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We act on behalf of The Trustees of the F S Johnson 78NEL Settlement in respect of land at Station Lane, Lapworth, and welcome the opportunity to make representations on the Warwick Local Plan Preferred Options Development Plan Document (DPD). The extent of the land ownership is shown on the attached plan, and I am pleased to set out our formal representations below.
General Comments.
1. We support the principle for delivering 'Our Vision for the District' which proposes to meet the housing needs of the existing and future population of the District, including the identification of land for around 550 new homes per annum on new allocated sites, and proposing to distribute development across the District.
Comments on Specific Policies.
PO3: Broad Location of Growth
2. We support the Council's Preferred Option to distribute growth across the District, including within and / or on the edge of some villages, and to allow for a hierarchy of growth in the rural area to include a higher level of growth in those villages with a broad range of services and public transport to the towns.
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PO4: Distribution of Sites for Housing
3. We welcome and support the identification of Lapworth as a Category 1 village in recognition of the range of services and public transport links available within the settlement. We also support the explicit recognition given in the policy to the need to define the boundaries of village envelopes, and then to exclude land within those village envelopes from the green belt to enable development to take place.
4. We support the proposal to allocate land for 100 dwellings within Lapworth to be built and phased across the three phases of the Plan up to 2029.
5. The supporting text, in paragraph 7.36, confirms that in the case of category 1 and 2 villages which are currently 'washed over' within the green belt, it will be necessary to identify areas with potential for limited development and include it within a village envelope along with the built up area of the village. The boundary of the green belt would be adjusted accordingly around the village envelope.
6. In the case of Lapworth, the current village envelope reflects the largely linear nature of the settlement, and includes the development along the length of Station Lane and two small consolidated areas of development along the Old Warwick Road to either side of the railway bridge.
7. In our view, the opportunities to identify land that would be seen as a 'natural extension' of the current village envelope are limited, being constrained by the clear physical boundary provided by the railway line, the location of the Grand Union and Stratford Canals, the land at risk of flooding, and by the presence of attractive natural features such as wooded areas or trees.
8. However, our clients' land provides one of those limited opportunities where development could take place to provide the additional new housing that is needed whilst being seen as a natural extension of the village envelope.
9. The land is located within Station Lane, with a frontage to the eastern side of the road between an existing ribbon of houses to the south, which are already included within the village envelope, and a further ribbon of houses that are not currently within the envelope boundary. On the opposite, western side of the road, there is an established line of relatively closely packed houses, and the frontage is therefore seen within an urban context such that its inclusion within the envelope would be seen to be entirely
appropriate.
10. The land is very close to the village railway station and therefore provides a highly sustainable location for new residents who need not be dependent on the use of a private car to access employment opportunities or the higher order level of services and facilities available in town and city centres.
11. The land is unconstrained, being open and available to accommodate a range of development options. Field boundary hedging could be retained as part of any scheme of evelopment if desired, and access could be provided along the Station Lane frontage whilst retaining the two existing mature trees. Only the strip of land along the canal lies ithin the flood area, but this part of the site would be excluded from consideration in any event.
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12. The land is within the central part of the village, as defined by the current village envelope, rather than at the periphery and therefore the village school, post office and shops and services are all within easy walking distance.
13. The existing field boundaries would provide clear physical boundaries which could be utilised to define a robust and defensible boundary to the enlarged village envelope.
14. The land is one of only 3 gaps on the eastern side of Station Lane which lie outside the current village envelope, which otherwise embraces the development along both sides of the road. Whilst the land to the north of Meadow Lane is closest to the station, it is well treed and the removal of those trees as a consequence of development would result in the loss of an attractive feature in the Lane. Of the two remaining gaps, our clients' land is closer to the village centre than the land near Kingswood Close, enhancing its credentials for selection as a first-choice allocated housing site.
15. The extent of the land available lends itself to a variety of development options, including cul-de-sac development to mirror similar patterns of development elsewhere within the village, including Station Lane, without looking in any way out of place or out of character with the prevailing pattern and style of development within Station Lane, whilst providing for the housing needs of the village.
16. In short, our clients' land constitutes the best opportunity available within the village to achieve the housing requirement for Lapworth in a manner that meets the normal planning objectives for site selection whilst minimising the impact on the village environment. It is a 'natural' infill opportunity within a Lane that is largely characterised by linear development on both sides, and its development would be easily absorbed into the built fabric of the village without appearing, in any way, to look out of place or out of character. On that basis, and on behalf of our clients, we commend the merits of the site to the Council and request that it be favourably considered as a formal housing land allocation in the next stage of the plan preparation with the publication of the Draft Plan early in 2013.
17. We formally request that land forming part of our client's land holding at Station Lane be allocated for housing development and included within an expanded village envelope for Lapworth to accommodate the housing development proposed in this Preferred Options draft, as proposed in this submission.