Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

As a resident of the local area I strongly object to this proposed development site for residential houses or additional schools on the proposed KB1 plans. Firstly the site suggested (KB1) is green belt land and more importantly the additional houses and residence that these houses will home, will add to the already overloaded traffic issues in Knebworth and the surrounding areas, at peak times during the day (8:00am - 9:30am, 3:00pm - 3:30pm and 5:00pm - 6:00pm). The site KB1 (alone) will likely feed at least 200 more cars each day onto the B197 via either, Gun Lane/Station Road; Stockens Green/Gun Lane, Wych Elm Lane/Bridge Road or Deards End Land. All of which either pass under or over very narrow railway bridges which are not suitable for either two cars to pass each other, or for cars and pedestrians, as it is at the moment. A further 200 (or 400 more cars if the KB2 site is approved) will be a catastrophic amount of congestion, as well as a potential safety risk for pedestrians (especially between 8:15am - 9:00am & 3:00pm- 3:45pm), when a lot of families are walking to and from school. Additionally, we will see more cars using Pondscroft Road as a bypass to the High Street. This road is already a risk to pedestrians, as the road is narrow due to cars parking on both sides of the Road. The knock on effect of additional traffic will also drastically affect neighbouring villages such as Woolmer Green and Oakland. From 7:30am in the morning these villages already see backed up traffic to the A1 on a regular occurrence. Aside from the severe issues additional cars will cause the infrastructure of the village is already at capacity with schooling and doctor's surgery. Any additional commuters using the Knebworth railway station will also be an issue, as parking at the station is at a premium, with nearby residential roads already overloaded with parked cars. It would seem clear that none of these issues have been taken into consideration when proposing KB1 as a potential site for additional housing.

As a resident of the local area I strongly object to this proposed development site for residential houses or additional schools on the proposed KB2 plans. Firstly the site suggested (KB2) is green belt land and more importantly the additional houses and residence that these houses will home, will add to the already overloaded traffic issues in Knebworth and the surrounding areas, at peak times during the day (8:00am - 9:30am, 3:00pm - 3:30pm and 5:00pm - 6:00pm). The site KB2 (alone) will likely feed at least 200 more cars each day onto the B197 via either, Gun Lane/Station Road; Stockens Green/Gun Lane, Wych Elm Lane/Bridge Road or Deards End Land. All of which either pass under or over very narrow railway bridges which are not suitable for either two cars to pass each other, or for cars and pedestrians, as it is at the moment. A further 200 (or 400 more cars if the KB1 site is approved) will be a catastrophic amount of congestion, as well as a potential safety risk for pedestrians (especially between 8:15am - 9:00am & 3:00pm- 3:45pm), when a lot of families are walking to and from school. Additionally, we will see more cars using Pondscroft Road as a bypass to the High Street. This road is already a risk to pedestrians, as the road is narrow due to cars parking on both sides of the Road. The knock on effect of additional traffic will also drastically affect neighbouring villages such as Woolmer Green and Oakland. From 7:30am in the morning these villages already see backed up traffic to the A1 on a regular occurrence. Aside from the severe issues additional cars will cause the infrastructure of the village is already at capacity with schooling and doctor's surgery. Any additional commuters using the Knebworth railway station will also be an issue, as parking at the station is at a premium, with nearby residential roads already overloaded with parked cars. It would seem clear that none of these issues have been taken into consideration when proposing KB2 as a potential site for additional housing.

As a resident of the local area I strongly object to this proposed development site for residential houses or additional schools on the proposed KB4 plans. Firstly the site suggested (KB4) is green belt land and more importantly the additional houses and residence that these houses will home, will add to the already overloaded traffic issues in Knebworth and the surrounding areas, at peak times during the day (8:00am - 9:30am, 3:00pm - 3:30pm and 5:00pm - 6:00pm). The site KB4 (alone) will likely feed at least 200+ more cars each day onto the B197 via either, Watton Road; St martins Road, Swagleys Lane or via single track country roads into Woolmer Green directly via; New Road or Bragbury lane/Bury Lane. All of which are already congested at peak times mentioned above. The Watton Road route is only passable by one car due to residential parking on one side of the road. The St Martins route is very congested, as it feeds both left and right onto the B197, which is normally at a standstill at peak times as traffic struggles to move through the High Street. The Swagleys Lane route directly passes the local JMI School and at 9:00am and 3:15pm for 10-15 minutes either side of these times there are several hundred children and parents on the very narrow footpath leading to the main B197 road (very often pedestrians have to walk onto the road to pass each other). The other two routes onto the B197 via Woolmer Green are both down very narrow country lanes, which are at most places not suitable for two normal width cars to pass each other and additional traffic on these routes will likely be unsafe and a potential for traffic collisions. The knock on effect of additional traffic will also drastically affect neighbouring villages such as Woolmer Green, Datchworth and Oakland. From 7:30am in the morning Knebworth, Woolmer Green and Oaklands already see backed up traffic to the A1 on a regular occurrence. Aside from the severe issues additional cars will cause the infrastructure of the village is already at capacity with schooling and doctor's surgery. Any additional commuters using the Knebworth railway station will also be an issue, as parking at the station is at a premium, with nearby residential roads already overloaded with parked cars. It would seem clear that none of these issues have been taken into consideration when proposing KB4 as a potential site for additional housing.