Publication Draft

Consultants are able to show that the transport assessments which form an important part of the evidence base for the plan are seriously flawed. There are major issues in respect of accommodating traffic through Warwick generated from new estates south of the river.
The road infrastructure in this town is already at full load now, we have lived off the Emscote Road and seen the increase (since 1993).
I had the most stressful journey (a.m 21/06/14) trying to navigate my way out of Warwick. This weight of traffic made me late! a journey that normally takes 10mins, took me best part of an hour!!! it was imperative that I was not late, it had a knock on effect and a lot of voluntary community work was put aside to pay for this time wasting. I have never experienced such high volumes of traffic leading out of our estate, travelling in both directions between Warwick and Leamington Spa.
This situation is not a one off, it is intensifying by the week and has been for some time now. The junction/traffic lights, controlling the traffic in and out of our estate is a complete nightmare and drivers heading from Warwick to Leamington constantly block the junction by travelling through an amber/red light causing traffic turning right out off the estate not to be able to proceed through the junction. This exacerbates the traffic flow, creating frustration and vexation, causing other drivers to pull out and block the road completely. This area should be cross hatched to avoid the situation worsening, which it will due to the increasing amount of traffic, which is as a result of building thousands of more houses in the area.
Warwick is now a bottle neck town and people still use 'Coten End-Emscote road-Warwick new road' as a main run from Warwick to Leamington Spa, very soon I can see this being like trying to navigate through a very busy London suburb. Warwick can not cope with this weight of traffic. When ever I drive out of our estate, bang!, I hit traffic and this is at varying times of day, different days of the week. You can now not assume you can drive to your chosen destination within a set time, it's a complete nightmare. We have lived in Warwick since 1993 and do not feel that there has been significant intervention to date, that is dealing with the ever increasing traffic through our town. Since 1993 there have been 8 addional traffic light sets/pedestrian lights put in place alone, between St.Johns and the Guide dogs, this has compounded the situation greatly. If this matter is not given due consideration and a proactive resolution put in place, we will become totally grid locked.

I Look forward to your thoughts on this matter and hope that something can be done regarding the junction in and out of Emscote Gardens estate.

The plan would be seriously damaging to our environment and heritage assets.
The plan gives insufficient attention to our heritage and is potentially damaging to it in contravention of the provisions of the NPPF.
The plans for the necessary social infrastructure are not ready and authorities have not committed to them.
Assumptions are made that schools, medical centers, hospital beds and other social infrastructure will be provided. Proposals in the plan for new and relocated schools are not automatically agreed by WCC - the education authority. Similarly other facilities cannot be assumed.
This is in the light of so many cuts & closures related to emergency and vital infrastructural services this is not illustrating medium term strategic planning alignment for population expansion at all but is clearly and presently and act more that preparatory for these plans to fail.

If we accept only 8,100 houses are needed to meet the needs over the next 18 years we can show that this need can be met from the permissions already granted together with the brown field sites identified in the plan. We would maintain also that the greenfield sites are remote from schools, retail and other services and it has not been demonstrated that the proposals for sustainable transport are going to be practicable or effective. Sadly, much of the land allocated for development in the south of Warwick is some of the highest grade agricultural land, the loss of which we cannot afford.
It has been illustrated and documented with other inappropriate policy breaking sequence of events, culminating in the destruction of the Emscote Gardens Flood Defence (CV344QB), mostly a WDC asset, if there is the less than courageous capability for that, then there is a great capacity for the most spectacular of blunders.

Adverse impacts on air quality and health have not been satisfactorily assessed or tackled. Background evidence to the plan gloss over the importance of the Air Quality Monitoring Areas of Warwick, Leamington and Kenilworth where levels of NOx generated from traffic are at illegal levels with the claim that the problem will be overcome in the future by cleaner motor vehicles. This is disputed by a number of scientists and commentators and would be a risky course of action.There have been serious shortcomings in the processes the council has used in the development of the plan.
In the case of the neglect and destruction of crucial parts of the WDC asset 'Emscote Gardens Flood Defence' (CV344QB) through inappropriate housing expansion and over development, against expert recommendation and local opinion, it is clear that there is a strong possibility that where this incident occurred only in the very recent past, repeats can easily occur again.

With the substantial cuts and closures of Police Stations and Fire Stations and the reluctance of Council to expand CCTV in Warwick, an increase in population cannot be catered for in this capacity.
Any further deliberate increase in population must be matching a proportionate increase in the strength and accessibility of the emergency services, prior to development ready for an increase in opportunity for acquisitive crime and the incoming population.
With the closure of Warwick & Kenilworth Police Station's for example, sole reliance on Leamington Justice Centre as a local hub, the poor access for Police to the designated Police Stations for custody procedures, this due to unpredictable grid locking of roads due to increasing traffic.
A similar impact upon fire service access and response to fire ground, flood and incident locations in the vicinity of a major river, a dense motorway network and the largest munition storage facility in the UK.