Testun llawn:
In general I support the revised plan since it recognises the importance of the Green Belt land in the north of Leamington and accepts that under current law there are no exceptional circumstances under which development can take place in this area. This means that the Green Belt area can continue to prevent the coalesence of Leamington and Kenilworth. The development in Kenilworth on Green Belt land south of Kenilworth still concerns me but here it appears that there are exceptional circumstances for the building of houses and the residents of Kenilworth do not seem to object.
I understand why the people in the south of Leamingon and Warwick may not be happy about the Size of the development in this area but this land is green field land and not Green Belt land and developers, who have options on the land are keen to use this land and other Brown field sites. The size of this development will change the whole character of the historic towns of Leamington and Warwick and as a resident is does concern me. The towns are already congeseted with traffic and I think it is absolutely essential that the infrastructure is put in place before the development goes ahead. The recent development of the Ford foundary site was a disaster as far as disruption to the traffic was concerned and shows that the road network and bus links need to be in place before the development of the houses and schools.
I would also like to see developers making more effort to add traffic free zones where it is safe to cycle so that residents can be encouraged to travel without the need to get in their cars. At present the cycle path system is very disjointed and difficult to follow. Cycle paths exist but just as quickly disappear and rejoin the roads which makes the use of cycles dangerous on the crowded roads.
Whilst I understand that the government is dictating the number of houses that are required by local areas, I am concerned that the the Revised Local Plan will completely change the nature of this historic place and make it a less desirable place to live. I do not think that simply tacking huge areas of growth onto pre-existing towns is very satisfactory. A more forward thinking plan and one fit for the future might be to go back to the government and ask them to consider the idea of creating a New Town, as they have done in the past, with towns like Milton Keynes, which was specifically designed with the future in mind. In this way we create something new and exciting, whilst preserving places of historical importance.
I would like to thank you for all the hard work that you have put into the Revised Local Plan. It cannot be an easy task to satisfy all the people all of the time!