Object

Revised Development Strategy

Representation ID: 53631

Received: 26/07/2013

Respondent: Mrs Corinne Ratcliffe

Representation Summary:

Coalescence - contrary to Planning Policy.

Traffic Levels - road infrastructure will not support increase in number of cars.

HS2 - No longer a requirement for replacement housing.

Loss of sports field facility.


Full text:

I live on Westwood Heath Road not far from the junction with Cromwell Lane. My house is in Coventry and the bottom of my garden boundary is also the Warwickshire boundary. Whilst Burton Green, Coventry and Solihull meet along Cromwell Lane, there is clear division between them. Should homes be built in back-field developments, the boundaries between Coventry and Warwickshire will become extremely blurred. Coalescence will occur without a doubt, which I believe is contrary to planning policy.

Traffic volumes are very high in this area due to commuters accessing the Business Park, Science Park, University, Tile Hill Station, Network Rail HQ, local supermarkets and schools, as well as Coventry City centre. This is not just along Westwood Heath Road but also Cromwell Lane (both directions), Hodgetts Lane, and Crackley Lane has become a rat-run for commuters from Kenilworth. Coventry have restricted road access for businesses/ new housing so that all traffic has to travel on the same roads.

There are periods of the day we cannot arrive or depart from our house because of the volume of traffic, and the queues of cars can easily reach from the junction with Cromwell Lane way past Bockenden Lane junction.

The high speeds that cars reach on a straight road with a blind brow when the queue is absent, means that crossing the road is dangerous, particularly for those of us with children or grandchildren, and also the elderly.

Additional traffic at peak times will create havoc, and I really feel that the areas outlined in the new Local Plan will add intolerable strain on the road network and local residents.

As I understand it, the revised HS2 plans include a tunnel and no longer require the demolition of houses to enable the line to proceed, so there is no requirement for replacement housing in the area. In fact any potential housing development will be exposed to the HS2 line, and a sports field will be lost.