Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I am writing to strongly object to the proposed GA2 development plan. The proposed development of 600 homes is a very large development and I believe the negative impact on the quality of life of current residents of Great Ashby and the strain caused to both the roads and local services such as doctors is unacceptably high. I understand the need to provide additional housing throughout the UK but feel that the needs and concerns of current residents need to be given as much consideration as the needs of future residents.

The GA2 proposals remove nearly all the green field access close to my home. I use both Brooches Wood and the field walks beyond on a regular basis for exercise as do many other residence. If the development goes ahead as planned my direct access will be significantly reduced to just Brooches Wood. Moreover, Brooches Wood is an area of ancient woodland and is a lovely bluebell wood. I specifically purchased mu house for its location and access to countryside. Following the development of GA2, Brooches Wood will be almost completely surrounded by houses which seems inappropriate, and to detract significantly from the experience of walking in it and to threaten wildlife. This will leave my area of Great Ashby underprovided with open spaces for walks to the detriment of the health and quality of life of locals. GA2 will, however, border directly on to green fields seeming to create an unfair imbalance between the current residents, and their needs and quality of life, and the residents of the new development.

I am also concerned by the impact this will have on the traffic in Great Ashby. The roads of Great Ashby are already busy, relatively narrow and heavily parked on making negotiating them already difficult. I do not believe the current streets could cope with any additional traffic. There are currently often long queues at rush hour to get from Great Ashby to the A1 for commuting and the proposed large development would worsen this situation.

Finally, it seems like the plans should be reviewed in light of the Brexit decision. The government have indicated that its primary aim in the negotiations will be to limit immigration. This seems to mean that the number of houses required in the period to 2031 will be less than would previously have been required. If the proposed plan was prepared prior to the referendum decision, it would seem to need to be reviewed. Given this very significant uncertainty regarding the UK's future housing needs, now seems completely the wrong time to agree the house building plans for the next 15 years.

I do understand the need for additional housing in the Stevenage and Great Ashby area. The needs of, and impact on current residents, should however be given equal consideration. The current plans for the Stevenage and Great Ashby areas seem to be mainly based around building a small number of very large developments. This solution seems to give rise to an unacceptably large negative impact on residents in a small number of areas and to lead to the destruction of large areas of green field land. If instead a larger number of developments of 100 or so houses were planned, more evenly spread around Stevenage as a whole, this would have a much more limited impact on individual areas. More, smaller, developments would also seem to give the opportunity to keep the impact on green field sites to a minimum which should be a priority and minimise the impact on wildlife. I understand this would be more complex to plan but the benefits to current residents appear very significant and the proposals would be much easier for people to accept.

Taking the above in to account, I would have no objections to 100-150 houses being built rather than 600 with these being arranged so that a greater amount of direct access green field site would still be available to Great Ashby residence (ie not a thinner band of houses all spread adjacent to Great Ashby but with a smaller area directly connected to Great Ashby so more direct green field access is retained). I would also not object to a greater number of houses being built if an area of green field land was left between Great Ashby and GA2 (eg creating a new, separate GA2 community rather than an extension of current Great Ashby). This would seem to give a better quality of life to both Great Ashby and GA2 residents. This would also create a fairer solution where both GA2 and Great Ashby would have a shared area of green field land between them they could both access. This contrasts to the current proposal whereby my part of Great Ashby loses nearly all direct green field access while GA2 connects directly on to green fields giving residence of the new development a better quality of life than current residents of Great Ashby.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to contact you with my concerns. I hope you will consider them and potentially look to modify your proposals to have a less adverse affect on local residents of Great Ashby.

I am writing to strongly object to the proposed GA2 development plan. The proposed development of 600 homes is a very large development and I believe the negative impact on the quality of life of current residents of Great Ashby and the strain caused to both the roads and local services such as doctors is unacceptably high. I understand the need to provide additional housing throughout the UK but feel that the needs and concerns of current residents need to be given as much consideration as the needs of future residents.

The GA2 proposals remove nearly all the green field access close to my home. I use both Brooches Wood and the field walks beyond on a regular basis for exercise as do many other residence. If the development goes ahead as planned my direct access will be significantly reduced to just Brooches Wood. Moreover, Brooches Wood is an area of ancient woodland and is a lovely bluebell wood. I specifically purchased mu house for its location and access to countryside. Following the development of GA2, Brooches Wood will be almost completely surrounded by houses which seems inappropriate, and to detract significantly from the experience of walking in it and to threaten wildlife. This will leave my area of Great Ashby underprovided with open spaces for walks to the detriment of the health and quality of life of locals. GA2 will, however, border directly on to green fields seeming to create an unfair imbalance between the current residents, and their needs and quality of life, and the residents of the new development.

I am also concerned by the impact this will have on the traffic in Great Ashby. The roads of Great Ashby are already busy, relatively narrow and heavily parked on making negotiating them already difficult. I do not believe the current streets could cope with any additional traffic. There are currently often long queues at rush hour to get from Great Ashby to the A1 for commuting and the proposed large development would worsen this situation.

Finally, it seems like the plans should be reviewed in light of the Brexit decision. The government have indicated that its primary aim in the negotiations will be to limit immigration. This seems to mean that the number of houses required in the period to 2031 will be less than would previously have been required. If the proposed plan was prepared prior to the referendum decision, it would seem to need to be reviewed. Given this very significant uncertainty regarding the UK's future housing needs, now seems completely the wrong time to agree the house building plans for the next 15 years.

I do understand the need for additional housing in the Stevenage and Great Ashby area. The needs of, and impact on current residents, should however be given equal consideration. The current plans for the Stevenage and Great Ashby areas seem to be mainly based around building a small number of very large developments. This solution seems to give rise to an unacceptably large negative impact on residents in a small number of areas and to lead to the destruction of large areas of green field land. If instead a larger number of developments of 100 or so houses were planned, more evenly spread around Stevenage as a whole, this would have a much more limited impact on individual areas. More, smaller, developments would also seem to give the opportunity to keep the impact on green field sites to a minimum which should be a priority and minimise the impact on wildlife. I understand this would be more complex to plan but the benefits to current residents appear very significant and the proposals would be much easier for people to accept.

Taking the above in to account, I would have no objections to 100-150 houses being built rather than 600 with these being arranged so that a greater amount of direct access green field site would still be available to Great Ashby residence (ie not a thinner band of houses all spread adjacent to Great Ashby but with a smaller area directly connected to Great Ashby so more direct green field access is retained). I would also not object to a greater number of houses being built if an area of green field land was left between Great Ashby and GA2 (eg creating a new, separate GA2 community rather than an extension of current Great Ashby). This would seem to give a better quality of life to both Great Ashby and GA2 residents. This would also create a fairer solution where both GA2 and Great Ashby would have a shared area of green field land between them they could both access. This contrasts to the current proposal whereby my part of Great Ashby loses nearly all direct green field access while GA2 connects directly on to green fields giving residence of the new development a better quality of life than current residents of Great Ashby.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to contact you with my concerns. I hope you will consider them and potentially look to modify your proposals to have a less adverse affect on local residents of Great Ashby.