BASE HEADER

I am writing in response to WDCs consultation exercise for the New local Plan.

WDC completely ignored the opposition to the recent Gateway planning application and I have absolutely no doubt that if it can ignore 800+ letters of opposition to that development in the green belt and the unanimous opposition of the local parish councils there is no chance of the council listening to any opposing views to their proposed local plan.

I am appalled by the completely arbitrary estimates for future employment land requirements and the non scientific approach to the amount of land required for reserves/margin/flexibility. No reference is made to how these figures are arrived at. Is there a nationally approved way of calculating this or are they in fact just "pulled out of a hat"?

The result of all this will be an over-provision of employment land and unnecessary removal of large amounts of land from the green belt.

I am also appalled at the way previous employment land has been re-designated as housing land thus creating an artificial shortage of employment land. This is another example of "sleight of hand" by WDC and has been done without consultation or support of the local community.

The employment land proposals within the New Local Plan (RDS6, RDS7 & RDS8) should be removed, as they are not logical, necessary, sustainable or based on robust estimates of future demand.