Comment

Gypsy and Traveller Site Options

Representation ID: 59295

Received: 13/07/2013

Respondent: Andrew Jones-Owen

Representation Summary:

The land to the South East of the Leamington Golf and Country club can be accessed safely from Golf Lane, has safe access to a number of schools in both Whitnash and Sydenham. This land is not over looked and will have less visual impact than GT04.

Full text:

I am writing to lodge an objection to the proposal for a travellers site GT04 at the end of Middle Road on land off the Fosse Way. I do not believe that this land meets the local authority policy criteria:



** Convenient access to a GP surgery, school, and public transport;



The nearest doctors surgery has no capacity for the level of additional patients that will need access to a GP surgery.

The local primary and secondary schools are already at capacity.

Although there are bus services that pass this site there is real safe means of the buses stopping in this location due to the high level of traffic on teh fosse way. Any off Fosse bus stops would require the use and crossing of an unpaved very busy road that already has a significant accident record.



** Avoiding areas with a high risk of flooding;



This is a flood risk area and often floods. There is a river running to the North of the site that can regularly breach and would flood the land.



** Safe access to the road network and provision for parking, turning and servicing on site;



This area of the Fosse Way is a high risk travel route with more than
12 serious incidents in the last 3 years. Being a regular cycling to
work I sometimes find myself waiting for up to 10 minutes to cross this
road in the morning due to the high level of traffic travlling to the
Jaguar LandRover Gaydon site. I also avoid cycling along the Fosse as
it is not wide enough for cars and cyclists and use the National Cycle
route to the North of the proposed site a a safe means of getting to
Radford Semele via Whitnash.



** Avoiding areas where there is the potential for noise and other
disturbance;



The proposed site will have a visual impact from Harbury and from teh
Fosse Way.



** Provision of utilities (running water, toilet facilities, waste
disposal, etc);



The proposed site has no mains gas, mains sewerage or drainage. The
nearest water source is a stream which is the opposite site of the
National Cycle route. This stream may be the used as a source of water
and also as a drainage/waste means and in this case there will be a
risk to teh health of the travellers and also there will be an imoact
on the local habitat. This will also result in the cycle route
becoming part of teh travellers site which could inhibit passage and
require people using this route safely to use the Fosse Way and thus
increasing the risk to teh local community of any accidents on the
Fosse Way.



** Avoiding areas where there could be adverse impact on important
features of the natural and

historic environment;



See above for potential damage to the water course.



** Sites which can be integrated into the landscape without harming the
character of the area



The site will have a visual impact from Harbury and the Fosse Way.



This site is also close to the main Cross Country rail line with high
volumes of rail traffic. Althouggh Network Rail have reasonable
boundaries then there is the possibility that these boundaries may not
be robust and that children could get on to the rail lines. The
Council would have to assess these boundaries and complete a risk
assessment to ensure that this risk is mitigated.



If this land had to be used then a suggestion would be that the land to
the South East of the Leamington Golf and Country club is more
appropriate in this vacinity. It can be accessed safely from Golf
Lane, has safe access to a number of schools in both Whitnash and
Sydenham. This land is not over looked and will have less visual
impact.