Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed housing development plan for Knebworth.
As I am sure you are aware the plan makes provision for over 500 houses to be built on designated sites in and around Knebworth including green belt land.
My opposition to the plan is based around access to those sites, increase in traffic congestion and the existing infrastructures inability to support the proposed growth.

Access:
I hope you will see from the following that the access and traffic issues are interwoven.
Knebworth has one main road that runs through it from Stevenage A1 Junction 7 to Welwyn A1 Junction 6 this road is the B197. At present it can be extremely difficult to get through the High Street. Other access roads to the village are Old Knebworth Lane, Deards End Lane, Gipsy Lane, Swangleys Lane, Gun Road, Station Road and Watton Road. With the exception of Watton Road which is itself narrow, all these roads are for the most part single track or at least very narrow roads. The proposed sites would have these roads as their access routes. Given that these roads are narrow, Station Road, Gun Road and Gipsy Lane (Bridge Road) also have mainline railway bridges that provide the bear minimum of pavement space on what are the main routes for parents taking children to the local schools. Deards End Lane also has a railway bridge with extremely tight turns at each end of the narrow roadway.
The current levels of people using these roads causes congestion. The restricted access to the village has not been accurately assessed and the sites suggested are not suitable.

Traffic:
The existing proposal states that the high street does not appear to present any problems with regard to it being a bottle-neck when there is traffic congestion. I would like to point out that even on a good day the High Street can be backed up with morning and evening traffic, add to that the visitors to the shops I think you can understand that at present It does represent a traffic problem. It may be worth asking the drivers of the Buses, 300 and 301 for their professional opinion on the road and times of congestion.
That is day to day traffic in the area, if you consider days like today for example (November 28 2016) where there was traffic congestion on the A1, the only way through to Stevenage is via the B197 of which Knebworth High Street forms part. There was gridlock on the surrounding roads. This is not an opinion this is a fact. All these issues exist with the current levels of traffic in the village if you factor in car owners from a further 500 new houses making work, school runs and shopping trips it becomes very clear that there would be future traffic issues.
There is an issue with traffic in the village and surrounding roads, the proposed development will add to this.

Existing Infrastructure:
Apparently the proposed development will address improvements to the local infrastructure. At present there is restricted access to the village, the existing levels of traffic cause congestion, the mainline train station is overcrowded at peak times as the platform is too short to allow the longer trains to stop, there is not adequate provision for parking for either the train passengers or visitors to the village shops, amenities or school. Building 500 new houses will not alleviate the existing problems with local infrastructure but will in fact add to them. During recent years the village has suffered from serious flooding this has been due to run-off from surrounding lanes, fields and the nearby A1 with the existing drainage system being unable to cope as the drains constantly block. The plan is to build houses with drainage that will cope with the local flooding issue. This great planning for them but unfortunately does not address the existing problem in the village.
The proposed development does not address the needs of the infrastructure in order to cope with an extra 500+ households in the village.

I understand that there is a need for housing but I am fearful that the project will just be rubber stamped under pressure from developers and central government.
I would strongly urge you to consider the points raised and I hope you will agree that the area is not suitable for such a development.