Object

Representation ID: 50198

Received: 03/08/2012

Respondent: Old Milverton & Blackdown JPC

Agent: Hunter Page Planning

Green Belt Planning Policy response:
- The allocation of 1980 dwellings to the north of Leamington clearly compromises the basic function of the Green Belt in this location, which is to prevent urban sprawl;
- There are alternative sites outside the green belt which can accommodate the proposed level of housing development suggested for north Leamington;
- The plan fails to demonstrate exceptional circumstances and merely sets out an objective to distribute growth across the district;
- The development of land north of Leamington flies in the face of the greenbelt objective to avoid the coalescence of settlements;
- The Preferred Options document is ignorant of the objectives of the green belt designation;
- The concentration of growth in certain locations to the south of Leamington is not unsustainable as there is a large amount of employment land, better infrastructure and accessibility to the town centre - indeed concerns with concentrating growth at south Leamington appear contrary to to the findings of the SHLAA;
- The SHLAA assessment of the preferred option housing sites indicated that this may lead to pressure to release further land for employment use - this type of use may be bulkier and larger in scale, having an even greater impact on the openness of the green belt;
- Although there are concerns about closing the gap between Warwick / Whitnash and Bishop's Tachbrook, there is no planning policy which would suggest that this is un-sustainable or unacceptable;
- Concerns about the ability of the market to deliver high levels of growth towards the south of Leamington are not supported.