As residents of Milverton and allotment holders within the parish of Old Milverton & Blackdown we object very strongly to the proposed development in Old Milverton and Blackdown contained in Warwick District Council's Preferred Options for the Local plan.

The Greenbelt in Old Milverton and Blackdown fulfils the 5 purposes of Greenbelt set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). In 2009 after substantial investigation and public consultation WDC adopted a development plan, for slightly more homes than the present proposals, which did not require release of Green Belt land. What has changed?

According to WDC the Preferred Options have to be supported by strong evidence. The evidence presented now cannot be regarded as strong as it rests on dubious assumptions. WDC has presented a preferred plan rather than consulting on options. No options have been presented for consultation.

Apparently our allotments are not directly threatened, but even so, the proposed developments in the area would completely destroy the ambiance of our site and it would no longer be a tranquil productive place for recreation, social interaction, exercise and fresh food production for the local families and pensioners who are members of our Association.

There are many other negative implications in the proposed plan, but we are sure that these have already been pointed out by other objectors.

I wish to register my objection to the 'preferred option ' for the local plan.

My main concern is the proposed use of the green belt for building houses and infrastructure.

1 The green belt was imposed to prevent urban scrawl.

2 I was not convinced from Monday night's meeting at Old Milverton
that the violation of the green belt will stay at the outlined plan.
Once violated, it is almost certain that further inroads will be made.

3 A few years ago, 10,000 houses were going to be built not using the
green belt. I do not understand why, with 8,000 houses, it now becomes necessary to infringe on the green belt.

4 In order to build on the green belt, it will be necessary to make
roads and shops to service the new houses. All the large supermarkets are in the south of the town, and another enormous one is being added on the Ford Foundry site. To get there from the north will require a lot of new roads. Alternatively, more supermarkets will have to be built on the green belt. Small shops might be encouraged to be set up in the green belt but the majority of householders will buy their stores at supermarkets. Existing small shopkeepers will benefit from more houses in the south town.

5 Carbon emissions will increase due to more people travelling to the
supermarkets from the Green belt houses.

6 Costs of providing for sewage disposal and water and other services
will be higher from houses in the Green belt

7 In addition to houses and shops, more land will have to be given up
to building relief roads. Apart from the additional noise this will produce, it is unnecessary expense compared to having houses in the south nearer to the shops.

8 Having a relief road close to Old Milverton will help to loose its
feel of the rural village and hasten the time when it is joined up to Leamington.

9 The present green belt land is widely used by many people for
exercise. This facility will go, as will the agricultural produce and wildlife.

10 The railway and M40 are all more accessible from the South of the
town.

11 There are about 1,400 more houses than forecast proposed to be
built. If these were not built the green belt would mbot have to be violated.

12 I can envisage a lot of 'affordable' houses that no-one can afford
and a lot of empty unaffordable houses.

13 The local plan appears to be put forward as a 'fait accompli'.
The District Council offers no alternatives for the public to choose from.

14 I can't therefore see the need for building on the green belt when
there appears to be sufficient brown sites available.

Re: Proposed development at Old Milverton, Blackdown and the rest of the areas at north Leamington.
I am writing to oppose the District Council's plans to develop on Green Belt Land as shown in their 2012 Preferred Options booklet. Nothing has changed since the 2009 Core Strategy, so there cannot be any justification for these fundamental changes now.
The Green Belt
The proposals ignore Warwick District Council's study of the Green Belt land at Old Milverton and Blackdown, which concluded that these areas had high Green Belt value
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out five purposes for Greenbelt land. In summary these are, to prevent urban sprawl of built up areas, to prevent neighbouring towns merging, to protect the country side from encroachment, to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns and to assist urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of urban land. The Greenbelt land identified for development in the Preferred Option does carry out these purposes and its development would therefore be contrary to the NPPF. The proposals will reduce the" Green Lung" between Leamington and Kenilworth to less than 1 1/2 miles encouraging the merger of these two towns and their loss of independent identities.
There will be a loss of a significant amount of high quality agricultural land in Blackdown and Old Milverton.
Number of Homes included in the Forecasts
Warwick District Council has added nearly 1400 homes to the number that it anticipates will be required so as to include a "buffer" in the forecasts. If this "buffer" is removed from the forecast there is no need to include the land at Old Milverton and Blackdown in the proposals.

I would like to register my objection to the new Proposed Development Plans, you could have adopted those prepared in 2009 for the Core Strategy Plan, which did not require the extravagance of a whole new infrastructure, which we do not need.

The NPPF states that Greenbelt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances. as there are alternative sites, there are no exceptional circumstances which outweigh the harm caused by altering the Greenbelt boundaries in Old Milverton and Blackdown and allowing development on this land.

I would like to register my objection to the new Proposed Development Plans. It would be unforgivable and irresponsible of planners to damage this area of North Leamington, when with a little effort and thought they could find other more appropriate sites such as Brown or White field sites. They owe it to the residents of Leamington Spa, Warwick, Kenilworth and all those who appreciate and enjoy the area.

I am writing to oppose the current 2012 preferred options for housing in the Green Belt for Old Milverton & Blackdown.
The previous 2009 core strategy plan is direct evidence that there are alternative areas for development other than in this Green Belt. The "Very special circumstances" forwarded by WDC are clearly wrong. Developers not finding South Leamington attractive enough or less profitable have no justification for releasing this precious piece of Green Belt separating Leamington from Blackdown & Old Milverton.
WDC has already added nearly 1400 homes to the number it anticipates are needed so has to include a "buffer" in their forecasts. Surely with all the brown and white field sites readily available in Leamington/Warwick, Blackdown & Old Milverton Green Belt land should be excluded from this plan?
I sat at the meeting on Monday 16th July at Old Milverton Parish Church and listened very carefully to many highly intelligent residents including a professor, a scientist, a barrister and solicitors all asking very relevant questions about flaws in this new 2012 preferred options yet neither Bill Hunt or Councillor Doody answered any of their questions or statements of facts with anything relating to any of these highly relevant issues at all? It felt like the residents were been side tracked away from the main issues at hand for the whole meeting.
All I am sure of is that if these new local plan is adopted; it will obliterate some of the most precious pieces of green belt left in Warwickshire.
Please re-think this. Please!

Ref: Planning proposal for development in Black Down and Old Milverton/ Northern Relief Road, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire


I have recently learnt of the proposal to develop the area of Black Down and Old Milverton thereby requiring a Northern Relief Road.

I wish to register my objection to this ill thought through proposal for the following reasons.

1) The development is the wrong side of Leamington/Warwick with the result traffic will increase to get it over to the southern side where business parks, shopping malls and the motorway are located. This is evidenced by the recognized need to build a new relief road. An unnecessary expense and environmentally wasteful.
2) Appropriate development land exists on the southern side. Lower cost, right location.
3) The development will use green belt land, ignoring previous District Councils findings it should be protected


The cost and environment appears to be ignored and one is suspicious this is driven by local interests hoping to profit from the development


I have lived in Warwickshire for over 25 years and understand the need for more housing development but believe this proposal is totally inappropriate

This is my letter of objection to building on Green Belt Land in Blackdown and Old Milverton as shown in the 2012 Preferred options Plan.

I went to the meeting at North Leamington School to hear about the 2012 Preferred options Plan and was appalled at the cavalier attitude shown toward the audience and felt the officials present at the meeting considered the plan put forward as a done deal with little option available.

One only needed to look at the overall map showing the proposed development areas to realise that the council were trying to win approval for building on green belt when White and Brown land was already set aside from the 2009 plan and none of the officials seem to be able to answer WHY.

Also why are we wanting to build more houses than is required by the National plan. If we stuck to the National Plan numbers then no extra land is required thus saving building a new road plus other infra structure projects to support over 1400 houses in what is currently Green Belt.

Makes one wonder who the Officials are really representing!!! Certainly not the existing ones of North Leamington. The area of North Leamington Blackdown and Milverton is an asset to Leamington Spa. It is enjoyed by many walkers, runners riders and cyclists and should be preserved for the future of all residents including the next generation of children who deserve the opportunity to easily walk and enjoy open countryside. It would be shameful and morally wrong to build in Blackdown and Old Milverton as shown in the 2012 Preferred options Plan until you have exhausted all alternatives and checked that the number of houses you require is needed and if so found to be at least offer alternatives to the plan put forward at the moment.

We object to the proposed development in Old Milverton and Blackdown contained in Warwick District Councils's Preferred Options for the Local plan.

This land has great recreational value to the local community. It is enjoyed by many runners, riders, walkers and cyclists.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that the Government attaches great importance to Greenbelts and that the fundamental aim of Greenbelt is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open.

The Greenbelt in Old Milverton and Blackdown fulfils the 5 purposes of Greenbelt set out in the NPPF and therefore should remain as open Greenbelt land for ever. It
* Prevents
the unrestricted sprawl of Leamington to the north
* Prevents
the merging of Leamington and Kenilworth
* Helps safeguard the
countryside from encroachment
* Helps preserve the setting and
special character of Leamington (a historic town)
* Helps
urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land There are other sites which can be developed that are not in the Greenbelt. These sites, which are mainly to the south of Leamington, were included in Warwick District Council's previous plan (the 2009 Core Strategy). Employment opportunities and infrastructure already exists here, and this land should be used in preference to the Greenbelt.

The NPPF states that Greenbelt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances. As there are alternative sites, there are no exceptional circumstances which outweigh the harm caused by altering the Greenbelt boundaries in Old Milverton and Blackdown and allowing development on this land.

My husband and I had a double shock this weekend; firstly we were amazed to find out that the Ford site is going to be home to yet another supermarket . How many large supermarkets can you squeeze into a 1/2 mile radius?? We thought with the reported housing shortage, this would be an ideal spot for some affordabe housing, and well suited to people without their own means of transport. Instead, it seems that the decision was based on who can offer the biggest financial sweetener, with little thought to what the local community actually needs.

Whilst this grumble was still fresh on our lips, we decided to have a nice country stroll at the end of Guy's Cliff Avenue, and discovered the various campaign leaflets informing us that the council has now decided that the green belt is now fair game for housing developers.

We are angered by the apparent disregard for our few remaining areas of countryside and feel that a clear message should be given to the individuals that think the rules protecting the flora, fauna and rural life in these areas can be changed at a glance based on a short-sighted whim of a few narrow minded individuals. These areas cannot be replaced.

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Our objections relate to Locations 4 & 5 and 7.

The New Local Plan suggests concreting over the rapidly disappearing green belt between Leamington and Kenilworth. Once that step is taken, it is irreversible.

Our objections are as follows:

1. The land is very valuable for exercise and recreation. It is the closest green land available to us which allows users to get away from the town as it is walkable.
2. There is far more suitable land for development particuarly around Europa Way.
3. There are no exceptional circumstances to build on this green belt.
4. There are alternative non green belt sites elsewhere.
5. On page 4 of the Preferred Options booklet, you state "we want to make sure we avoid growth which could lead to existing settlements merging' but that is exactly what will happen if locations 4, 5 and 7 are developed.
6. It will drastically change the nature of the environment.

Leamington merged into Warwick many years ago. We are sure that was not what was planned. And yet your current plan ensures it will merge go on into Kenilworth. The green belt is too important for future generations to be lost forever. Please, please do not allow this to happen.

I write to lodge strong objection to the proposed plans for development of the Green Belt north of Leamington.

The Core Strategy Plan of 2009, which was adopted by WDC, did not involve this north of Leamington Green Belt. The main alternative sites south of Leamington have infrastructure to support development, have much more space and are not as close to other towns/villages as this north of Leamington proposal is.

There is a very small area of green belt between Leamington/ Blackdown/Old Milverton/Kenilworth and it is totally unsuitable for further development, which would forever ruin a delightful characterful area. There is already an enormous volume of traffic, particularly at rush-hour, along the A452, and increased traffic flow with a dual-carriageway would add further and really begin to join up two historically diferent towns, namely Leamington Spa and Kenilworth. Once this area, enjoyed by cyclists, riders, walkers, nature-lovers, peaceful countryside lovers is eroded it can never be reclaimed. I often think of Leamington's wonderful landmark Town Hall, which 'people' were so keen to pull down, but fortunately escaped through public pressure.

Any additional out of town stores would further deplete the footfall and trade at already struggling town centre shops.

The enormous cost of a development of this nature would inevitably lead to further 'use' of it, bringing ugly modern urbanisation to what is currently one of the few really attractive, original areas left. If there is to be up to 40% of social housing there would either be very bored, unfilfilled people, or there would need to be plenty of town-centre type facilities, which, for this area, is both unsuitable and impractical.

This is not a case of being a NIMBY: I do not live in any of the afore-mentioned places, but live close enough to be able to enjoy them. It is a case of practicality and appreciating what we already have and looking at more viable alternatives for development.

I live in Old Milverton with my 12 yr old son.

My son and I wish to add our strongest protests against the proposal to build on Green Belt Land in Old Milverton, Blackdown and Kenilworth.

We have yet to see any justification for the need to build so many houses in the area. Many flats and houses have been built opposite Leamington Station and on the site of the old Potterton factory off Emscote Rd in Warwick that have yet to be filled. The huge amount of houses proposed just creates another suburb of leamington/kenilworth and dominates the area. I feel greed is playing a part here.

Despite assurances from the council District council that a road will be built to the A46 it is inevitable that there will be a huge increase in traffic through our village. We live alongside the Old Milverton Rd and already find it is treated as a rat run several times a day, I would be appalled to have that increased, especially with my young son starting to cycle to school. The speed bumps further up the rd are a complete pain and just encourage drivers to speed up when they reach Old Milverton, or damage cars.

We are also deeply concerned that if we start filling the green belt land that there are no guarantees from the council about filling the in the remaining small gap that will remain between us and leamington or kenilworth.

We love Old Milverton and its unique tranquility, this needs protecting not overwhelming with unnecessary buildings.

Attached letter

I was amazed and frankly appalled to hear of the proposed plans to build on the green belt land to the north of Leamington Spa. As I'm sure you will be aware all the main services (Supermarkets / transport links etc) are located on the southern side of the town, making it a far more viable area for future development.

Although not opposed to the development of Green belt areas when absolutely necessary, there is clearly an alternative option in this case, which has not been explored fully.

As it stands building on the northern edge would also require the construction of new roads, in order to take the residents to the Supermarkets and transport links (M40 in particular) on the Southern side, which is a costly exercise, for both the public purse and the environment.

Green belt areas are not only supposedly off limits according to the national planning framework, they are also a vital part of our towns, not just pretty to look at, but also a resource. The Old Milverton area for example has a variety of leisure uses, which are not immediately apparent, but would be sorely missed once the area has become yet another suburb. Building on land such as this is also problematic, as it will undoubtedly lead to 'in fill development' where green spaces in and around the new housing projects become fair game for development - and we end up with Leamington and Kenilworth joined together by one mass suburban sprawl, which in turn merges into Cubbington, Lillington, and the Town centre.

Leamington Spa is a very special town that we should be proud of, and we should endeavour to meet our responsibilities to provide more housing for future generations whilst also maintaining the town as a place in which people would desire to live.

I do not wish to tell my Children the same thing I was told when young.
"I remember when all this used to be fields' should not be our legacy.

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See attached

Object to the proposed Town Plan that will carve through the greenbelt in the areas directly adjacent to Leek Wootton and Hill Wootton

Object to the proposed Town Plan that will carve through the greenbelt in the areas directly adjacent to Leek Wootton and Hill Wootton

I wish to strongly express my objections to Warwick District Councils proposals for the development of the green belt north of Leamington under its Local Plan Preferred Option.

The land around Blackdown and Old Milverton is about the only piece of green open space in the area that's in walking distance of Milverton, North Leamington and Cubbington. Its is used by countless runners, cyclists and walkers including myself. There is nowhere else in walking distance. Count the numbers of people who use this land for recreational purposes. Its not just a small minority, but a very large number of people in ourcommunity. The government keep telling people to be healthy and exercise. This piece of land is where local people do just that, from dog walking cycling.

This land offers possibly some of the prettiest views we have in the locality. The idea of driving road through it fills me with complete contempt for the Council. Don't ruin this area by creating an urban sprawl that will connect Leamington with Kenilworth, which in turn will dilute the identities and individuality of these places.

Everyone I have spoken to, agrees that this land needs to be preserved. I'm afraid that no one buys the line that unless you create a plan for development that somehow, an unplanned and uncontrolled series of developments will take place. Surely they would be subject to planning, and so be scrutinised also.

Public opinion is very much against these proposals. It is in your interests to listen to what the local residents are saying.
The future of this area lies in your hands, act responsibly to safeguard it for future generations.

I wish to object most strongly to the proposals in the new local plan to develop green belt land to the north of Leamington. The whole point of the green belt is to retain open land, and prevent urban sprawl and the merging of adjacent built up communities. Visitors from the USA have often commented to me how brilliant it is that we have designated green belt areas, which preserve the countryside from destruction and prevent the wholescale urban sprawl found in many parts of their country. If this planned development goes ahead, not only will it destroy a significant area of open countryside, it will bring the built up areas of Leamington and Kenilworth very close together. This will, in future years, make it harder to defend the green belt which remains, and will inevitably lead to Leamington and Warwick becoming merged with Kenilworth, and via Kenilworth with Coventry in one vast conurbation. The ultimate fate of Warwick District, then, would be to be absorbed into the city of Coventry, as many parts of the county already have (and as, for instance, Sutton Coldfield was absorbed into the City of Birmingham in 1974). I am sure this is not something which local residents or councillors wish to see happen.

I like the suggestion in the local plan of designing 'garden' areas where development occurs, but it seems to me pointless to go to this trouble while at the same time destroying beautiful countryside we already have to enjoy.

I would also like to see more joined up thinking in local planning desisions. It is obvious that our shopping habits have changed and as a result we are seeing pressure on local shops and town centres. This needs to be acknowledged in the local plan - we may not have enough houses but we certainly have too many shops. While I applaud the council's decision to allow no more out of town retail developments, it seems that permission is still being given for supermarket developments in redundant commercial premises which could have been used for housing, and which then have a detrimental effect on existing shops. Two examples are the Lidl on Myton Road which was formerly a garden centre, and which would have made a good quality canalside housing development, and now the enormous Morrisons on the Ford site, which could have been a really attractive, all residential, area. Yet, despite these additions, more supermarkets are still being proposed, for instance on the site of the Oak Inn on Radford Road, and the Total garage on Rugby Road, both of which could be used for housing. All that will happen is that existing businesses will be affected, after all, how many supermarkets can one town possibly need??!

So please:

a) No development of the green belt
b) No more supermarkets
c) All redundant commercial or retail premises to be considered for housing development before any other use.

Document scanned.

Further to my objection, already sent by email, to the preferred options in the Council's new local plan. I hope you won't mind if I send some further observations after the packed meeting at Old Milverton Church last evening.

In the long presentation residents listened to from the planning officer, although he talked regularly of having to base decisions on "evidence", there was no evidence-based justification offered for why the parcels of land in South Leamington which had been identified for development in 2010, had been removed from this new set of preferred options. What we got was a lot of supposition, "we think," and "it might reach a tipping point." And "if the government didn't accept;" (though why they shouldn't accept building on non green belt land in preference to green belt land was never made clear.) None of these arguments, in the minds of the numerous residents there, added up to "exceptional circumstances" to justify building on green belt land before non green belt land.

The mention of the three gas pipes as a barrier to development in the South seemed a minor obstacle that could easily be got around. Professional planners and architects in the audience attested they could be used as cycle paths or green pathways in the sort of mixed development the council says it favours. They certainly didn't add up to a justification to completely remove a major prime development site which isn't designated as green belt, from the list of options.

The excuse that there would be too many sites being worked on at once really doesn't hold water when the council has explained that the development will be going on over a period of 15 to 20 years. The infra-structure costs are more cost efficient in the South of the town and should be concentrated there to make a real difference to the lives of residents who live close to where their employment is most likely to be.

To spend tax-payers money on an extremely expensive relief road over valuable green belt land in the North just doesn't make any sense at all. There should be no need for it.

It became quite clear that the number of houses being planned was by the Council's own admission, far higher than their own (questionably arrived at ) projections demonstrate a need for. Again we weren't given any evidence based calculation for the final number of houses arrived at but the rather vague argument "if in the future we decided we needed some more." Is this an exceptional circumstance which justifies building on highly rated green belt land?

Councillor Doody suggested we write to make suggestions of where else the development should go. Well of course the first answer is on the non green belt land the council has itself identified. The next answer is that the place you absolutely don't start your development is on the green belt land that your own Joint Study has identified as meeting all the purposes of green belt land, of being of high value, and has recommended, "should be wholly retained within the green belt." I am referring here to the parcel of land WL7 at Blackdown/Westhill.

If you absolutely have to encroach on green belt land, which I don't believe you have demonstrated that you do, you should start on parcels of land with a lower value and you have already identified these in the Joint Study.

In terms of being a prime example of Arden character parkland, the Joint study was so impressed by the land at Blackdown that they included a photograph of it as an exemplar of the type. This land is enjoyed not just by the local residents who overlook it but thanks to a public footpath, by the very many residents of Leamington, Lillington, Blackdown and Cubbington who regularly walk over it. Furthermore the Joint Study stressed that there was already a very well defined boundary along Leicester land. To develop this land would be to subsume the hamlet of Blackdown in the sprawl of Cubbington, Lillington and Leamington which is totally contrary to Nation Planning Policy guidelines.

I would like to finish by agreeing with the speaker last night who complained that the "Preferred Options" could not be seen by any of us as "options" when there were no alternatives offered. The consultation that went on before the 2010 plan was released was a far fairer and more extensive exercise than this one has been, and it arrived at conclusions that were based on a majority view of residents based over a wide area not just in the areas affected. On this occasion residents feel they have been bounced into a totally unfair and rather speedy process and that they are faced with trying to get the Council to back down when they have already made their minds up.

My one glimmer of hope is that there were local councillors present last night who listened to the residents objections. I was hugely disappointed that as a Councillor of many years standing and as one of my representative on the council, Councillor Doody appeared to have very much made his mind up before he came. His comments as he left the meeting were disgracefully partisan and not at all in the spirit of consultation, but I trust that the others truly understand the nature of consultation and hope that they will feel able to support us in opposing the preferred options that have been put forward.

We object strongly to the proposed developments on green belt land in North Leamington.
Why not use designated brown field sites in the south of Leamington.

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