BASE HEADER

The housing boom proposed in the latest W.D.C. Local Plan is unacceptable to the residents of Warwick, and is demonstrably against all government (local and central) and European Union policies.
The perceived demand for housing is based on false data and the aspirations of, and pressures brought on the Council by developers and central government, with no regard for local needs or the wishes of residents. The number of new houses proposed is twice that required to meet local demand. The demand data used is an extrapolation of past housebuilding in a boom period when mortgages were easy to obtain, and bears no resemblance to actual demand in the current economic climate.

Half the sites proposed for development are on greenfield land to the south of the built-up areas of Warwick and Leamington, and would thus require the new residents to travel through these two towns to the new expected employment sites south of Coventry. The resulting air pollution in the centre of Warwick, already above the legal limit, would increase even further, endangering the health of residents and visitors alike. No ameliorating proposals are being considered.

The infrastructure required for development on this scale is substantial - health services (including Warwick Hospital), schools, leisure and community facilities - but all are ignored in the Local Plan. From past experience of similar developments the provision of adequate infrastructure after the completion of the housing has not materialised.

I ask you to bring pressure to bear on the District Council to rethink the strategy and
1. revise downwards the quantity of new housing proposed;
2. reconsider the location of new housing to take into account the location of employment;
3. insist that the requisite infrastructure is completed before the housing is occupied.
4. make public its proposals to ameliorate the damage to health of residents and visitors alike by the increase in traffic pollution inherent in the suggested location of new housing.