AN 80-home development in Ettington will have no significant impact on the amount of the number of cars on the village’s roads, it has been claimed.
Warwickshire County Council’s highways department has angered residents with its declaration a predicted 117 extra car movements at the junction of Rogers Lane and Banbury Road during morning and evening rush hours was low and not grounds for it to object to the plans for land next to the park and community centre.
The report into the traffic impact on Charles Church’s controversial plans also brushes off concerns about existing problems caused by parking outside the village shop being exacerbated and dismisses ongoing fears about safety at the junction at the Fosse Way where there are regular smashes.
The report does however admit even improvements to the local bus service will not provide what it describes as a realistic alternative to the car. Residents continue to argue the village has no jobs and a poor bus service, making it an unsustainable location for the develop that will increase the number of households in Ettington by a fifth.
The core strategy, which sets out where the district council prefers homes to be built, identifies no specific locations in Ettington although it does earmark it for just 26 to 50 homes between now and 2031, seemingly ruling out the development on the table, but it has yet to adopted.
However a similar application in Tysoe, also for 80 homes, was rejected by the planning committee against the recommendation of council planning officers because of the village’s poor public transport while the number of houses proposed was described as excessive and inappropriate.
A statement from SHAPE accused the highways officers of ignoring real concerns from the people of Ettington.
It read: “A report that claims the exit from Rogers Lane onto the A422 is safe and adequate because traffic follows the speed limit cannot be taken seriously.
“It is fantasy that the new development will only generate 42 extra cars leaving the new estate in the morning peak rush hour. This for a development of over 80 family houses, all designed to accommodate at least two cars each, likely to be occupied by families where both partners work and children may need to be driven to school.
“Our own expert advice suggests such estates generate at least four journeys per house per day, a much higher figure than the council’s. If all their predictions are as poor as this we can have little faith in the council’s conclusions.”
Charles Church’s proposals are for two, three, four and five bedroom homes with an as yet unspecified number to be made available for rent and shared ownership through housing associations. A recent parish council study found a need for just nine more homes.
The company has a development in neighbouring Wellesbourne, ironically named Ettington Park, where the price of a three bedroom home starts at £250,000.
Among the hundreds if objectors is the village’s county councillor Izzi Seccombe who is the political leader of the county council.
www.leamingtonobserver.co.uk/2014/04/05/news-Homes-boom-sparks-hospital-worries-101595.html
www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/2014/02/24/news-Ettington-steps-up-fight-against-%27damaging%27-housing-plan-97848.html
www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/2014/03/18/news-Ettington-steps-up-fight-against-damaging-housing-plan-97848.html
