BASE HEADER

Gwrthwynebu

ID sylw: 6849

Derbyniwyd: 22/09/2009

Ymatebydd: Lindsay Green

I should like to express serious concern over possible application by Warwick District Council to approve building on a large scale on the Green Belt adjacent to Green Lane in Coventry on the land at King's Hill. My concerns over the use of the land include the following:

Access

* Green Lane is a narrow and busy road, usually with cars parked most of the way down one side, leaving only one lane shared by traffic moving in both directions. It also has a twenty mile-per-hour speed limit and speed humps

* King's Hill Lane is long, very narrow, and also difficult for any larger vehicles to navigate. Even with current traffic levels it is hazardous for cars, cyclists and pedestrians. It is also used regularly by horse riders

* Access to the A46 is not easy. Stoneleigh Road is an extremely busy main route to Warwick University, its junction with King's Hill Lane being very dangerous

* The A46 and other roads around the Stoneleigh area are heavily congested with commuters with considerable traffic for Warwick University and the Westwood Business Park

* The Kenilworth / Coventry square of land is surrounded by a network of rural roads as well as the A46. These roads would not be able to cope with the additional traffic and massive pinch points would be created. The A46 itself may be able to deal with greater throughput but a similar problem would occur as that volume hit the A45 (which is already very busy) and smaller city entrance roads

* A primary and a secondary school are both situated on Green Lane, with the resulting traffic at certain times of day making surrounding streets severely congested. The roads could not take extra traffic generated by a large housing development. Extra traffic here would be a serious danger to schoolchildren

* Availability of parking is already a serious problem in Green Lane, Gretna Road and surrounding roads

* Green Lane itself is on the main bus route and at present buses have to negotiate parked cars all the way down the road, relying on finding gaps in parking to allow traffic to pass them when coming from the other direction. This problem would intensify were there more traffic caused by the massive increase of houses, and more potential passengers for the buses possibly leading to an increase in their frequency.

Social Factors

* The local schools are already over-subscribed and, should children from the new development be eligible to attend them, would be unable to take the resulting increase in numbers. Should the children as residents of Warwick District not be eligible there would at present be no local schools available to them. Either further building would be necessary or more car-journeys to ferry them to Warwickshire schools

* There are no facilities for children such as playparks

* The bus service is very limited

* There is no local community centre or entertainment provision

* The local shops are inadequate

* A massive amount of buildings would have to be created in addition to the houses to address the above issues adequately, with even more Green Belt land being lost.
There has not been an adequate Traffic Study undertaken; it is essential this is done before any decision is made on which land is suitable. Impact studies need to be done, not in the school holidays as I gather many have been undertaken in the past

* costs of providing infrastructure are I understand to be met by the developer, however it is unlikely any developer would be happy to spend the massive sums required for the upgrade of the sewerage workings needed for several thousand houses. Similarly, estimates have not been produced for the cost of improving inadequate infrastructure. Again this needs to be settled before any land is earmarked.
* the provision of open space is essential in any modern housing plans. The density of what is proposed would result in no land left free for this