Testun llawn:
I write in relation to the above proposals and wish to register my comments in connection with the 2 key principles of the above proposals as they relate to Leek Wootton and in particular to the existing housing in the vicinity of Woodcote Lane.
I would make the initial comment that the existing planning permission which I believe has already been granted to the Police Authority for the development of a retirement village adjacent to Woodcote and the resultant impact of this do not appear to have been considered within the proposals set out in the consultation document nor in the consideration of sites for development. Similarly the continued use of part of the Woodcote House site by the Police as a result of delayed integration with the West Mercia Force does not appear to have been considered. I would have a concern therefore that this would appear to me to be a major oversight and potentially to mar the value of the work done. This development of a retirement village by the Police, or any other development resulting from a change to the existing granted permission, and the continued use by the police would add additional numbers to the households, traffic and other factors considered by the report particularly in relation to the traffic at the junction between Woodcote Lane and Warwick Road.
Proposed Housing Development in Areas LW1 to LW4 inclusive.
* I would object to the proposed redevelopment proposals for Areas LW1 to LW54 as identified in the above based on the current level of proposed development which on its own and without any other development in the village will lead to an increase in the village size of some 23%. I note this is well above those increases proposed for similar villages elsewhere within the study area where the increase is only some 15%.
* The additional development of some 80 properties will increase the traffic flow at the junction of Woodcote Lane and Warwick Road adjacent to The Anchor which is a difficult junction at the best of times and particularly during peak traffic flows. Traffic flow at this junction has been a significant issue to prior plans to develop on LW1 to LW4 e.g. the proposal to locate the village school in areas 1 and 2. I would question what has substantially changed in the pattern of traffic flow in the village to have removed this prior critical consideration.
* The Warwick District Council plan indicates that Leek Wootton has good public transport links and I would challenge this assertion as being beneficial to any increase in housing. In reality any new residents of the proposed development will utilise private vehicles and whilst there may be existing traffic flowing from the police headquarters under its current use I would suggest to you that the pattern of residential travel will be appreciably different with an emphasis of generating traffic concentrations at the Warwick road junction at key school travel and working day peaks.
* I would not object to a substantially reduced development in the LW1 to LW4 areas which if done in sympathy with the existing character of the Village. Such a development would potentially benefit the village provided that the impact of the development adhered to the numerous recommendations made in Appendix 8 and the report on Landscape Sensitivity & Ecological and Geological Study and in comments elsewhere all of which emphasise the importance of these areas to the necessary preservation of Green Belt and the recommendation to preserve hedge and tree screening to the boundary with Woodcote Lane. This I would feel is an essential constraint on any plans to redevelop in order to preserve the character of the village and to prevent degradation of amenity to those properties on Woodcote Lane.
* I note that the Appendices to the consultation reject other areas of adjacent development. However I also note that the Critical review of the WDC recommendations only focused on the site chosen as preferred and did not comment on the sites "dismissed". Given that this Peer review report found points of disagreement with the choice of recommended site might it not also have been the case that it may also have found disagreement with the assessment to dismiss other locations around the village. As an example area 8 which has been dismissed in the current assessment had previously been Considered "potentially suitable subject to evidence of need and noise mitigations" I wonder therefore if the sites chosen at LW1 to LW4 do not have an implicit influence from the need for the Police Authority to dispose of land.
Proposal to Remove Green Belt "Wash Over" from Leek Wotton
* A number of documents presented as appendices to the WDC report comment on the significance of Leek Wootton to the Green Belt and High impact is a term often used. The proposal to remove the Green belt from Leek Wotton and replace this with a perimeter boundary would allow the potential for infill development within the Village. In addition the actual location of the boundary would be critical to the extent of this potential infill development. Assuming that the boundary remains as shown in the consultation documents then based on the average density of development used for Areas 1 to 4 there would appear to be the potential to develop a further 20 or so houses within the village boundary. This assumes that the sports ground cannot be further developed due to its status with the Waller Trust.
* The boundary clearly leaves the potential for the current area of the police headquarters sports field to be argued for development if areas 1 to 4 are developed. Again based upon the average density used in these areas then this would potentially add a further 40 properties to the village with the result that we could see a total of 80 + 20 + 40=140 properties which would constitute an increase of some 37% on the overall size of the community with the potential to give rise to concerns over the impacts of such a growth on the village and its infrastructure. In addition this further potential development adjacent to Woodcote Lane would feed additional traffic into the junction between Woodcote Lane and Warwick Road.
* I note that there appears to be limited consideration given to the need to protect wildlife that currently utilises the village and the land adjacent to Woodcote Lane. In particular the presence of Muntjac Deer in the fields between Woodcote Lane and Woodcote Drive and the clear presence of a bat population in the gardens and woods adjacent to Woodcote Avenue do not appear to have been factored into the site selection criteria.
* For these reasons I object to this proposal to remove the Green Belt "Wash Over" and suggest that if WDA is to comply with the recommendations in the reports it has commissions on impacts on Green Belt then it should retain the current Green Belt status.
Action to resolve objections
* Undertake a revised assessment of the proposed areas LW1 to LW4 taking into account the existing planning granted to the Police Authority or modifications thereto, the retention of activity by the Police at Woodcote House for the foreseeable future as a result of delays in the integration of the Warwickshire and West Mercia forces and the with due consideration given to the presence of Muntjac Deer and Bat populations adjacent to Woodcote Lane.
* Extend the scope of the Peer Review process to include previously dismissed site in order that a full equal assessment of all potential sites can be seen to have been undertaken.
* If the above result in some of LW1 to LW4 being retained as preferred options then limit the development size and density to be commensurate with the size increases proposed for other villages within the study area namely circa 16%. This to be done to accordance with recommendations relating to the retention of hedgerows and trees adjacent to Woodcote Lane.
* Retain the Village within the Green Belt.