Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I am writing in connection with the proposed housing application at site GA2.
I list my objections to the proposed extension of Great Ashby in bullet point form for ease of reading:
* Site GA2 is a breach of the Green Belt and is indefensible.
* The Green Belt land at site GA2 is surrounded by wildlife. I cycle twice daily along Back Lane towards Calder Way and see the regular passage (both morning and evening) of the roe deer and munkjack that cross Back Lane from Parsonsgreen Wood and Tilekiln Wood. There is also a bats colony by the 5 properties which can be seen swooping in our gardens in large numbers as well as nesting red kite in the tree line.
* Site GA2 abuts ancient woodland (Tile Kiln Wood and Brooches Wood) and this would be damaged and destroy the character and valuable wildlife habitats of the area. Ancient woodland is any woodland that has remained as woodland for the last 400 years (since 1600).
* The proposed housing site (GA2) is on protected Green Belt land which should be enjoyed by all. I quote from hertfordshirelife.co.uk/out-about/walks: 'with a community park, ancient woodlands and open countryside, Great Ashby on the edge of Stevenage holds many surprises. Countryside Management Service projects officer Heidi Hutton gives a guide to walks in the area.' There is a crisscross of footpaths across the GA2 site currently enjoyed by walkers would be lost to concrete.
* The proposal by its sheer size (depth, width, height and mass) would lead to an inappropriate development in the Green Belt which is detrimental to it's open, rural and undeveloped character as well as an unacceptably adverse effect on the 6 properties immediately adjacent to the site and surrounding neighbourhood by overlooking, a loss of privacy, noise disturbance and a visually overbearing impact.
* Back Lane is a narrow un-marked country lane unfit for increased traffic and heavy good vehicles. In fact, only last week my partner's vehicle clipped wing mirrors with another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.
* The proposed site at GA2 would engulf 5 listed properties (English Heritage Building ID: 162725 / 162726 / 162724). Tile Kiln Farm is a late medieval open hall house and the barns are circa 17th century. The layout and siting of GA2 in relation to listed buildings, spaces and views is inappropriate and unsympathetic to the appearance and character of the local environment.
* There are 3 natural springs on the GA2 site, namely Dell Spring, New Spring and New Acre Spring. These springs feed into the working wells at Tile Kiln Farm and Brooches Barn. The well at my property is 200 feet in depth and listed in the Doomsday Book.
* Just as importantly, you will be engulfing the village of Weston (Brooches Barn is in the village of Weston) with Stevenage. The village of Weston dates back to Roman times, is a quintessential English village infamous for its Robin Hood styled villager called Jack O'Legs. Stevenage, although once a village, has sadly for many decades been a New Town.
* The GA2 site is environmentally unsustainable and it is remote from the retail and commercial centres of Stevenage and far from both road and rail facilities.

Another very important matter that needs to be addressed is the fact that I have learned from my neighbours,that they have been invited to a meeting at on the 8th December to discuss connectivity and movement between the GA2 site and a proposed secondary school on the field alongside Back Lane and opposite the private driveway to the farm house and barns. At no point in your report has this development been mentioned, why?

Lastly, if additional housing on a large scale is needed, rather than cause uproar and disruption by building 400-1,000 houses in villages and neighbourhoods across the county that do not have the infrastructure to cope nor welcome it, consideration should be given to building another Garden City along the A1M corridor. Failing that, land to the West of Stevenage would be a more viable option as it is closer to the centre of the town and road and rail links and most importantly, not Green Belt.

I do hope you seriously consider the above significant points. We ALL have an obligation to save our Green Belt and villages, not only for our enjoyment, but for the generations to come after us!