We wish to submit our comments on the following modifications;
H64A. We wish to object to the inclusion of the land which does not currently hold a planning consent for development (i.e. land locally known as "the Strawberry Field"
For good reasons the Council did not include this site, together with the Asps and the land south of Gallows Hill in the previous draft of the Local Plan, and subsequently expended considerable effort and resources in defending two of those three at appeal. The inspector at the Asps inquiry recognised the importance of that site in terms of the impact of its development on Warwick Castle Park, and it is regrettable that the Secretary of State chose to over-rule her recommendation.
However, we do not consider that the loss of two of these three sites should automatically be considered a reason for abandoning the third to development also. The reasons for objection to the first two remain valid, in spite of the damage which will be caused by the now existing consents. The preservation of the openness of this piece of land would still enhance the setting of Warwick Castle Park and retain a little of the designed intent of the approach to and departure from Warwick. Added to this, the cumulative impact of additional traffic on the historic environment of the closer approach to Warwick and within the historic town should remain a reason for excluding this site. There should no longer be an argument of lack of housing land supply which was the reason for the Secretary of State ignoring the advice of the Asps inspector and we believe that exclusion of this site from the plan would be defensible.
DSNEW3.1 and 3.2. We welcome the stated intention of producing a masterplan to sensitively respect the locally listed park and garden at Woodcote when considering proposals for new development there.