I have read the draft plan for the District and attended public meetings in connection with this.

I am fully aware that we need some additional housing in the Leamington/Warwick area and accept that the area south of Leamington should take a share of this development. However, the level of proposed development south of the town and the majority of it on agricultural land is excessive. As I understand it, the local need was for 6000 new houses by c. 2030; why has the District Council now proposed 12000?

My concerns are on three fronts in particular:

* Traffic congestion: whatever is done to widen Europa Way and any other roads leading in from the motorway and surrounding towns and villages, there will inevitably be a bottleneck as the railway bridge/river crossings into the centre of Leamington, causing a build up of traffic both entering and leaving the town.
* Pollution: increased traffic will increase pollution. This will be detrimental not only to historic buildings in Warwick town centre but more importantly to the health of the people also affected.
* Population: the rapid growth in population will put great pressure on hospitals and schools, to say nothing of the inevitable rise in the number of car journeys as children are ferried backwards and forwards (despite plans for school developments on the Harbury Lane site)
I would like to know where this demand is coming from? 4,000 + houses south of Leamington will attract many people currently living and working in Birmingham and other commutable distances so it is not for the benefit of local people and encouraging more car use seems very out of kilter with sustainable development. Do the local planners wish the towns and villages south of Leamington to become one large urban sprawl? Would it not be preferable to have smaller developments throughout the District which would not have such an impact on the current local communities?

In conclusion, I wish to express my strong opposition to the proposed Local Plan as it currently stands. The number of homes proposed, most of them in one area, would be detrimental both to the residents south of Leamington and Warwick and to the future of the towns themselves.