Towns, in 2012 more than any previous time, need to remain distinctive and identifiable as separate entities. This is the challenge facing Warwick and Leamington together with outlying villages such as Old Milverton and Radford Semele.

Failure to heed this policy will lead to the 'conurbation effect' which is visible at first hand throughout the urban area of the West Midlands where once separate and distinctive towns have been 'connected up' so that today many residents have no idea which of the villages and small towns they truly belong to ( eg are we in Moseley or Kings Heath. ) The very real outcome of development west of Europa Way is likely to be an amorphous mass of housing in place of the green wedge which currently and most appealingly exists between the two towns.

It would also be directly contrary to the Council's own statements and aims in para 9.11 and para 9.13 of the earlier District Local Plan 1996 - 2011.

This endorsed the desirability of protecting areas of restraint which 'preserve open wedges that separate particular elements of the urban form' eg the west of Europa way wedge which uniquely provides an open corridor between the south Leamington urban mass and south Warwick. It is part of a longer corridor which has historically separated the two towns and helped them to maintain their individual identities ie the Avon valley past Rock Mill, the Edmonscote meadows, the Grand Union and the farmland west of Europa Way.

In para 9.11 of its Local Plan the Council itself observed that 'it is important to protect the areas of restraint from development proposals that could alter (their) predominantly open character. Their value and importance lies in their contribution to the structure and character of the urban area, providing open areas in and around towns and preserving open wedges that separate (one urban area from the next)'.

It's difficult to see how this could be better put. This is precisely the nature of the land west of Europa way. It is currently good farmland and serves as a cordon separating the towns of Warwick and Leamington making it possible for them to retain distinctive identities and loyalties.

In both 2006 and 2010 the Council rejected a proposal to remove the designation from this land using these very arguments.

In para 9.12 the earlier Local Plan observed that Government policy accepted the importance of protecting open space that contributes to the character and attractiveness of the urban areas. There is no good reason why the concept of 'sustainable development' should override this. The two objectives can be and should be compatible. If an area has been identified as an area of restraint this is because there is good cause. The related Structure Plan made it clear that areas of restraint such as this had a fundamental role in making urban areas attractive places in which to live.

One of the attractions of our District is the distinctive characters of Warwick and Leamington. Merging the two in to one urban mass will put this distinction in jeopardy. This area of restraint serves the 'fundamental role' outlined above.

It will be no surprise therefore that at para 9.13 the Council observed that, in defining and implementing Areas of Restraint, consideration had been given to the need to protect sensitive areas so as to ensure that the character and the setting of (existing) settlements is safeguarded.

In recent times therefore the Council have given consideration to the character and appearance of this very area and concluded that it should continue to be protected by an area of restraint. In the short time since that exercise, the force and basis of the arguments in favour of it being designated an area of restraint cannot have changed.

It is not as if there is no alternative which would not require the destruction of this separation belt. There is still space on the western edge of Warwick where development would not link up with any other historic entity. This land may already be allocated to non residential purposes but another business park is hardly a priority when there is so much empty space in existing ones. Some parts have been rezoned already and there seems to be no reason why the remainder cannot be treated similarly. Looking at the example of the Warwick business park where commuters living outside the town are 'bussed' from the station by their employers and to which commuting traffic travels right through the town centre it does seem that any new jobs provided may not so much benefit people actually living in the two towns (including any new housing) but people choosing to commute from further afield.

River Crossings and Road Access to Leamington and Warwick

There is another concern relating to the river crossings and the impact of large scale development south of the river on the amount of traffic routinely using them. The rivers Avon and Leam serve as a barrier between the southern districts and both Leamington and Warwick town centres.

From any development off Europa Way there are only two effective corridors, both of which are already heavily used commuter routes leading in to Warwick and Leamington respectively from the M40. Warwick is served by one river crossing and Leamington by the Princes Road and Avenue Road bridges. However the latter effectively share the same corridor as access to them is through the 'funnel' of the Princes Road Railway Bridge and the section of Princes Road bounded by the new Morrisons superstore and the retail units opposite. (If, as has been mooted, a traffic light controlled crossing is placed here to link the two, it can be expected that this 'funnel' will have even greater repercussions for the flow of traffic).

This is the reason why the Myton Road has extended periods of congestion already as traffic heads along it for one of the two north-south corridors. Anyone who regularly uses the river crossings at peak hours on weekdays or in the middle of the day on a Saturday will be aware of the high density of current traffic. Europa way itself is one long queue from end to end in the morning and evening peaks. The Ford (now Morrisons roundabout) already causes traffic to back up on both sides (along the Myton and Old Warwick Roads) largely because of the flow of traffic from and to Europa Way. At the other end of Myton Road commuter traffic using the Banbury Road in both directions (north towards Warwick or south towards the Business park) causes a similar problem

It seems extremely unlikely that there is scope for more bridge points linking north and south of the river, so we are left with what we have and the associated traffic queues generating as they do unsatisfactory levels of noise and emissions.

The development of this land will only make matters, particularly along Europa way and the Myton Road, a great deal worse both for the residents of those localities and those commuting in.