this feature combined with the soil conditions would mean large scale housing development increased the risk of flooding.
3. A government inspector four years ago, after a detailed enquiry ruled against housing development on farmland adjoining the Glebe Farm proposed development. Some of the reasons he cited against that development apply to the current proposal.
4. The farmland that would be lost to housing development has produced good crops over many years. Wildlife occupying the area would suffer from loss of habitat.
5. There is no evidence known to the writer that the existing local infrastructure could adequately cope with a large development of houses and their occupants. Pressure would increase on schools, doctor's surgeries and as stated earlier existing access roads designed in the 1960s for smaller estates. Water runoff on the site could overload existing sewers.
6. We are now told that greenbelts are no longer sacrosanct like Glebe Farm. This opens the way for speculative developers to buy farmland anywhere.