Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

* Barkway is a small, linear village of some 330 houses. It has had various in-fill houses built over the years and now has three sites proposed by NHDC: BK1 - 13 houses, BK2 - 20 houses and BK3, a further 140 houses.

* I contend that BK3 is wholly disproportionate in size to the rest of the village.
* It breaches a raft of National and Local Planning Policies, as will have been extensively reported upon by Barkway Parish Council.

* My core objection is that as Barkway has almost no amenities, each adult will require a car to access shops, secondary schools and doctors' surgeries etc. This make the site unsustainable, breaching carbon footprint guidelines. The local roads are narrow and already dangerous. Most cars will access a road called the Joint, which links the village to the A10. It is single-track with crumbling passing places and several cars fall off it each winter. It hosts the intermittent bus service and many large agricultural machines.

* The houses will bring no local employment into the village and may adversely affect Newsells Thoroughbred Horse Stud, which employs some 35 people.

* The need for housing should be linked to infrastructure and amenities available, which is why they should be built around existing towns and not attached to isolated villages just because a local land-owner offers up his filed for the purpose.

* I urge you to remove BK3 from your Local Plan.