Object

Representation ID: 67272

Received: 15/12/2014

Respondent: Hazel and Robin Fryer

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

The Atkins study is not an objective inquiry into land available in Coventry and Warwickshire. It repeats previous reports by comparing existing sites with commercial planning consent with an area of green belt without consent. it fails to compare with other green belt sites to the north and west of Coventry which have the same green belt status as Baginton and could be made as major employment sites. The Meriden Gap, Coundon Wedge and open land south of the M6 are all much closer to areas of deprivation. The Atkins report makes reference to high levels of worklessness in Binley and Willenhall wards but this not equate to the City Council's figures. The proposed site is too far from the areas in greatest need, Foleshill, Nuneaton and North Warwickshire. Report does not explain how these areas which have the lowest rates of skilled workers will benefit from the presence of high tech design and research facilities. There is already an unbalance of workers in the area, development of the site will make it worse. The report states that accessibility by public transport is good however this relies on improvements being made a claim which could be made for any site. The level of commuting to the site would not be sustainable development. The fundamental problems in locating the site in the small village of Baginton have not been addressed by the report It is in opposition with the Governments stated aims of reducing the need to travel, to reduce energy consumption, to reduce CO2 emissions and creating sustainable communities. The current local plan proposals do not identify a sub region but identify the site to be necessary to meet sub regional needs. The term is confusing and the only defined plans are those which form the disbanded RSS which sought to stop the outflow of workers from urban centres to surrounding rural areas . The RSS recommended that new development should be away from Warwick District and into regeneration zones. The County Council incorporated this aim into its own Structure Plan. The RSS is used as the evidence base for the logistics park however this concluded that sites for warehouses must be served by road and rail at a transport hub. The Atkins report does not address the lack of a rail connection. The claim that the logistics park is part of the automotive supply chain is unsupported and counter to recent evidence which indicates a shift eastwards to the Birmingham / Black Country urban region.