1. The proposed modifications may address the shortcomings of the local plan which were identified by the Inspector in his letter dated June 2015 which followed his examination dealing primarily with the numbers of houses to be provided in the new plan. That examination did not deal with many other aspects of the plan to which objections were submitted, and the new plan does nothing to address these shortcomings which alone may be considered significant enough to make the plan unsound. Therefore, the original objections still stand and must not be omitted from any further examination of the plan.
2. The unaffordable transport proposals on which the plan was based were subject to serious objections as they were unworkable. The impact of the new development areas (including those permitted under recent planning consents) on transport plans has not been satisfactorily explained or exposed to public scrutiny and, hence, must still be regarded as unsound.
The conclusions of the WDC - Strategic Transport Assessment, Final Phase STA of Feb 2016 hardly make a convincing case.
8.7 Performance of the WLWA RDA & NS model
* Journey times & speeds will worsen across the network as a result of the additional housing sites but despite these impacts it is likely that the additional mitigation measures will be able to, at least in part, accommodate the additional traffic volumes generated by the new sites. I would hardly call this an encouraging endorsement of these plans. As I have mentioned previously none of the mitigation measures addresses the biggest bottleneck in the area namely the listed single lane Warwick Briodge.
* The junctions on either end of Myton Road could potentially constrain traffic volumesin the area but further work is needed to determine an optimum solution in this area. It goes on to warn that the impacts of these ' mitigations' must take into account how they could affect the town centres of Warwick & Leamington.
* Queueing issues are observed accessing Warwick Town Centre and the M40 Junction 15 that merit further investigation. It then goes on to speculate that these issues are not likely to become severe until such time as the volume of housing approaches 100%.
* The introducing of signal proposals along the A452 to the north of Leamington may introduce additional delays despite a wider dualling strategy being proposed. Further work on these implications is recommended.
Not much of a convincing case here. What is all this going to do for airquality - surely this has to be a key factor in these plans.
3. The inspector into the appeal against the proposed development at the Asps agreed the importance of ensuring there should be no new development adjoining the Banbury Road on the southern approach to Warwick because of its potential impact on the settings of the Grade 1 listed Warwick Castle Park, the Grade 1 listed Warwick Castle and the Warwick Conservation Area. In the event, the development was permitted by the Secretary of State who, despite accepting the Inspector's view of the importance of these factors, agreed to the development on the basis, principally, that (in the absence of an adopted local plan) satisfying the predicted demand for housing should take precedence. Now, however, the anticipated demand for housing can be met within the new plan and there is the opportunity to plan to safeguard the remaining important open areas from development. For this reason we object to the allocation for housing of the land east of Banbury Road and at the northern end of Gallows Hill, known as "The Strawberry Field." - which would be even more damaging and which is, in any case, liable to flooding.
This photo [NOT INCLUDED HERE - SEE ORIGINAL E-MAIL] was taken of the land just south of the Banbury Road, Gallows Hill Road Junction.
At the Asps appeal the WDC opposed the building of housing on the Asps, & Gallows Hill South. The Inspector for that appeal found in favour of the WDC and the Rule 6 Save Warwick Group as far as the Asps was concerned. However, on looking at the Map 2 of Mod PM 2A Gallows Hill, Asps & Myton School, I see that the WDC have merged Gallows Hill South and Gallows Hill North (Strawberry Field ) into one area labelled H46A. Why have they done this, it is a complete ' volte face' and I am unaware of any consultation between WDC and the Save Warwick Group on this move. Strawberry Fields represents the last Green Field lung to this area of South Warwick, and does not need to be included for sufficient housing numbers to be reached. The Secretary of State has already seen to that, and furthermore as already shown above the bottom end is prone to flooding. Surely this last section of green field should be preserved.
Regarding the Local Plan I do not consider it Legally Compliant nor Sound.
I consider the Proposed Modification is unsound because it is neither effective nor consistent with National Policy.