I object to the development of the site KB2. If this site is developed, it will mean a loss of green belt land between the developments to the east of Gypsy Lane and the A1(M) which will be detrimental to the well-being of all its residents. The wide range of flora and fauna in this area will be seriously affected by the projected development.
This site is not suitable for development as it is adjacent to the A1(M) and therefore suffers from serious pollution of both noise and air quality.
There is a proposal to place a new primary school within the development. Even if all the new houses were to be built, there would not be enough primary aged children in these houses to fill a new school and therefore, children from further away would have to be brought in to fill the school, thus increasing the amount of traffic as parents drop their children off. It is also wrong to place a new primary school adjacent to the motorway, in what is regarded as one of the most polluted stretches of the road.
The current GP practice in the village is severely stretched. They try to do their best, but it is obvious to all that when you have to wait 10 days to get a routine appointment at the surgery, there is no room for further residents to be signed up. There has been a noticeable decline in the number of partners and the turnover of staff at the surgery over the last two years; it is hard to see that more staff can be recruited to deal with any more residents.
Sites KB1 and KB2 in Knebworth are both less well suited to development than other sites in the area through their lack of vehicular access. There are three access points across the railway, two under and one over bridges; as I use these bridges daily, I am only too well aware of the lack of space, each one is almost single track for vehicles and I often have to wait for a vehicle coming in the opposite direction to finish their manoeuvre before continuing. The pedestrian footpath under or over these bridges is only wide enough for one person, currently, pedestrians have to dangerously move into the road in order to pass each other. If the village were to increase by 31%, I cannot see how these access points would cope.
In the construction phase, which is planned to take 15 years, how will the construction vehicles access the sites when they too have to either pass under the railway bridges or access from Codicote down winding country lanes?
There is currently little direct employment within Knebworth, thus nearly all residents leave the village for work. Over the last year the traffic using the B197 has increased considerably. The journey to the A1(M) which used to take 5 minutes can now easily take 20 minutes at 7.40 a.m. I believe this to be because of the amount of school traffic, both private and school buses, and the number of people joining the road from side turnings. If the number of homes in Knebworth is increased this road will become further blocked with health and economic ill results.