Effect on the town of Warwick of the Revised Development Strategy

I am writing on behalf of my wife and myself to express our grave concern with regard to the Warwick District Local Plan, in response to the Consultation which closes on 29 July 2013. We have attended a number of meetings held by WDC and other interested parties over the past two years. At these meetings, virtually all present have been equally concerned by the extent to which the current Plan will have a detrimental affect on the lives of Warwick residents and will inevitably have an irreversibly damaging effect on the environment surrounding and within the historic town, causing harm to its residents, its buildings and its tourism industry. We find it inexplicable that WDC has continued to ignore the views of its residents and businesses and has persisted with what seems to be the least justifiable and most damaging of all the options available to it.

Land to the south-and south east of Warwick (Site 6)

The most serious problem with the Plan seems to be caused by the excessively high concentration of housing planned to the south-east of Warwick on what is currently agricultural land and rural 'green space'. I note that of the 12,300 homes planned in total, sites have been allocated at present for 6,630 homes, with 3,195 of these in this south-east area. Clearly this number would increase very significantly as the overall number is built up to 12,300 and the impact in Warwick of this degree of development will be compounded by that also intended by the Stratford District.

I understand that WDC has failed to identify any 'exceptional circumstances' that would enable it to build on Green Belt land to the north of Warwick and has therefore concentrated the planned development to the south-east, on this green 'Area of Restraint'. Whereas I would not advocate building on Green Belt land, the Green Belt was put in place to prevent urban sprawl from the West Midlands encroaching into the area and not because of Warwick's own potential plans. The Area of Restraint to the south is therefore equally important to the protection of Warwick's rural setting, and should be afforded the same level of protection as the Green Belt.

Projected housing need

There is no rational reason for planning so high a number of new homes as 12,300 at the present time. I understand that the actual needs of the local people over the 15-year time period have been calculated as around 5,300 homes - much less than half of that figure. There is presently no housing shortage and no demand for additional business premises, as is demonstrated by planned business developments that have not come to fruition and by, for example, the number of vacant premises on the Technology Park and other business sites in the area.

Such a quantity of extra housing would depress prices and attract incoming population, not for any reason that would have an economic advantage to the area, but simply because Warwick has the advantage of being a pleasant place to live. If all these houses are built then people will come for their own benefit, not Warwick's. It has been increasingly obvious that the town's infrastructure simply cannot support such a large increase in population and some of the issues it would raise have no clear solution, as will be noted below.

Whereas the housing demand may change in the future, a 15-year forecast, from any current projection, is unlikely to be realistic. I think we can be certain that similar forecasts made in 1998 for a period of time up to the present day would have been hopelessly wrong due to the unforeseeable degree of intervening economic and social changes. There is no reason to believe that today's estimates will be any more reliable. If a far more restrained Local Plan were put in place there is ample time, over the next decade, to make any adjustments that might prove necessary should an actual demand, from either the housing or the business sector, manifest itself.

Transport and road infrastructure

Such out-of-town developments will clearly be car-dependent, and this is where the greatest issues lie. Even if good public transport were to be provided, which seems unlikely on a commercial basis, the modern preference is always to use a car, as is evidenced by Warwick's existing problems with traffic congestion. The development to the immediate south-east of Warwick alone is likely to add 10,000 cars to Warwick's roads in due course, increased by those planned under the proposed Stratford Plan. This is an intolerable number that the local infrastructure cannot possibly accommodate.

The road enhancements planned cannot solve this problem and will only add to congestion, both in the town itself and on its outskirts. The extra lanes planned at the Myton Road/Banbury Road junction would clearly be disastrous for the town. This junction is already horrifically overcrowded, as can already be seen at any busy time. The vast majority of the traffic from Myton Road currently turns right into Warwick; likewise the vast majority of that from the Banbury Road travels straight on into Warwick. All of this traffic is immediately funnelled over the narrow, weight-restricted Avon bridge, which provides an insurmountable obstacle to traffic flow. Any additional traffic that does manage to cross the bridge will just make the present congestion in Smith Street, The Butts and Jury Street/High Street worse than ever. Creating extra lanes and introducing traffic control at that junction may shorten the length of the queues leading towards the town, but the result will be that as well as the added congestion in the town itself, traffic density on the roads immediately surrounding Warwick will certainly be far worse than at present.

Creating new business premises as a part of the new development will only make matters worse. Whereas it may be convenient to assume that incoming population in the area south-east of Warwick might also work in that area, examination of other developments, such as the Technology Park, demonstrate that this simply is not the case. The Technology Park attracts staff from all directions over at least a 30-mile radius, and many of these people travel through Warwick to get to work. Examination of the work-related travel of many people living in the Warwick area will show the reverse pattern; that many of them work outside Warwick, often on the opposite side of the town. These commuters form a significant part of the 80% of traffic that passes straight through Warwick and causes the present congestion. There is no reason to believe that people living or working in the proposed new development to the south-east would show any different patterns of travel, and Warwick will just grind to a halt. I can only imagine what effect a town that is constantly grid-locked with traffic will have on Warwick's tourism industry.

All in all, these major issues surrounding the impact of traffic in and around Warwick cause the Local Plan to fail on all three criteria for sustainability - environmental, economic and social. In these circumstances, WDC should consider a revised, and far less damaging, approach.

Air quality and pollution

I have been horrified to learn during the course of development of the Local Plan that car exhaust pollution in Warwick town centre is already higher than is legally permitted. It would seem irresponsible of WDC to contemplate developments that will make the situation worse without having any means of addressing this problem. Surely the Health and Safety of Warwick's residents and visitors should be WDC's primary concern and is a legal obligation? Bringing larger amounts of traffic closer to the town due to the road enhancements can only extend the pollution problem over a greater area. Close to Site (6), the first to suffer will be our younger generation whose schools and playing fields are immediately adjacent to the main roads.

As well as the poor air quality, pollution due to traffic noise and vibration are an increasing problem within the town. Living in Bridge End, the traffic noise has become very noticeably worse over the (almost) 25 years I have been a Warwick resident. This situation must be far worse for people actually living on the main roads or in the town centre where, as well as the noise, vibration from the traffic will be a significant factor. Not only are the people living in Warwick affected, but our historic buildings are being damaged. Any further increase in traffic would clearly make the situation intolerable and once again this will have a significantly adverse affect on tourism.

Health infrastructure

As well as the road system and traffic, such a significantly increased population will put additional strain on other infrastructure. A primary concern is whether health and hospital services will be able to cope. In particular, Warwick Hospital's (already stressed) A&E services will need to cope with a much larger population over a greater catchment area. Those needing the existing Warwick hospital from Site (6) will need to enter and cross the town by the existing congested route over the Avon bridge. As well as Warwick's own plans, the ambitious plans that I understand Stratford District Council is forming for its own large developments, just outside Warwick District, will also need to be supported by Warwick's A&E department. I have seen no evidence that this joint impact has been taken into account when considering the sustainability of WDC's plans.

As a retired person I should like to see Warwick preserved for future generations to enjoy, both for its residents and for visitors to the town. This does not necessarily mean that it should remain unchanged, but all development should be in keeping with its status as an historic county town - on a scale with, and in harmony with, its setting and environment. I fear that WDC's current Local Plan does not achieve this in any way and would urge that full consideration be given to the points raised above, with a view to producing a sustainable Plan more in keeping with the needs of the town and its residents, rather than the development aspirations of those less directly affected by the proposals as currently planned.