Testun llawn:
I wish to register my objections to the Preferred Options of the New Local Plan, which have come as a complete shock to me when the previous plan seemed so eminently sensible! Although I'm not a constituent of Jeremy Wright MP I support much of what he has written in this weeks' Leamington Courier. Why has development been moved from areas adjacent to Warwick Gates to Green Belt land north of Warwick and Leamington? How exactly have the projections for the numbers of houses needed been arrived at? They do not seem to have paid any attention to the consultations in which 58% of respondents said that the lower growth option was preferable.
I wish in particular to comment about my own local area and the proposal to build 180 houses at Loes Farm. They would be built on the hill or ridgeline, which is what anyone entering Warwick from the north along the Coventry Road sees. This is against the NPPF, which says that the historic character of our towns should be preserved. The last plan stated that the area was "unsuitable for development' and I would like to know what has changed! I understand that the Local Plan of 1949 refers to the undulating land as a "beautiful buffer" for Warwick.
Woodloes Lane, with its view of open fields has always been a favourite walk of mine since moving onto the estate in 1978. This is because of the clearly very old hedgerow, which runs either side of the lane. This habitat supports and encourages a wide variety of wildlife. I expect a new full biodiversity assessment would be needed but I believe that there are for example 280 species of moths, including one previously thought to be extinct; 16 species of butterfly, great crested newts and at least 2 species of bat. The Millennium Way runs up the lane and there are a wide variety of birds living in the area. Green woodpeckers can be seen feeding on the ants in the field and I'm told that there are rare yellow ants living there. Aren't areas of such great biodiversity meant to be safeguarded in the National Policy Planning Framework? Isn't there also legislation which protects ancient hedgerows?
I understand that access to the Loes Farm site is proposed via Primrose Hill, which will cut straight across the old hedgerow I've mentioned above. What consideration has been given to the additional traffic the new estate will generate onto Primrose Hill and out to the Birmingham and Coventry Roads? Traffic at the roundabouts off the estate is congested already at peak times. Whether a roundabout or a new junction is built traffic hazards will obviously increase. The junction with Woodloes Avenue South is notorious for accidents already and this could be another such problem. Presumably this is why a police presence with a "speed trap" has been needed just where the access is proposed.
I refer again to Jeremy Wright's "Westminster Briefing" column where he identifies the councils' failure to consider other sites first whether brownfield or those previously identified for development south of the two towns. I believe these must be properly considered first before any incursion is made into Green Belt land. For this reason I'm not opposed to the eventual development of the former Ridgeway school site and equally near to Woodloes.
In conclusion, I believe there are many good reasons not to include the Loes Farm site in the final plan.