Testun llawn:
I am shocked to have been informed by one of my neighbors that there is a proposal to develop the land in Radford Semele between Offchurch Land and the parish church.
The land was not mentioned in the local plan created in June this year, with extensive local consultation, but now appears to be a "preferred" location. How can this possibly happen when the local plan was only agreed a few months ago? I am very worried that this has also happened with no proper consultation process being followed which cannot be right.
I only moved to the village myself in August, and it has been my intention to write to the local planning authorities regarding the volume and speed of traffic already passing through the village, both along Offchurch Lane and Southam Road. Every morning I walk three primary school children to the local school, crossing Southam Road opposite the proposed development and have been surprised by the amount of traffic here: the addition of the proposed 100-150 houses in this part of the village would quite frankly be dangerous and put our children at risk. Please remember the primary school is the other side of the main road which is exceptionally busy during the twice daily school run and rush hour periods. I would suggest a thorough traffic survey during school term would be the minimal requirement to start a consultation process for any proposed new development site like this.
In consideration of the school, I have been advised that years R through 5 are all at maximum capacity already, with more places being applied for each year than are available. Also I believe there are drainage issues that makes any consideration toward expansion of the school facility prohibitively expensive.
In addition, although Radford Semele is close to Leamington Spa, the open nature of the farmed land around the church gives it a very rural feel, and this village character would clearly be destroyed by placing a modern development of this scale so close to the church, which has only recently been restored. I am also aware of pre-existing drainage issues with the Offchurch Lane field and would be concerned about the increased risk of flooding so close to the church. I would question whether the proposed pond would even come close to alleviating this risk.
It is my understanding that an area to the east of the village had previously been considered the optimal location in Radford Semele to provide the additional housing required in the area, along with a site on the Fosse Way. This was agreed to and supported by our local councilor and is obviously a much safer solution since a large proportion of the additional traffic introduced to the village would turn away from the village towards the Fosse Way (enabling easy access to Coventry, Gaydon and the motorway network) without driving past children on their way to or from school.
A properly thought out access junction to this eastern site could also have the desired effect of slowing traffic down on the way into the village, making the junctions of Lewis Road, Hallfields, Offchurch Lane and School Lane/Church Lane all much safer.
Ms Darke, we all live in the real world and I believe the village community fully understand and support the need for additional housing in Radford Semele. We are, however, all very worried about the negative impact that the wrong development site could have.
I trust we can count on your support to help us achieve the required houses without spoiling the nature of the village, without pandering to the profit motives of an aggressive developer, and most importantly, without putting the lives of primary aged school children at increased risk.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email.