Object

Representation ID: 6780

Received: 25/09/2009

Respondent: ed boyle

With respect to Kings Hill it did excluded Wainsbody Wood as an ancient and preserved woodland from its plan. It is also a registered wildlife habitat.

Object

Representation ID: 6802

Received: 10/09/2009

Respondent: Barry Stelfox

I object to the plans to build a housing estate of 3250 home at Kings Hill, Finham as shown on the above document.

These properties have been shown as "Coventry's" although Coventry claim to be unable to provide within their own boundary yet admit to having 4500 empty properties within the City. They are also unprepared to advise on certain aspects of their long term plans.

I read your report as a contradiction of wanting to build yet stating a case for the protection of Green Belt and also not wanting to merge communities.

Location.

Kings Hill is in Warwickshire and is land betwixt A46, Stoneleigh Road, Kenilworth Road and Green Lane.

It is already in Green Belt and protected until 2010. It was advised this protection is to continue at a recent meeting held at Finham Primary School.
You state you wish the Green Belt to maintain separation between towns, yet your plan shows the commencement of disregarding this point.

You state you want to protect the Green Belt that separates the town (Kenilworth) from the urban area (Coventry) to the north, yet your plan shows the commencement of disregarding this point.
You want to protect and improve the quality of existing open spaces and sports facilities, yet you want to build on a Green Belt open space.
"to protect the most important areas of Green Belt that separates the town from the urban area of Coventry to the north"... yet you would allow Coventry's overspill to be built upon it.
The Council would need to demonstrate exceptional circumstances in order to remove this land from the Green Belt. Exceptional circumstances have not been given. However, I interpret this statement to be that this build at Kings Hill is being imposed upon you.
Open spaces can underpin the quality of people's lives yet you want to build upon the Green Belt. A contradiction.
Adequate protection should be given to parks, green corridors and open spaces; yet you want to build upon Green Belt.
Your preferred option is to protect and improve the quality of existing open spaces, yet you want to allow building on Green Belt viz: Kings Hill.

Object

Representation ID: 6806

Received: 13/09/2009

Respondent: J A & P L Robinson

We wish to object specifically about the development in the area of restraint to the west of Europa Way. This area had been identified as an area of restraint at the time of planning the Warwick Technology Park. It was put forward as an untouchable green buffer zone to separate Warwick from Leamington Spa, to prevent the two towns becoming one urban sprawl. The Core Strategy Preferred Option would severely damage the character of this area.
Furthermore, the land West of Europa Way (1E) is rich agricultural land which has been under the careful stewardship of the Oken Trust and Henry viii Trust. There are also wide green hedges providing habitats for many species including woodpeckers, buzzards, bats, foxes, the occasional deer, as well as newts, hedgehogs etc.
We object to the fact that the area of restraint (1E) is one of the first to be developed under the proposals, and should with immediate effect be designated as the last site to be developed so as to protect this area until a viable alternative is found, and the potential change in government and associated policies occur.

Object

Representation ID: 6813

Received: 13/09/2009

Respondent: Dr Caroline Robinson

We wish to object specifically about the development in the area of restraint to the west of Europa Way. This area had been identified as an area of restraint at the time of planning the Warwick Technology Park. It was put forward as an untouchable green buffer zone to separate Warwick from Leamington Spa, to prevent the two towns becoming one urban sprawl. The Core Strategy Preferred Option would severely damage the character of this area.
Furthermore, the land West of Europa Way (1E) is rich agricultural land which has been under the careful stewardship of the Oken Trust and Henry viii Trust. There are also wide green hedges providing habitats for many species including woodpeckers, buzzards, bats, foxes, the occasional deer, as well as newts, hedgehogs etc.

Object

Representation ID: 6829

Received: 18/09/2009

Respondent: Paul, Elizabeth & Thomas Karnik

Firstly we would point out the lack of dispersal of
We wish to strongly object specifically about the development in the area of restraint to the west of Europa Way. This area had been identified as an area of restraint at the time of planning the Warwick Technology Park. It was put forward as an untouchable green buffer zone to separate Warwick from Leamington Spa, to prevent the two towns becoming one urban sprawl. This was identified by my lawyers when conducting a search when looking to move here and was a prime reason in the decision to buy the house in which I now live.
The Core Strategy Preferred Option would severely damage the character of the area and create urban chaos and loss of identity of the two towns.
Furthermore, the land west of Europa Way (1E) is rich agricultural land which has been served well under the careful stewardship of the Oken Trust and Henry VIII Trust. The local farmer also serves the land well and its wonderful to hear the sounds of the country on a summers morning when waking up. You are threatening to completely destroy this with your proposal. There are also wide green hedges providing habitats for many wildlife species including woodpeckers, buzzards, bats, foxes, deer as well as newts and hedgehogs. Its also a wonderful rural area where walking the dog is an absolute pleasure.

Object

Representation ID: 6845

Received: 23/09/2009

Respondent: SEAN DEELY

In order to deliver the housing and employment development land required as a result of the allocation provided by the Regional Spatial Strategy, the option that is proposed requires the loss of high quality agricultural land, for example the land to the south of Harbury Lane, Woodside farm and the current area of restraint along Europa Way.

The Tach Brook valley has great natural beauty and provides natural separation helping to give Bishops Tachbrook a village identity, which it has managed to maintain over many hundreds of years. This separation and identify will be significantly eroded if the farmland to the south of Harbury Lane developed for housing and employment land, as proposed.

This preferred option proposal does not recognise the rising concerns over world population growth and the view recently expressed by Hilary Benn, that as a nation we need to prepare for being self sufficient in food production.
The assessment that have been carried out on the available sites needs a detailed further review. An alternative study carried out by professionally qualified fellow villager Ray Bullen (Ray has submitted a summary of his study to you) has concluded that the potential for a number of these sites is somewhat different to the picture presented in the Preferred Options Paper. This demonstrates that there is the potential to reduce the proportion of Grade 2 agricultural land from 88% to 57%. This difference of professional opinion needs to be resolved before this can be taken further.

Object

Representation ID: 6850

Received: 22/09/2009

Respondent: Lindsay Green

Character of the area

* The land on which the building is being proposed is extremely productive farmland. At a time when the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn is stating that British farmers will in future have to produce much more food in order to combat the effects of global warming and population growth, it is totally unacceptable that valuable arable land might be used for building

* In a highly built-up area such as the West Midlands it is important to preserve Green Belt for people, wildlife, and for the environment in general

Safeguard of resources

* The local farmland is highly productive.

* Close to the junction of Green Lane and Gretna Road there exists a bore hole for extracting water, a resource which is becoming increasingly valuable, this drawing its water from the local fields. In addition St Martin's Road has a natural spring. The quantity and quality of the water produced through water sources could be at risk by major development.

Quality of land

* King's Hill Lane is prone to surface water and flooding. Any building on the land here would leave less ground for water to soak away, this increasing the likelihood of flooding

* Finham Sewage Works is situated adjacent to the land, with resulting smells especially in summer.
Precedent
* There is a risk that a decision to allow building on the Green Belt adjacent to Green Lane could clear the way for similar decisions to be made regarding other protected Green Belt sites, resulting in a gradual erosion of this irreplaceable resource. In the case of the Warwick District Council bid the application is not for an extension to one of Warwickshire's centres of population, but one for a new centre of population a long distance from a Warwick town or village, and as such is either an extension to the City of Coventry or a new Warwickshire town
Environmental factors

* King's Hill contains many ancient hedgerows with associated wildlife

* the presence of (among many others) bats, newts, badger setts, a variety of woodpeckers, all of which would be at risk

* the ancient Wainbody wood, although protected and not to be earmarked for building, would in any case be severely damaged by overuse by large numbers of people, bikes etc

* damage to hedgerows would mean the destruction of a complete ecosystem, not just of endangered species

Support

Representation ID: 6910

Received: 24/09/2009

Respondent: Budbrooke Parish Council

PC response to consultation: Budbrooke Parish Council have considered the proposals and are pleased to report are in the process of conducting a Housing Needs Survey which will define what is actually needed in the parish. Budbrooke wishes to fiercely protect its green belt land. As BB is not on the drawings/plans at present the PC wish to preserve & protect this area & would therefore be in favour of the current proposals, providing the infrastructure is in place. For example, should the proposed large development south of Heathcote / Warwick Gate happen, it should be guided by the problems of peak time access, lack of amenities etc. as has been experienced in other local and much smaller developments.
However, rather than being told what to do the PC feel Parishes and villages should have a say in what they actually need & want rather than have such large development imposed.

Comment

Representation ID: 6915

Received: 24/09/2009

Respondent: Warwick Town Council

A further aspect, which is of great concern, is the intention within the Preferred Options to remove the green spaces which have served as historic boundaries within the areas south of the river. This has the effect of sundering historic identities and creating an area of urban sprawl. A preference difficult to accept, when elsewhere in the Development Plan Document landscape is identified as a key part of the environment, which provides a setting for towns and villages, and the Town Council would expect that the policy should apply in all the District.
Nor should the GOWM's directive that areas of restraint should be developed be accepted, when such a proposal is directly opposed to the views of the community. In this circumstances elected representatives must reflect the views and wishes of the electorate. Certainly when considering development elsewhere, the green space areas which distinguish and separate towns and villages has been recognised by the District as a very basic requirement which should be preserved and retained.
The scheduling of development is also an issue, and the Town Council and residents consider that development of all green field sites, including those in areas of restraint, should not be developed ahead of windfall and brown field sites. The Town Council therefore request that windfall and brown field sites should be developed ahead of green field sites and commence in 2011 and not as scheduled in the option strategy.
The Town Council calls on the District Council to retain the green space which distinguishes and separates the towns of Kenilworth, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwick Whitnash and other areas of the District.
To avoid the serious detrimental impact on the environment, which would arise from locating the bulk of housing in close proximity to existing development, creating continuous urban sprawl.

Comment

Representation ID: 6918

Received: 24/09/2009

Respondent: Mr Steve Williams

We are opposed to building on green belt when there are brownfield sites available but not utilised.

Object

Representation ID: 6962

Received: 25/09/2009

Respondent: Bishops Tachbrook Parish Council

Natural Environment
The Parish Council does not agree that all reasonable options have been identified. Areas of restraint are not a sufficient instrument to adequately protect the environment. This is demonstrated by the ease with which the existing areas of restraint are being rubbed out by the Preferred Options Paper. They amount to window dressing and do not, in reality, offer any additional protection over Rural Area Polices. AORs need to have the same status as green belt. Further thought needs to be given to how protection to the natural landscape can be increased. Rural Area policies apply to all the real countryside. Greenbelt is an artificial measure to prevent conurbations joining where severe pressure for development would otherwise occur. But this makes real countryside ie from the south of Leamington to the Oxfordshire boundary less protected than greenbelt. Hence the current attack on greenfield by WDC in an attempt to satisfy unreasonable demands of the government.
As conservation is onerously rigorously enforced to old buildings, it also ought to be applied to landscapes and countryside in so far as development is concerned.
The proposed AOR north of Bishops Tachbrook must be extended to Harbury Lane to the north, to Europa Way to the west and to the Fosse Way to the East. It will be meaningless if it cannot be given the status of Green Belt. Existing AOR‟s should be respected and maintained. We do not support the Council‟s Preferred Option.

Support

Representation ID: 7021

Received: 24/09/2009

Respondent: Norton Lindsey Parish Council

Support.

Support

Representation ID: 7032

Received: 16/09/2009

Respondent: Old Milverton & Blackdown JPC

The Parish Council maintains that the Green Belt of the district should be maintained and protected.

Comment

Representation ID: 7053

Received: 25/09/2009

Respondent: Warwick and Leamington Green Party

The natural environment is that which supports us : any incursion into this will lead yet further and faster to the downfall of the biosphere and humankind with it.
Greenfield sites are those which provide our food and therefore our food security. Losing yet more green fields to building is courting disaster and cannot, must not, be allowed.

Object

Representation ID: 7062

Received: 25/09/2009

Respondent: Finham Residents Association

The overspill policy in particular will result in the loss of much valued Green Belt land and agricultural land in a time when we should be concentrating on more home produced food. The Green Belt land has a significant environmental role and prevents the spread of urban sprawl

Object

Representation ID: 7100

Received: 25/09/2009

Respondent: CPRE Warwickshire

We note that the first paragraph of the proposed Preferred Vision for the District refers to the ...attractive rural landscape of open farmlands and parklands etc... We deplore the proposals which are an onslaught on so many hectares of this valuable and vital heritage.

Comment

Representation ID: 7103

Received: 25/09/2009

Respondent: CPRE Warwickshire

Strongly support retention of existing Green Belt designations and their selective expansion where this would help deliver more sustainable patterns of development. Green Belt policy has been outstandingly successful in delivering prime objective of urban containment and is one of best understood and most popular planning measures with public. Green Belts provide access to open space for urban population - oppose any relaxation of green belt policy unless exceptional circumstances.
Any review of Green Belt designations should be based on clear understanding that such changes would promote all objectives of sustainable development. Any review should not undermine need to prevent urban coalescence or objectives of Green Belt.

Comment

Representation ID: 7132

Received: 17/11/2009

Respondent: Severn Trent Water

Severn Trent Water Ltd's (STWL) sewage treatment works at Finham should be designated as a Major Developed Site (MDS) in the Green Belt.
It is not sensible for STW to have to demonstrate "very special circumstances" for development that is clearly "appropriate" on a large, brownfield, operational site.

Object

Representation ID: 7157

Received: 07/09/2009

Respondent: Mrs Dawn Moir-Harris

If we continue to destroy 'green belt' land in this country - we will eventually be an island of buildings. this county is the envy of the world for its diversity of countryside, its breathtaking beauty. For every square foot of land destroyed to build more houses - we not only destroy the trees, land and plants - we also destroy the animals, birds and insects. Will we never learn!

Object

Representation ID: 7164

Received: 16/09/2009

Respondent: Katie-Louise Hopkins

Loss of countryside and risk to nature and wildlife - nature reserve in Campion area and the lanes attaching are used by many runners, dog walkers and families. Part of this area has already been destroyed by the recent building behind Campion.

Object

Representation ID: 7167

Received: 16/09/2009

Respondent: Chris Hopkins

The risk to the local countryside and wildlife is unacceptable when there are brown sites currently sitting empty.
Nature reserve by Campion will be at risk of becoming a no go area to families and current users if social housing brings with it the increased crime levels ie drugs and vandalism.

Object

Representation ID: 7170

Received: 16/09/2009

Respondent: Penny Hopkins

The risk to our local nature reserve should also be taken into account. Loss of countryside and wildlife from the area by Campion which is used by many runners, dog walkers and families once built on will be lost forever.
Will the local nature reserve become a no go area for existing users!

Object

Representation ID: 7174

Received: 21/09/2009

Respondent: The Occupier

Why are the Council workers who we pay wages to (tax) not investigating brown field sites for re-development rather than build on green fields.

Object

Representation ID: 7182

Received: 18/08/2009

Respondent: A Bench

I do recall that in the 1940's - 50's these areas were designated as a 'green belt area' not to be built on!!

Object

Representation ID: 7200

Received: 19/08/2009

Respondent: Mr & Mrs B Thorne

Land is vital and must be left for agricultural need. Once destroyed by buildings WDC will find they have solved a short term problem, but long term land will be needed for local communities for food, space to enjoy and not create a concrete space to live in. Nature allowed to thrive and village/town life not destroyed by over planning/development.

Object

Representation ID: 7213

Received: 09/08/2009

Respondent: Mr & Mrs H Williams

Our hedge rows are being ripped up on a daily basis. they have been left to us to care for by our ancestors so this green belt area should be left.

Object

Representation ID: 7217

Received: 17/08/2009

Respondent: Mr & Mrs Attwood

Using up precious green resources with no consideration being given to brown field sites or any plans to protect agricultural land.

Object

Representation ID: 7224

Received: 03/09/2009

Respondent: Mr & Mrs Anthoney and Sarah Fragola

Whitnash was once a lovely village with green land surrounding it, it's such a shame to see it all disappear.

Object

Representation ID: 7234

Received: 22/08/2009

Respondent: Mr & Mrs Pike

Twenty years ago, skylarks and corn buntings were common on land now occupied by the houses of Warwick Gates. Skylarks are much reduced and corn buntings are no longer seen and heard. Further development will reduce our farmland birds.

Object

Representation ID: 7252

Received: 02/09/2009

Respondent: Mr & Mrs U Conlon

Our green belt will never be able to be replaced so build on sites standing empty not take away natures beauty.