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Gwrthwynebu

ID sylw: 49380

Derbyniwyd: 30/07/2012

Ymatebydd: Mr L D A (David) Wright

The Preferred Options seem to many as a fait accompli by suggestions that non approval of the plan will lead to unconstrained development chaos.
The SHLAA is key to the issue concerning most people, where development will go. People are right to be concerned because of recent large scale developments South of Leamington.

Proposes an alternative assessment of the SHLAA to show that better outcomes may be acheived by ensuring proper planning logic is followed. Assumptions underpinning this include that new or bigger roads further impact local environments and add to existing traffic problems, and that it should be a Warwick District rather than Warwick / Leamington plan.

The Strategic Transport Assessment is one of the weakest elements of the proposed plan.The proposals appear to be based on linear growth in car travel arising from new developments. No serious assessment has been done on how the modal shares of cycling might be raised, a survey would be likely to show this is due to the lack of safe (separated from car) infrastructure both within and between towns. Public transport issues are also neglected.
All developments should be designed to maximise sustainable transport and minimise the amounts needed for road mitigation. Park and Ride should be located adjacent to major roads rather than on the fringes of existing boundaries.

The presentation of the SHLAA in the form of large documents and plans makes it difficult to investigate in detail. It does show that there are many more sites assessed suitable for development than shown in the published plans.

The alternative set of options would require no Northern relief road as all proposed areas are adjacent to existing good transport links, allocates more in line with demographic statistics, makes lower use of greenbelt land and remains sensitive to the desire to retain significant green areas between existing communities.

Development should be spread proportionally across the district reflecting the number of people living within the rural areas according to the 2001 census. Instead of focusing all development in green areas adjacent to existing development, the villages closest to major towns could take development whilst retaining separation from the urban area (Barford, Bishops Tachbrook and Radford Semele). The alternative plan proposes development on the fringe of Coventry in Baginton and Westwood Heath, more use of brownfield sites, a reduction in the developments planned for the Kenilworth fringe, significant reduction in the greenbelt development north of Leamington removing Blackdown completely, changes to sites south of Warwick and Leamington removing Campion School and W10 (the site closest to Warwick Castle)and replacing these by the Grove Farm site. The Councils case for excluding this site because of coalescence does not stack up because development would be more than 1km away. Better locations for Park and ride would be on land more adjacent to the A46 and M40 in the north between the A46 Kenilworth junction and roundabout on the otherside of the Avon and in the South adjacent to the roundabout at the southern end of Europa Way.

Distribution of sites in a linear north / south direction is likely to worsen cross town traffic. Whilst retention of green wedges between villages is desirable many towns have grown by the inclusion of villages. The approach to green belt development needs to be addressed. The plan will need regular revision and reassessment at least biennially and the process for doing this should be set out.