Testun llawn:
I am writing with regard to the new local plan and specifically the proposed development of the Green Belt land to the north of Leamington, including land between Old Milverton and Blackdown.
As a resident living in this area, we are already feeling the consequences of the proposed new local plan, as the local housing market is very static, due to the uncertainty cast by such a huge proposed development.
We would like to draw the Development Policy Manager's attention to the fact that the land being considered is Green Belt, and as such is a vital and vibrant area for recreation including walking, running, cycling by many local residents and others who drive to north Leamington in order to use the land. Any development would directly impact upon an enormous number of Leamington's resident's quality of life.
North Leamington is in danger of being overdeveloped and marginalised by the proposed new local plan, the HS2 proposed route and the proposals surrounding the development of Coventry Airport. These are three massive changes, that will singularly impact the local area to its detriment, and together risk destroying an area that is currently a very pleasant place to live and low maintenance for the Authority to manage.
Currently the roads running around the proposed area for development are, at times, very busy, with Northumberland Road junctions congested. Whilst the plan addresses the main roads in North Leamington, it does not, and cannot ease the potential hazardous increased traffic on these smaller roads. The road and pavement users are largely children, from North Leamington, Milverton and Brookhurst schools, along with elderly people living in the increasing number of care homes in the area.
Finally, whilst we understand from the presentation of the proposed new local plan, that planners are keen to balance Leamington between development to the North and South, we feel this is not sufficient justification in itself to override all the other factors outlined above. There are some fantastic brown field sites in the centre of Leamington that lend themselves to affordable and well located housing, giving genuinely attractive quality of working and recreational life.
We look to the Development staff at Warwick District Council to adjudicate and manage the development companies and organisations who are keen to populate our town and take prime brown field sites for non-housing purposes, such as Ford Foundry for a Hotel and yet another Supermarket.
If we can manage to hold onto our green spaces around Leamington, and creatively use existing space and buildings to create more housing, then it will continue to be a thriving and appealing town. If we simply cross hatch fields using a map, we will lose our unique spaces. We understood that Green Belt is sacrosanct and as such we look to the development staff, who are the towns peoples appointed respresentatives, to uphold that belief.