Testun llawn:
I write to strongly object to the proposed development in Old Milverton and Blackdown contained in the Warwick District Council's Preferred Options for the Local Plan.
This land has great recreational value to the local community, and to people visiting the area. It is enjoyed by many walkers, runners, riders and cyclists and in view of the Government's professed policy of fighting obesity, removal of such a facility would be detrimental.
The National Planning Policy Framework states that the Government attaches great importance to Green Belts and that the fundamental aim of Green Belt is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open. This Green Belt land in Old Milverton and Blackdown fulfils the 5 purposes of Green Belt as set out in the NPPF and should therefore remain as open Green Belt land for ever. 1) It prevents the unrestricted sprawl of Leamington to the north, (2) prevents the merging of Leamington and Kenilworth and (3) helps safeguard the countryside from encroachment. (4) It also helps preserve the setting and special character of the historic town of Royal Leamington Spa and (5) helps urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
There are other sites which can be developed that are not in the Green Belt. These sites, which are mainly to the south of Leamington, were included in Warwick District Council's previous plan (the 2009 Core Strategy). Employment opportunities and infrastructure already exist here and this land should be used in preference to any Green Belt. Furthermore, the huge cost of building a northern relief road, which would have to cross a flood plain causing even greater expense, cannot be justified when in the south of Leamington there is an existing road network that could be upgraded at a considerably lower cost.
The NPPF states that Green Belt boundaries should only be altered ' in exceptional circumstances '. As there are alternative sites, there are NO exceptional circumstances which outweigh the harm caused by altering the Green Belt boundaries in Old Milverton and Blackdown and allowing development on this land.
PLEASE RECONSIDER YOUR PREFERRED OPTIONS