BASE HEADER

Gwrthwynebu

ID sylw: 6850

Derbyniwyd: 22/09/2009

Ymatebydd: Lindsay Green

Character of the area

* The land on which the building is being proposed is extremely productive farmland. At a time when the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn is stating that British farmers will in future have to produce much more food in order to combat the effects of global warming and population growth, it is totally unacceptable that valuable arable land might be used for building

* In a highly built-up area such as the West Midlands it is important to preserve Green Belt for people, wildlife, and for the environment in general

Safeguard of resources

* The local farmland is highly productive.

* Close to the junction of Green Lane and Gretna Road there exists a bore hole for extracting water, a resource which is becoming increasingly valuable, this drawing its water from the local fields. In addition St Martin's Road has a natural spring. The quantity and quality of the water produced through water sources could be at risk by major development.

Quality of land

* King's Hill Lane is prone to surface water and flooding. Any building on the land here would leave less ground for water to soak away, this increasing the likelihood of flooding

* Finham Sewage Works is situated adjacent to the land, with resulting smells especially in summer.
Precedent
* There is a risk that a decision to allow building on the Green Belt adjacent to Green Lane could clear the way for similar decisions to be made regarding other protected Green Belt sites, resulting in a gradual erosion of this irreplaceable resource. In the case of the Warwick District Council bid the application is not for an extension to one of Warwickshire's centres of population, but one for a new centre of population a long distance from a Warwick town or village, and as such is either an extension to the City of Coventry or a new Warwickshire town
Environmental factors

* King's Hill contains many ancient hedgerows with associated wildlife

* the presence of (among many others) bats, newts, badger setts, a variety of woodpeckers, all of which would be at risk

* the ancient Wainbody wood, although protected and not to be earmarked for building, would in any case be severely damaged by overuse by large numbers of people, bikes etc

* damage to hedgerows would mean the destruction of a complete ecosystem, not just of endangered species