Testun llawn:
Dear Sirs
Find below my formal comments to the Village Housing Options and Settlement Boundaries Consultation
In summary I completely object to the development of the Woodcote House estate (Preferred Options 1,2,3,4). My key objections are:
1. The Woodcote Estate is a Grade 2 Listed Manor House of significant historical importance as a Manor House, as rehabilitation centre and as a Police Headquarters.
2. The grounds are formally listed as Gardens and Parkland
3. TPO0448 is in existence across the whole site
4. There are a number of rare indigenous wildlife species that inhabit the Garden and Parkland
5. There is confusion over the short term, mid term and long term use of Woodcote House by Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police. Appropriate developments should only be considered once the usage by the Police Authorities is determines
6. There is NO access to the site, either through the Warwick Road / Woodcote Lane junction or into Woodcote Drive itself, either for motor vehicles, cycles, pedestrians or disables access
7. Further developments would endanger life and be hazardous to the environment
8. There is no provision for sewage, the existing sewage post Woodcote Drive is share owned by the residents and Warwickshire Police - agreement would be required to modify / adapt this existing infrastructure from the owners or completely new sewage infrastructure would need to be laid
9. Other discounted sites exist (11, 8 and 9) that do not have any of the above issues associated with them. These sites should be brought back into consideration albeit under a more restrictive housing volume regime
Page 54 Chapter 11
STRONGLY OBJECT TO OPTIONS 1, 2, 3, 4
Commenting on the Village Housing Options
Primary site access is completely inappropriate for additional dwellings
* The Police HQ and associated traffic will keep at its current level - no indication that it is about to diminish given the merger with West Mercia there is a high probability that the site will continue in its current form and current traffic flow rate. Hence any additional developments will be generating traffic in addition to the current levels, introducing congestion, risk of accidents and increased greenhouse gases
* There are TPO (TPO0448) in place now around the entire site - so there is no opportunity for widening access
* The Gates are listed and cannot be widened , and do not allow for two way traffic
* There are no pavements - already my family and neighbours are frightened to let children walk along Woodcote Drive and Woodcote Lane. It is complete inappropriate and does not allow children to even walk to the village school. There is a requirement to drive children to the school as there is simply no pavement s and it is not a safe environment for anybody , let alone children to walk with the current traffic flow rates.
To gain access to Woodcote Drive requires access to Woodcote Lane - that can only be accessed via Warwick road. The Main junction by the village Anchor Pub is completely inappropriate for additional developments. The current usage by the police and the shift working pattern allows the traffic to be spread through the quieter periods. Having additional developments along Woodcote Lane will mean an additional 100 to 200 vehicles all trying to navigate these narrow junctions at peak hours causing at best traffic bedlam and at worst injuries and deaths due to motor traffic accidents. It is not even an option to walk as there are no pavements. I myself have already been involved in serious accident at that junction, and it is clearly recognised as a black spot by the council and the police. This can be evidenced by the recent traffic calming signs and the continuous presence of Police speed cameras due to raised and serious concerns about the safety of that junction.
The development would put an impossible strain on already limited sewage and drainage capacity. The current network cannot cope with the existing volumes. Additional housing would need to plumb into this network. My objection is both on health and safety grounds, but also on ownership. The residents on Woodcote Drive have ownership of the sewerage network and are not willing to allow and developments that would impact this network and cause damage that would require remedial work.
The identified site is an area of natural beauty and is identified as formally protected Garden and Parkland grounds. There are already restrictive covenants in place on existing properties to prevent any further developments. The proposed development on Woodcote house goes completely against these covenants and does not pay any regard to the significance of the land and natural habitat. These covenants will need to be adhered to or to be lifted. There are no mentions or references to the protected nature of the gardens, the plants, flora and wildlife that uses this land as habitat. Rare species such as pond snakes, adders, newts, hedgehogs and bats all inhabit this land, and are protected species that would lose natural habitat if development in Woodcote House was to be granted.
Finally the village has an atmosphere that would be completely destroyed if these developments were to go ahead due to the size nature scale and geographic concentration of the developments
Settlement 11 - Leek Wootton
STRONGLY OBJECT
Commenting on the Indicative Settlement Boundaries
I completely disagree with the Indicative Settlement Boundary for Leek Wootton. In particular the removal of the Woodcote House Site from the green belt is beyond comprehension. It is a listed site of both historical and natural significance. The building is listed and the entrance that is part of the site provides a character that is appropriate to the main building itself. The existing developments along Woodcote Drive are very limited and are done in a way minimise impact to the site as a whole. The proposed developments show no consideration to the historic nature of the site and would due to placing, scale and nature completely impose and damage the site. In addition to the listed building itself the gardens and grounds are identified as being of major significance and are formally identified as Gardening and Parkland. The fauna is of particular significance, not only due to its beauty, but also as it provides a habitat for a number of rare indigenous specifies such as snakes (Adders, Pond Snakes), newts, herons and bats. I have not been able to find an impact assessment that describes how the wildlife would be impacted. A nature survey as part of this proposal and would strongly insist that a survey is carried out that identifies and safeguard the habitat of our rarest species before they are lost. In addition the entire site has been identified with TPOs following the reckless and illegal felling of trees by the Police Authority.
I would need to understand your reasoning and rationale why land of such historical and natural beauty would be developed upon that has no easy access rather than farm or arable land that has no rare species or fauna and has easy access from major roadworks. The additional effect of removing the Woodcote House site from Green Belt would be the infill developments that would occur on the existing residential developments. It cannot be understated the knock on impacts of these developments once the classification on the Woodcote House site is lifted.
Another important consideration is the usage of the Police Headquarters itself. There is no clear plan for the Police to move out of this site. With the impending merger with West Mercia Police it is probable that the Woodcote House itself and the communications block will remain in its current use for the foreseeable future. This would mean that any developments would result in traffic flow that would be in addition to the existing traffic generated by the Police Headquarters. In addition to this there is total confusion and disarray regarding what the short, medium and long term plans of the Warwickshire Police are. On the 26th November a SHLAA was submitted for 90 dwelling - this included the playing fields. This is in contrast to what is being proposed in the Local Plan. Given this confusion and lack of clarity it would be strongly recommended to remove the Warwickshire Police Headquarter site - Woodcote House from the sites as preferred options. Other sites that have been discounted should be reconsidered such as 11, 8 and 9 - all of which are on farmland so do not impact Garden Parkland and all of which have easy access to major road networks. I would also suggest that the scale of any developments be factored down considerable to maintain the historic and special characteristics of Leek Wootton.