The New Local Plan (NLP) Preferred Option:Flooding and Water - PO18

I am writing to register my objection to the development of site identified as East Milverton within the proposed Warwick District Council (WDC) Development May 2012.

Whilst acknowledging the need for additional housing during the period 2014-2029 and the overall approach; the Preferred option in its current form, (i) goes beyond identified housing need at the expense of the
Green Belt, (ii) ignores national planning policy guidelines for development of Green Belt, and (iii) does not recognise other development opportunities that are better suited to development and more consistent with WDC's own stated sustainable growth objectives and evidence base.
Developing East Milverton is not consistent with PO18 ...reduce the risk of flooding; keep the effects of climate change (including the effects on habitats and wildlife) to a minimum, and support healthy lifestyles.

There are strong grounds for environmental concern regarding proposed development of the site.
The Strategic Housing Land Availability Site Assessment for Leamington Part 1 identifies that:
* a part of the site falls within a flood zone 3A and implicitly should not be developed;
* it contains a Water Source Protection Zone and an area of Groundwater Vulnerability, which would require consultation with and permission from the Environment Agency before any encroaching development. We know from a past pollution incident from the Nuffield Hospital, and related correspondence, that the Environmental Agency view this Zone/area with extreme seriousness.
* it would result in the extensive loss of Grade 2 agricultural land which both contributes to a sustainable economy and to the character of the landscape.