Issue and Options 2023

Don't know

The HEDNA proposes that we move away from an approach where future needs are based on 2014 household projections towards a trend-based approach. The council’s view is that there is no way anyone can say whether this is reasonable or not, since all methods are based on educated guesswork. The concept of being able to accurately predict the need in 2050 is doubtful. 5-year reviews of what is actually happening in the plan area will be critical. The fact that the projections place an even higher development burden on South Warwickshire than the 2014 figures is a cause for concern. We are not sure that the numbers involved, in terms of both employment land and housing, are actually sustainable. The burden could prove to be too high both for the countryside, the environment and our infrastructure. In addition, to cope with the projected growth there is bound to be an impact on the Green Belt. Whilst we think that Greenbelt allocation needs challenging and changing, if guidelines on building on Greenbelt land stay the same, or get stricter, a lot of options are blocked. If this were the case, we very much doubt the ability of the remaining countryside to deal with the projected growth in a sustainable way.

Issues for the Parish of Bishop’s Tachbrook The fact that the village of Bishop’s Tachbrook and the new estates around Harbury Lane are divorced from one another throughout the consultation document make it difficult to envisage the overall impact on the parish that we as councillors are responsible for. It also doesn’t really highlight the huge changes that have taken place across BT parish. Whilst we acknowledge that new housing has been positive for the parish, and we welcome new residents. However, the quadrupling of the population of the parish has threatened the rural identity of the village. Some of the sites offered in the ‘call for sites’ would dramatically cut the space between the village and South Leamington increasing the feelings, already prevalent amongst villagers, that the village is loosing its rural identity. When allocating sites in the next stage of the plan this needs to be taken into account. Referring to the above, it is great concern that none of the maps and diagrams we have looked at, contain the Country Park or Oakley Grove school. To not show them could lead to bad decision making. As an example of what this could lead to, we refer you to the Arup urban capacity map for the area. This shows the old Seven Trent waterworks site as not suitable for development when, under the WLP to 2029, part is already allocated for housing (the planning application is expected soon) and part is in the Country Park. In the consultation document the village settlement of Bishop’s Tachbrook is referred to as a small town/large village. In other supporting documents it is referred to as a small settlement. We certainly do not see ourselves as a small town and the implication that this means we could have 50-500 extra houses on top of the 200 that have been built under the WLP to 2029, fills us with trepidation. Even the lower figure of 50 houses would mean another village changing development. We think we ought to be reclassified to village status i.e. a small settlement.

Appropriate strategy

Neutral

Appropriate strategy

Appropriate strategy

Inappropriate strategy