BASE HEADER

No

ID sylw: 90325

Derbyniwyd: 23/02/2025

Ymatebydd: Wendy Simmons

I object to the proposed new settlement at Bearley/Wilmcote.

Wilmcote’s roads are already unsafe due to rat-running traffic which is avoiding the congested A3400 and A46. They are dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. The proposed development would double traffic volumes. The Strategic Transport Assessment (STA) estimates upgrades to A46 alone at over £250m. This is likely to be unviable. The STA rating of amber/green for the rail network is a desktop exercise, services are infrequent with limited destinations and parking. Active travel (walking/cycling) to the stations is unrealistic due to dangerous roads and poor infrastructure. The STA acknowledges the north of the settlement would be at the extreme end of reasonable cycling distance to Stratford. The only route would be the narrow, multi-user canal towpath. National Cycle Network 5 runs north along winding country roads with no dedicated cycle lane and is unsuitable for many cyclists even before traffic increases are factored in. The proposals would therefore promote car usage.

There would be significant impacts on the Snitterfield and Bearley Bushes SSSI and irreplaceable ancient woodland. The Lepus assessment concludes this is the worst-performing site for Biodiversity. Development would also destroy habitat corridors which are crucial for biodiversity.

The Sustainability Appraisal shows housing need can be met without building on Green Belt. There are therefore no exceptional circumstances for release. Unmet needs from Coventry and Redditch would need to be met in adjoining areas. The area makes a strong contribution to safeguarding countryside from encroachment. Development would result in loss of openness and affect the character and appearance of the area. It would create a precedent for further encroachment and lead to unrestricted sprawl of built-up area into agricultural land. It is incorrect for Stratford-upon-Avon to be excluded from the definition of large built-up areas because it sits on the edge of Green Belt rather than within it. If land at the northern edge of Stratford was not intended to stop sprawl it would not have been included in Green Belt.

The scale and urbanising impact would cause significant harm to settlement character and the appearance of the landscape. Bearley and Wilmcote are distinct villages and a key aspect of their character and form is separation and areas of open, undeveloped areas at their edges. Wilmcote village is home to several listed buildings but of particular note is the Grade 1 listed Palmers Farmhouse, Mary Arden’s House and Dovecot. The conservation area encompasses most of the heritage assets and abuts rural landscape on most sides. This enhances the setting of the assets and contributes substantially to their significance. There would be impacts on the canal, a non-designated heritage asset, through loss of its historical rural setting. Development would impact the tranquillity of the area and result in noise and light pollution.

Selection of the most preferred new settlements appears primarily based on submission of land to the call for sites by landowners. In view of the recent consultation on compulsory purchase this criteria should be removed from the methodology.