Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I wish to place on record my objections as detailed below to the North Herts District Local Plan 2011-2031 in respect of two proposed developments to the east of Luton;

1. Green Belt Status
Removal of the Green Belt Status to accommodate the NHDC Local Plan does not meet the governments criteria of "Except in exceptional circumstances" as Luton's unmet housing needs can be achieved by untilising a number of brown field sites in and around the area, for example the vacant builders yard off Kingsway Road in Luton and along the Hatters Way corridor.

The removal of the "Green Belt Status" sets a precedent for concreting over the countryside by greedy developers. How are we going to produce sufficient food for a growing population when the country is covered east to west and north to south in concrete, bricks and mortar?

2. Road Network Infrastructure
The road network infrastructure is no where near sufficient to support the additional traffic for construction work with heavy goods vehicles and other commercial vehicles. Both Eaton Green Road and Crawley Green Road and Wigmore Lane are already grid locked for long periods of the day due to airport traffic, school traffic and traffic into and out of the Asda store and the shopping precinct.

Including the proposed Bloor Homes development between Cockernhoe and Tea Green, over 2000 homes will be built. Based on the average home on the average housing estate, each home will have 2 cars per household and this represents at least an additional 4000 vehicles using Crawley Green Road, Eaton Green Road and Wigmore Lane. In particular there are 2 schools in the area, a new school, recently completed in Crawley Green Road between the roundabout junction with Wigmore Lane and Cockernhoe and also Wigmore Primary School adjacent to Crawley Green Road. The crossing point for pedestrians in Crawley Green Road at the roundabout Junction with Wigmore Lane on the Cockenhoe side of the roundabout is an ACCIDENT BLACK SPOT waiting to happen. Pedestians such as school children with parents and shoppers walking to and from Asda are at serious risk of injury from traffic travelling along Wigmore Lane from Stopsley Village and turning left at the roundabout towards Cockernhoe as this is a blind corner. Traffic accelerates fast around this corner when the drivers notices a gap in the queue after being frustrated by queuing for a long period of time in standing traffic.

Should common sense and decency not prevail and these developments are given the go ahead then major link roads such as a route out towards the A505 at the junction with Lilley must be built PRIOR to the commencement of any work on the housing development at Cockernhoe and the Bloor Homes development between Cockernhoe and Tea Green. It is not acceptable to say that a link road will be built sometime in the future after the developments have been built as no doubt the excuses of financial constraints will be used to avoid completion of the project.

Such as it is, Crawley Green Road, Eaton Green Road and Wigmore Lane CANNOT support the volume of traffic from the proposed developments which will include visitors, service agents and deliveries as well as the 4000 plus vehicles of the home owners.

3. Village Status
The quantity of homes that are proposed for developments at Cockernhoe and the Bloor Homes proposal between Cockernhoe and Tea Green is way out of proportion compared to the number of homes that already exist in these villages. These villages will completely loose their identity as villages in a rural setting and will be swamped by modern developments connected to the sprawling mass of a suburban estate that is Luton.