Object

Preferred Options

Representation ID: 47066

Received: 26/07/2012

Respondent: Mr Mark Elliott

Representation Summary:

The plan is not specific enough to allow for meaningful enough objections or support to be raised about sites in the village.

The selection of certain of the proposed sites is at odds with the executive summary for access to open spaces and the countryside.

The development within Radford Semele is at odds with the need to improve transport infrastructure.

Full text:

I would like to raise questions about the sites selected within / near the village. There are a number of sites that have been considered and documented on other parts of this website. It is difficult to raise an opinion to support or object to this plan when there is no clear preference made as to which of these sites is the most likely candidate for development. There should be a village meeting where these plans are laid out in detail and the preferences of WDC are made clear. Some of the sites proposed make more sense than others and it would be preferable to comment on specific sites as opposed to the general principle of development of Radford Semele.

In terms of comments on the general principle the executive summary of the town plan states that the approach:
* Seeks to ensure that open spaces, access to the countryside and habitats are improved
* Seeks to ensure that road infrastructure and other physical infrastructure (such as schools) is improved to
reduce the need to travel and to enable improvements to quality of life for all

On the first of these bullet points I would note that a number of the sites assessed in Radford Semele impact open fields that contain rights of way. Development of these sites would be at odds with the approach outlined in the executive summary. Proposed sites leading onto open countryside should rank lower than sites that are infill or that do not lead onto open countryside.

For the second of the bullet points development of Radford Semele would be detrimental to road infrastructure. The reason for development is to be able to facilitate the housing of an increased population presumably employed in the county council area. However new employment is unlikley to be in this village. Thus the number of journies will be increased for new residents travelling to work in other parts of the council area. New housing in Radford Semele could therefore be argued to be at odds with this second bullet point taken from the executive summary.