Increased risk of flooding - the fields on which the proposed development would be built contain heavy clay soil which does not easily absorb rain water and currently already regularly floods. Cubbington village has experienced devastating floods already with people being flooded out of their homes for many months and huge amounts of damage being caused to homes, businesses and cars. Properties in Parklands Avenue are also prone to flooding as surface water runs off and into Oakridge Road, Cubbington Road and Parklands Avenue. Building hundreds of new homes and tarmacing over large areas of the fields for roads, paths and drives etc. would undoubtedly increase the risk of flooding and make it even more difficult for people whose homes have already been flooded, to get insurance. Having friends whose lives were turned upside down when their homes flooded, I know the devastation it causes and having lived in Parklands Avenue for 36 years, I have seen how much water accumulates in these fields.
Need to retain the green belt - Many different species of wildlife live in the fields where the development is proposed and building on this land would remove their habitats and destroy a beautiful natural landscape. 'England's green and pleasant land' should be preserved for future generations to enjoy - once it is gone, it is gone forever. The fields are also used to grow food and with threatened food shortages in future years, food-growing spaces should be retained. Badgers are a protected species and they regularly roam and live in the fields.
Access and Road Infrastructure - It would be necessary for traffic to access the site through cul-de-sacs off Parklands Avenue which are totally unsuitable for such large volumes of traffic. the junction of Parklands Avenue/Telford Avenue/Cubbington Road is currently extremely busy, difficult to negotiate at busy times and prone to accidents and the proposed development would mean thousands more vehicles using this junction. There would also be a knock on effect on country lanes with many vehicles having to use them to access motorways and on town centre traffic as people travel to the large out-of-town retail centres south of Leamington.