Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I strongly object to the further development of Great Ashby and the comments that I am making apply to all of the development within Great Ashby. The countryside around Great Ashby is a substantial benefit to the residents of Great Ashby, allowing people to experience the natural environment without having to travel to it. The area provides the perfect antidote to modern life for both adults and children, which is even more important as Stevenage as an area becomes busier and busier. I also object to the concreting over of productive farming land for the benefit of housing developers and, it would appear, to line the pockets of NHDC. The infrastructure for the area is inadequate both locally within Great Ashby and beyond. Great Ashby Way is not of suitable calibre to support further traffic, as it is a bus only has to stop at peak times and the traffic backs up (not helped by the ridiculous placement of yellow lines by Round Diamond school). This is the part of Great Ashby Way that will be impacted by traffic from the new development. Add to this the additional traffic from the GA1 development and the road will just not be able to cope, especially with the proximity of the school at that junction. Additionally the A1M is struggling to cope (as indeed are the major routes through Stevenage, especially when there are issues on the A1M), these developments (and the others planned) will worsen an already struggling road system. Public transport is inadequate to the area to alleviate the problem. Add to these issues the consequences on school places (inadequate even now) and doctors surgeries which were inadequate 20 years ago when I moved to the area and I see little sign of improvement. Indeed the surgery planned for Great Ashby never came to fruition and if GPs cannot be recruited to the area I fail to see how added to the population will help. I suppose we could always go to the vets.......Also the neighbourhood centre is now getting tight for parking and would be (again) inadequate for a further increase in the population. These plans decrease the amenity of the residents already here and I believe will not support an increased number of residents. I would like to know what experience you have of the area that makes you so certain that developing the area further is acceptable. My experience is personal as a resident of Great Ashby for the last 13 years and a resident of Stevenage for 20 years. I have witnessed the evolution of the area and the benefits and problems associated with it. Not least the feeling that the area is a constant building site. The existing residents deserve better and indeed a better service from NHDC; you might like to hold in your minds who pays your wages and pensions and consider yourselves in the service of those people. Our problem will one day become yours when the developers have gone and you have to adopt and service the area. Some play areas have still not been adopted in Great Ashby and the tardiness of the council to adopt new roads has been remiss. Finally I look out over the bridal way at Brooches Wood and from a personal point of view I love the peace and quiet, the dark and the wildlife that living here affords. I am not alone in that as I see many people walking their dogs, children enjoying the natural world and horses and riders passing by. I often walk in the land behind the wood and have done prior to moving here and I would like that to be preserved for future generations. I find it odd that governments and councils are constantly on our backs about environmental damage, global warming etc. whilst happily concreting over the areas that sustain us. There must be better areas that can be utilised for these developments if they are absolutely necessary and it would be good to know that NHDC values its existing residents without kow-towing to a government that seems to care little for the welfare of its electorate and the land.