Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft
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Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft
Codicote
Representation ID: 381
Received: 15/11/2016
Respondent: Mr James Mills
Legally compliant? Yes
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Yes
Codicote is small, compact community. The local services and infrastructure can barely cope with the current population. The traffic in the High Street is at a very high level already and expansion of the population will make traveling through Codicote virtually impossible. Local services (schooling and GP provision especially) will not be able to cope with a 25% increase in the population.
Whilst I am sympathetic to the need for additional housing in Hertfordshire, I do not believe that Codicote is a suitable place for such development. Principally, I am concerned with the additional traffic that will be created, the pressure on local services and the loss of community by adding so many extra dwellings.
The traffic in Codicote High Street is already at almost at an intolerable level owing to Codicote's position between Hitchin and the A1(M) motorway junction at Welwyn. During peak hours there are often traffic jams along the High Street and the smallest of obstructions can make this situation worse. The presence of very many lorries travelling through Codicote to the quarry off St Albans Road adds to the high level of congestion. Additional housing anywhere in the area is only going to make matters worse.
Local services are already stretched to breaking point. Specifically , the local GP practice in Welwyn can barely cope with it's existing patient base and it is extremely difficult to get an appointment. Many of the GPs at the surgery are part-time and there is a well documented shortage of such professionals in England. I cannot see how this particular service will cope with an addition 364 families. The local school is also full to the point where demountable classrooms are in use already and last year, several local children were unable to get a place at their local school. The school in it's current form would not have any capacity for the extra children generated from the proposed number of additional dwellings.
Currently, Codicote is a tight and local community where people look out for one and another and where welfare of the individual is of importance to everyone. There is little crime or anti-social behavior. I believe that increasing the population size by 25% will reduce the community spirit that exists, and potentially will add to the crime and disorder in a location where policing is limited and response times from local police is in excess of the accepted norm owing to Codicote's location in the Hertforshire policing map. Our services come from Hitchin (not WGC) and thus, an immediate response to crime is some 10 miles away.
