Response from Mr John Sumner (Individual)
1. Mr John Sumner (Individual) : 2 Dec 2015 16:40:00
Discussion Paper section
6. Options for Meeting the Objectives and Delivering the Vision
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Identifying sites
The main requirements for the Village of Warton in respect of any prospective Development are in my opinion.
1. Avoid making the traffic and parking problems any worse than they already are, especially between Borwick Lane and the Malt Shovel which are currently choking the village and potentially an accident waiting to happen, any development discharging traffic onto Main Street within these limitations would exacerbate the current situation.
2. Ensure that there is no encroachment of any unsuitable development within the recommended limits of the Warton Crag SSSI ‘buffer zone’ that would be of detriment to the environment and habitat of the Crag and detract from the rural aspect of the approach slopes.
3. Maintain the character and environs of the Conservation Area of the central village.
4. The provision of low cost affordable housing for first time buyers or older downsizers, 1, 2 bed houses and flats and somehow create a preference for people with the minimum of personal transport or even none, this however would have to be backed up with a much improved public transport system.
The potential sites for building dwellings as above are very limited, in that the centre of the village should be eliminated for the reasons in 1 and 3 above and the residential corridor of Main Street from the Malt Shovel to the junction of Sand Lane is restricted in that to the South is a flood plain and to the North, behind the existing houses, development would encroach on the SSSI buffer zone.
Therefore it would appear that the obvious sites for development would be beyond the junction of Sand Lane and Main Street, going south and south west i.e. towards Millhead (but not within areas that would be affected by flooding), and along Sand Lane.
Developers apparently have a major say in the type of housing they build notwithstanding the Local Authority recommendations and the requirement for Sustainable Development to suit the village needs, profit obviously being the major factor. Surely Developers can make the same % profit on cost regardless of the type of housing that cost is spent on, or do they make excessive profit on larger houses?
I would suggest that the more large detached houses that are built, that number could be multiplied by 2 or 3 and, if built in the wrong location i.e. in the confines of the village, that would be the number of cars adding to the village congestion.
Also we must ask is there a need for large houses in the village, there are currently a number of large houses under occupied so I would think not, albeit that should large houses be built, they would sell due to the desirability of living in the village.
