Testun llawn:
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the presentation of the Warwick Local District Plan on 15 July but I have had feedback on the meeting and am concerned that the Council are not actually listening to the residents of Warwick in respect of this plan. It sounds as if the meeting was less of a consultation and more of this is what we have decided will happen. I have serious concerns about the consultation process and the politics of the situation but will concentrate on issues that relate to the planning process. I have sent a copy of my concerns to The development Policy Manager at Warwick District council.
My particular concerns with regard to the plan are as follows:
HOUSING PROJECTION AND LOCATION
The projected housing need of 12,300 new homes to be built seems far too high for the area. While the National Planning Policy Framework requires the approval of 'sustainable development' which meets an established housing need, planning applications already made, or imminent, for much of the land meet neither of these criteria. A realistic forecast of need would mean that the District already had the required five-year supply of sites, balancing housing with employment growth and matching the housing market. I feel it is inappropriate to forecast so far into the future and to allocate greenfield land now. This will allow uncontrolled growth leaving developers to decide what to build and when.
Also, it has been reported that Stratford District Council have approved a "draft" strategy to build a new 4000 home "town" in the Lighthorne area just south of Warwick. If that goes ahead it would also have some effect on the infrastructure requirements, (as mentioned below), within the Warwick Local Plan; yet no mention is made of that scheme has been taken into account when preparing the Warwick Local Plan.
The land between Warwick, Whitnash and Bishop's Tachbrook is rural and agricultural and present policies respect this. Building on it would merge our built-up areas, making them a single suburban sprawl. The green land is as important as the Green Belt to the north of Leamington and Warwick and should be safeguarded.
I feel there are better ways of ensuring there is adequate housing to meet local needs, especially for houses which people can afford such as gradually releasing land for development as demand grows, giving priority to using brownfield and infill sites near schools, shops and railway stations, building homes close to jobs and co-operating with other local authorities, instead of competing with them for development.
ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE:
Much is made in the plan of the proposed improvements to road junctions, new traffic lights, etc. to enable traffic to move faster into Warwick & Leamington, but no solution is given to the problems caused when the cars reach the towns. Warwick has natural "bottlenecks" in The Butts, Jury St., High St., Smith St., Nicholas Church St. Friars St., Hampton St., and Theatre St. etc. etc. Contrary to transport policies, it would make walking and cycling less attractive, and would have serious implications for public transport. No solution to this is offered in the "Plan" and needs to be prior to any approval for new houses.
I feel the historic environment, which attracts so many people to Warwick, would be damaged by the increase in traffic and by wide new junctions cluttered with traffic lights and signs at beautiful places, e.g. Bridge End in Warwick, Castle Bridge, Castle Hill and St John's.
AIR POLLUTION
Pollution from vehicle exhausts in many streets in Warwick and some in Leamington is already worse than is legally permitted. The District Council is required to improve air quality, but the plan and its transport strategy would worsen it. Noise and vibration would also be constant, businesses and tourism would be damaged and the long-term health of residents of these streets would be even more threatened. The revised plan does not address these problems.
HEALTH
Apart from the additional health problems that can be caused by any increased traffic congestion there is no mention of the capacity of Warwick Hospital to cope with a massive increase in population. The present hospital is surrounded by housing and cannot expand, can it cope with such an increase as is projected by the "Plan"?
SITES FOR GYPSIES & TRAVELLERS
The need for such sites is recognised and the concept supported. However, even a casual glance at the Plan shows a marked imbalance of the distribution of the possible sites over the whole of the District. Of the 20 possible sites listed only four are in the northern part of the District with the remaining 16 in the southern part, with the biggest cluster just south of Warwick. This should be re-examined to ensure a more equitable spread of the burden on the residents of the District. Again, it seems so much protection is given to the green Belt and so little to our other green land.
CLOSING OBSERVATIONS
The above points are general rather that specific but clearly indicate a need for a more "in-depth" approach to what the District as a whole needs. From the information provided the people who have drawn up the Plan do not seem to have considered all the facts nor how to overcome, or at least alleviate, the problems that will be created by placing the bulk of the predicted new dwellings into one main location. To gain the support and the trust of the residents of Warwick District more openness and consultation than in the past is now required. In addition, serious consideration should be given to giving equal protection to open land to the south of Warwick and Leamington as that given to the "green belt" area located to the north of the towns so that all the open "greenfield" sites can be considered equally and the load spread more equitably.
As one of our elected representatives, I do hope that you will do all that you can to ensure that these concerns are addressed.