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I am writing about the proposed building of new housing on the north side of Leamington. During the past 46 years I have walked the public footpaths from Milverton Road & Northumberland Road (via Old Milverton village) to the River Avon, Saxon Mill and Guy's Cliffe. On very many occasions I have taken academics visiting the University of Warwick, from all over the world, along these paths for pleasure and recreation, and without exception they have all said that they could not imagine a more idyllic and historically interesting setting. The approach to one of the world's most famous rivers and history stretching back 1500 years makes a unique location.

John Leland (c.1503-1552) noted its "quietude and beauty". William Camden (1551-1623) wrote "Here have ye a shady little wood, cleere and cristal springs, mossie bottoms and caves, meadows always fresh and greene, the river rumbling here and there among the stones . . . making a mild noise and gentle whispering . . . still quietness most grateful to the Muses". Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) spoke of it as "A most delicious place so that a man in many miles riding cannot meet so much variety".

Records go back to c.500 AD when St Dubritius, whose church was on the site now occupied by Warwick Castle, built an oratory at Guy's Cliffe dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. St Dubritius later became the first Bishop of St David's in Wales. Henry V came to Guy's Cliffe and determined to found a chantry there for two priests. He died before he was able to do this, but Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, carried out Henry's wishes and built the present chapel. Even before this time, Edward III and Henry IV gave letters of protection and salaries to eremites at Guy's Cliffe. And before that there are the legends of Guy himself.

More recently a Tudor house preceded the present Georgian ruin of the Greatheeds and Percys. There can be very few places in England to compare with what we have here. It is unfortunate that we lost the remains of Saxon dwellings by the Avon downstream from Guy's Cliffe in the 1960s. But there must be an alternative to covering the only approach to this unique location with housing estates and a bypass or fast road. Any fast road would completely destroy the village of Old Milverton, and we are surely in danger of losing enough of our villages in this area with the threat of HS2. Are there not alternative possibilities on the south side of Leamington? Wouldn't it make more sense for new housing to be close to the existing retail outlets on Shires Park and the new Morrisons Supermarket on the site of the Ford Foundry? Also has schooling been considered for the children, particularly First Schools?

I would like to think that environmental protection and heritage preservation are not overlooked in urban development. I shall be most grateful if you will consider my concerns.