Dear Planning Manager,
I wrote previously to express concern about the proposal to site development on green belt land to the north of Leamington, and I am pleased that the Council is no longer pursuing this option. I understand the Council has now recognised that Exceptional Circumstances to develop the Green Belt to the North of Leamington do not exist.. As I wrote earlier, it is vital to preserve the limited green space between Leamington and Kenilworth, otherwise there is a real risk that Leamington and Warwick will merge with the West Midlands conurbation.
The Revised Development Strategy proposes that a substantial proportion of the new development is located close to where there are employment opportunities (to the South of Leamington & Warwick) providing an opportunity for people to live close to their place of work. Furthermore there is almost unlimited green space to the south of Leamington where the nearest town is Banbury. So long as the infrastructure of roads, shops, schools and community facilities really is put in place, this seems the most sensible option.
However, I would question whether so much green field development really is needed. There are so many empty commercial properties and existing brownfield sites in the district that I believe the Council should be prioritising these for residential development before considering greenfield development. For instance, the Ford site in Leamington could all have been residential, instead of only a small part of it.. The addition of another supermarket there was unnecessary, and will only detract from the viability of the ones we already have. The supposed office development on the site we are now told has attracted no interest, so this should become housing rather than more retail.
The Council really must make change of use to housing a priority strategy in the local plan, rather than just planning new residential areas.