1. Object to the fact that the area has been redesignated as Kingswood, which is only a small part of Lapworth, but the number of new houses has gone up from 80-100 to 100-150. How can the area halve in size whilst the number of new houses required go up by 50%?
2. Object to Kingswood being categorised as a Primary Service village. Kingswood has a village shop, 3 pubs, a railway station and a primary school, so the basis for this classification is not transparent at best, and seemingly incorrect. Hatton and Shrewley have similar amenities but have been classified as feeder villages.
3. Object to the fact that comments are being sought on the plan when no indication has been given in the plan of the location of the proposed sites for redevelopment in Kingswood. If a single development of 100-150 new houses is being proposed, then this would completely overwhelm the current infrastructure of the village and be totally disproportionate with the rest of the housing in the area. In addition, the local public transport would not support this size of development as bus services in the area are virtually non-existent and the rail service is only reliable during the morning and evening rush hours.
4. I would support the use of infill between current housing and small developments of up to a maximum of 20 new houses spread throughout the Lapworth area, which would be much more in keeping with previous developments and the existing housing stock.
5. The local primary school has 5 classes for the 6 years at present, so some housing development could be beneficial as it may be able to expand to single class year groups. However, it would be important to ensure that expansion is feasible on the current site, or another site is identified prior to concluding on the plan, and if a decision to expand the school is made, that the school is expanded at the same time that any new houses are built.
6. Publicity on the previous draft of the plan was appalling. I was aware that the local plan was an opportunity to comment on the shape of local amenities over the next 15 years, but proposals for new housing developments was not mentioned at all. I only became aware of this particular aspect of the plan after the consultation had closed on the previous draft, which was over 12 months from the start of the process. Seemingly no effort was made to publicise the plan in rural areas of the district.