Testun llawn:
The modified draft includes very substantial extra housing sites to meet the Inspector's requirement particularly on the duty to cooperate with Coventry's housing needs. All the new sites and the previously adopted sites, mainly to the south of Warwick and Leamington, are based on profligate use of land.
Although described as "urban extensions" they are designed at far lower density than the towns and this spread of "garden suburbs" does not reflect the context and urban quality of either Warwick or Leamington. This is in spite of the high value that the market clearly attributes to existing accommodation within these two towns.
We note that, in the February 2016 SA consultation on the WDC website (p6, para. 2.8) provided
several options for testing
* four housing growth options
* seven broad locational options
* four distribution options
The obvious option of providing urban extensions at urban density has been excluded from the working brief handed to the consultants. This key factor of density is the "elephant in the room" which WDC appears to have resolutely refused to recognise throughout the procedure for developing a Local Plan. The Council has therefore struggled to accommodate housing needs within the local geography while avoiding Greenbelt land. After the initial examination of the original Local Plan, WDC has been forced to consider major breaches of the Greenbelt.
At the recent February Council to consider the modified Plan there was widespread dismay across the chamber, including members from all parties. The justification cited for low density sprawl was to provide "green spaces" but this housing policy inevitably covers huge extra areas of green countryside, now also within the Greenbelt, with sprawling suburbs. It is the negation of the original purpose of Greenbelt - to contain settlements and protect adjoining countryside.
A policy of low density layouts has plainly exacerbated Warwick District's problems in providing the necessary extra housing: it is a matter of simple arithmetic in land requirements. Yet that is by no means the only effect. It also is bound to compromise the sustainability of these new developments. This is particularly evident in the provision of transport options and other local services. Historically communities have clustered and towns have functioned because of the proximity of people to local services. It became enshrined in planning policy to encourage close-knit communities as distinct from scattered sprawling development.
In the early 20th century, garden towns were proposed largely as a reaction to Victorian city slums. Circumstances have changed out of all recognition in the past century: both in housing standards and sanitation and with millions of cars now competing for road space.
The major and growing challenges of congestion, air quality and climate change are clearly recognised as critical planning issues within the NPPF.