Object

Site Proposals document

Representation ID: 13805

Received: 12/03/2018

Respondent: Dr Hugo de Waal

Representation Summary:

Developing this site would lead to insufferable congestion, increased hazard on a road leading to a primary school and a severely negative impact on wildlife and important habitats.

Full text:

As mentioned by other objectors Site 0062 was extensively appraised for suitability for development a few years ago and judged unsuitable for a whole host of reasons, including the fact that it is a Special Area of Conservation (as mentioned in the narrative accompanying the site proposals on your own website), an SSSI, the fact that we regularly see flooding on either side of the site (near Shakespeare Way, which has only marginally improved after new drainage was laid into the field itself a couple of years ago) and on the other side near St Edmunds' Church, where our local Parish representatives had to direct and divert traffic because of severe flooding near Taverham Mill. The local School (which incidentally is wildly oversubscribed) on Taverham Road causes local residents to have to suffer the school run twice daily, which leads to extensive congestion all along Taverham Road along the site, and nearby streets, going up on Sandy Lane and on the other end on Penn Road. I have personally witnessed a number of incidents of near road rage, as a result. In general this congestion travels down Taverham Road to the T-junction with Fakenham Road in Drayton, where in peaktime long cues of cars are waiting to get onto Drayton High Road. Back on Taverham Road near the School regrettably cars speed when it is quieter (regularly staff from the Safety Camera Team position themselves at the corner Taverham Road/Macks Lane, which says all one needs to know on the problems here described). There is no way to improve access to the site, given the nature of the roads leading to it. Adding 144 dwellings to the local infrastructure (which cannot be improved) will lead to even worse congestion and make the main access roads to the primary school on Taverham Road even more dangerous. Apart from the nature of the field as an area important to wildlife, one also worries what the effect in general on drainage would be, if the field would effectively be tarmacked over. As far as the current political pressure on increasing supply of housing is concerned: the Parish has ample space to satisfy that demand, particularly with the site near the Northern Distributor Road.