BASE HEADER

I am writing to oppose the District Council's plans to develop on Green Belt Land as shown in their 2012 Preferred Options booklet. Nothing has changed since the 2009 Core Strategy, so there cannot be any justification for these fundamental changes now.

This area of countryside has provided the residents of Leamington Spa and Warwick much needed rest and relaxation. Any plan to develop this area only represents a further onsluaght on natural spaces for people to enjoy and spend time with families and friends taking exercise.

As a resident in Leamington Spa for 43 years, I was born no more than three miles from Old Milverton. As a young person, walking in fresh air around Old Milverton provided inspiration on the doorstep to get through O'Levels and A'Levels and the challenges of teenage life. It was the positive association with Leamington Spa which brought me back to Leamington Spa after completing my Post Gruduate degree and we have successfully brought up four children here; they have of course enjoyed the frequent Sunday walks around Old Milverton. The constant development of our towns pushes areas of countryside further from town residents denying access to younger people who can't drive and forcing older people into cars to get to good walking areas.

Please, I urge you, make a stance on this area of Leamington and protect it from future development. It is beautiful and full of history - I excavated an area of the old village in the late 1980s. If this development goes ahead, I will probably leave the area for good, as it will be last straw for me as Leamington becomes a faceless town, just like so many in the UK, ringed by 'cookie cutter' houses and drab warehouse units, designed with little of no imagination.