Object

Representation ID: 55339

Received: 26/07/2013

Respondent: Richard Knight

The costs to the immediate locality are obvious, loss of greenbelt, greater traffic congestion particularly at peak periods, greater demand on local services such as hospitals and transport infrastructure. The area needs more jobs creating that can benefit the local economy. It should be noted that serviced based jobs do not meet that criteria.

The proposal does not take into account the shift in commercial demands. There are many commercial properties in the centre of Leamington & Warwick that lay empty as retailers shift their focus to out of town shopping centres. The plan should look at converting existing commercial premises to residential, avoiding ghost localities within towns. This approach will stop the unnecessary consumption of green field sites and utilise existing brownfield developments.

Concentrating development to the south of Warwick in preference to the more distributed pattern contained in previous plans is very poor planning and does not take into account other proposed developments such as Stratford District Council proposal of up to 4800 houses at Gaydon/Lighthorne. This will mean a total of over 8,000 new houses / 20,000 new residents living along the Gaydon to Warwick/Leamington corridor.

The areas designated for planning and major junctions from the M40 already suffer from significant traffic bottlenecks at peak periods, and the proposed developments will only exacerbate the traffic congestion.

Based on known traffic patterns, it is apparent that the proposed park and ride will be in the incorrect location.

The significant increase in air pollution arising from the additional traffic will put the health of young children further at risk. Many children attending the schools along Myton Road are already exposed to significant levels of pollutants from stationary traffic.

Protecting Warwick Castle's status as the finest castle in the UK is crucial to the town's future. Looking south over the ramparts at another 3,000 new homes will be contrary to recommendations of the Council's landscape and environmental consultants. The historic nature of the town will be irreversibly damaged. More consideration should be taken of their advice and to the preservation of the landscaped setting of the approaches to the south of Warwick.

The Bridge End area of Warwick is susceptible to flooding due to inadequate drainage, with water running down to/up from the drains. Further development will remove natural drainage and potentially increase the problem and frequency.