RESPONSE TO REVISED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY - LOCAL PLAN & SITES FOR GYSPIES AND TRAVELLERS
I have read the draft plan for the District and attended public meetings in connection with this and have severe concern about this revised plan. Whereas I appreciate the need for additional housing within the area including the provision of sites for Gypsies & Travellers, I contest that the scale, location and impact on the local community are totally inappropriate and not sustainable.
In more detail:
o SCALE - the housing numbers are excessively high, the RDS proposes 12000 new houses by 2030 whereas the local need is for fewer than 6000. Projections, based from the last 2011 census, by Ray Bullen (Parish cllr. Bishop's Tachbrook) show only a need for 5400, and the WDC own consultants (G. L. Hearn) for the Economic and Demographic Forecast Survey of December 2012 estimated only 4405.
For Bishops Tachbrook, the housing needs survey produced for the Parish Plans of 2010 showed a requirement for roughly 14 homes however the RDS proposes a 10-fold increase for up to 150 houses. I object to the RSD figure of 150 houses and think that 20 - 30 would be more appropriate.

o LOCATION - From the last Core Strategy survey of 2010, local residents gave a very strong response that large development south of Leamington & Warwick was not acceptable. The concentration of many 1000's of new houses in this area would cause immense pressure on the road infrastructure and lead to high levels of pollution and congestion. Distributed development over many sites and with a lesser number of houses is preferable.
The crossing points from this area to the town centres of Leamington & Warwick are limited to only 4 and whatever infrastructure improvement that are planned, these bottle-necks will persist and worsen hugely. The WDC's Strategy Transport Phase 3 Assessment (Appendix E) shows traffic speeds of 0 - 10 mph in large parts of Warwick.
Development south of the towns uses prime agricultural land currently in crop production. The transfer of this use to housing development in certainly not in the line with future needs to preserve UK food production for the future. The development would have a huge visual impact and diminish the landscape south of Harbury Lane and Gallows's Hill - in contrast to the WDC's Landscape Statement of 2009 by Richard Morris "... this study area should not be considered for urban extension and the rural character should be safeguarded from development..." .
Though the area of land south of the towns is not Greenbelt, it is not obvious why it was not designated such, and I feel that development in this area will inevitably lead to more urban sprawl to include the village of Bishop's Tachbrook.
o SUSTAINABILITY - As was evidenced by the Warwick Gates' development, new houses in excess of the local need will generate migration from larger and distant conurbations such as Birmingham, Coventry, Oxford and even London. This will produce pollution and congestion from long distant commuting either by road or train.
The population growth resulting from the plan would also put great pressure on hospitals and schools, but the RDS does not contain any evidence to show that proposed infrastructure improvements in these areas can be delivered from Developer contributions.
o GYPSY & TRAVELLER SITES - I object to the proposed sites at location 5, 10 and 15, they would put increased demand for primary school places at Bishops Tachbrook which is at capacity numbers already. And all these sites are on major and busy roads and would not present safe access.
In conclusion, I see the proposed Local Plan as a blueprint to make the towns and villages south of the Leam into one large urban sprawl. The consequent increase in congestion, pollution and pressure on services would be to the detriment both to the residents south of Leamington and Warwick and to the future of the towns themselves.
I ask that WDC takes serious concern of the views of the local residents and prepare a revised plan that has genuine democratic legitimately. As it now stands, I wish to express my strong opposition to the proposed Local Plan.