Testun llawn:
Kingswood (Lapworth)'s designation as a Primary Service Village appears to be based on its score of 53 in the The Draft Settlement Hierarchy Report. However, this score would appear to be wrong for the following reasons: (i) There is not a daily bus service; (ii) The Post Office is for sale and considered very likely to close and, therefore, should not be counted; (ii) The Village Shop is very small, has no scope for expansion, has no car parking spaces at all, and is not in "a cluster of shops and services"; (iv) The Lees Chapel is a specialist denomination rather than CoE; (v) Kingswood has neither playing field nor sporting areas for young people; and (vi) The primary school is constrained. If each of these criteria were scored realistically, the overall score would not be 53 but a figure nearer to 40 which would make Kingswood a Secondary Service Village with a baseline target growth rate of 15%, ie 57 new dwellings.
It is understood from WDC that the reason that Lapworth in the 2012 Plan has become Kingswood (Lapworth) in the 2013 Revised Plan, is that it is WDC's intention to concentrate the development in Lapworth in the Kingswood area so that it is close to the existing amenities. This seems a questionable decision in view of the fact that, based on WDC's figure of 381 dwellings in the Kingswood area, the planned 100 to 150 new houses represent an increase in housing of 26% to 39% in the Kingswood area. It should be noted that these figures are inconsistent with the baseline growth rate of 20% for Primary Service Villages stated in Section 5.9 of The Draft Settlement Hierarchy Report which would indicate a figure of only 76 new houses. Hence, WDC does not appear to have applied its own guidelines to Kingswood (Lapworth).
It is inconceivable that the existing infrastructure of Kingswood could support an increase of 26% to 39% of the current housing stock for the following reasons:
i. It is acknowledged in Section 4.2.18 of the 2012 Preferred Options Document that the Lapworth village School, which is in Kingswood, is "at capacity" and "is sufficient only for village children. Any development in the village will require expansion of the school, ideally up to 1FE, but site is constrained. Further work required." Has the further work been undertaken to identify a suitable site for expansion of the school?
ii. Station Lane is a narrow road which is severely congested at the start and closure of each school day and when there is an event at the Lees Chapel. Has consideration been given to how Station Lane and the other roads in Kingswood will cope with the increased vehicular traffic emanating from 100-150 new houses?
iii. Local residents are very much aware of the surface water flooding which occurs in Kingswood. The surface water flooding map (Plan B2) in the 2013 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Report does not appear to reflect local knowledge of the seriousness of the problem in Kingswood. In both the 2012 and 2013 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Reports reference is made to surface water flooding and each report states: "The Environment Agency has asked that, should development take place in these areas, further work should be carried out to investigate the nature and scale of the risk posed, so that mitigation can be put in place and the areas can be targeted through appropriate policies for reducing flood risk". In view of the Meteorological Office's opinion that extreme weather events will become more frequent in the future, we trust that WDC implemented the Environment Agency's request for further investigation before it selected its sites in Kingswood. Perhaps WDC could confirm whether they did.
Furthermore, at a "drop in" session at the Lapworth Village Hall on 17 July 2013, lists of early site options were tabled by WDC with a lack of clarity over which of the sites would actually be made available for development by their current owners. Although I have been referred to the site selection methodology for strategic sites, I have been unable to ascertain either the criteria or methodology that WDC are employing to identify potential sites in Kingswood (Lapworth). In particular I should like to know whether the well-being of existing residents is a criterion.