I write to support, albeit reluctantly, the Revised Development Strategy
I am pleased that the Council has recognised that their are no actual Exceptional Circumstances to develop the Green Belt to the North of Leamington and that as a consequence the proposal to develop here has been thrown out. Recognition that the greenbelt is there to prevent urban sprawl is vital to preserve the limited green space between Leamington and Kenilworth, otherwise there is a real risk that Leamington and Warwick will merge with the West Midlands conurbation.
The Revised Development Strategy proposes that a substantial proportion of the new development is located close to where there are employment opportunities, the road network to the south of Leamington allows fast access to Coventry and Birmingham via the A46 and or M40 which can easily cope with any additional traffic from development to the South of the town as well as the work opportunities to the South of Leamington providing an opportunity for people to live close to their place of work. Furthermore there is almost unlimited green space to the south of Leamington where the nearest town is Banbury.
The Revised Development Strategy removes the proposal to build 2000 houses on the North Leamington Green Belt. Through the better use of Brownfield sites I understand that only 325 further houses are proposed on Greenfield land than was proposed in the Preferred Options for the Local Plan published last year.