Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I wish to raise an objection to the proposed development for Knebworth.

My reason, the inadequate road and rail infrastructure that currently exists in the village and the absence of any plan to improve this for the planned new development.

I live on Stevenage Road at number 23, the main (only) access road through the village .

Specific Issues:

1. By 8.00am most mornings the traffic is queuing from the centre of the village to the top of Stevenage Road, a distance of approx. 1/2M.

2. Most day's around 5.00pm, particularly on Fridays, the traffic is queuing in the opposite direction from the centre of the village, to the lights at Tesco in Stevenage, a distance of over 1M which can add half an hour onto a 1/2 mile journey to Stevenage.

3. When there are traffic issues on the A1M, traffic diverts through Knebworth and it becomes gridlocked in both directions, mainly north bound and it can again take 1/2 hour to cover the 1M to the Tesco lights in Stevenage. This causes significant delays for both private commuters and importantly significant delays to public Bus services.

4. To avoid the long queues into and out of the village, traffic diverts through the surrounding country lanes and residential areas, which are not designed to take the increase in volume that occurs at these times, and I have been witness to several incidents where cars looking for diversions have sped through the railway tunnel by the Station endangering pedestrians walking along the very narrow footpath, this is only going to get worse with increased traffic requiring to use this route regardless of any A1 traffic issues that there may be. The tunnel is used regularly by School children and as a commuter of 20 years, to stress the point I have seen the amount of speeding traffic increase through the tunnel at peak times and it is only a miracle that there has not been a serious incident. I am really concerned that with the proposals this is going to become a real bottleneck at peak times as well as the main village high street.

5. The train service from Knebworth is already dangerously overcrowded at peak times, most peak time direct services are full to bursting and the new timetable proposals for 2018 are going to make this worse without the increase of commuters the plan will create. How can a proposal for extra housing be so lacking in any coherent infrastructure plan ??

I have lived in Knebworth for over 20 years and have seen the village grow and prosper. I support the opportunity to provide more dwellings for people to join what is a great community but without an infrastructure plan that can significantly improve the already unsatisfactory traffic and rail arrangements the current plan is deeply flawed..