BASE HEADER

The infrastructure of Kingswood (Lapworth) is insufficiently developed to support the building of a large number of extra houses. The primary school is fairly small and there is not a secondary school nearby. Trains stop infrequently at Lapworth Station and the timetable for buses is very limited. There is only one general store. The highway along Station Lane is, in parts, narrow, particularly in the vicinity of the avenue of oak trees ( a number of which hold tree preservation orders) this would make creating new roads to serve housing development difficult. The District Council states that in order to build on green belt the existing village envelope would have to be extended. Present green belt policy allows building is 'very special circumstances'. The number of existing properties for sale, some of which have been for sale for a considerable time, would suggest that a demand for further housing in this village is not there, therefore large numbers of new houses does not meet the criteria of a 'very special circumstance'. Small developments of houses would seem more appropriate. The justification for including Kingswood (Lapworth) as a Category 1 Village would seem as if the pieces of a jigsaw were being forced to fit in with the general picture that says that 100-150 houses are required in this village.