Response from Mr David Mervin, Arnside Parish Plan Trust
1. Mr David Mervin, Arnside Parish Plan Trust : 29 Mar 2011 18:39:00
Settlement
Arnside
Map Number
5 Arnside
Site reference number (e.g. R62) - If your comment is about a specific site you must indicate the correct site reference.
R81
Housing
Oppose
Please explain your reasons
Having beaten my way through the 60 odd pages of the Arnside fact file put out by the SLDC I would like to draw attention to one major error in that document as well as two glaring omissions.
First of all the error. It says on p10 under the heading of Site Visit “Development would not block/compromise any expansive or long views or any views out of or into (the) site.” Quite frankly this is nonsense. Obviously there are no views of the estuary or extensive views over the countryside, however for anyone walking along Redhills Rd from before the bottom of High Knott Rd until the housing begins on the left, there is a pleasing view of open field stretching for perhaps half a mile. The blocking of that view by a substantial housing development would be seriously detrimental.
This relates to the first of the two glaring omissions from the Arnside fact file. A major feature of this village which gives great pleasure to both residents and tourists is its network of footpaths. There is of course a heavily used footpath that runs immediately alongside the length of the R81 site. As anyone who lives nearby will confirm, there are few footpaths in the village that are more valued, or more extensively used. It is a favourite of dog walkers, it is used by children going to school, by people heading for Parkside or New Barns and by parties of walkers going to and coming back from the Knott. The building of 42 dwellings on this site will, of course, not lead to the closure of this footpath, but it will surely substantially diminish its value. Instead of a pleasant walk beside a field it will become a tedious toil through a housing estate. The amenity value of this green field site, in other words, will be completely lost.
How those who took part in the site visit could conclude that no blocking or compromise of views was involved in the proposed development of R81, beggars belief. Furthermore, when the consultation exercise took place in the Arnside Educational Institute my wife and I informed two SLDC representatives, separately, of our concerns about the consequences for the footpath, and yet no mention of these appears in the fact file. Does this confirm the view of cynics who believed that the consultation exercise was best seen as no more than going through the motions?
The second consideration regarding R81 which the planners have failed to mention concerns the traffic consequences of 42 new houses on the Common. Redhills Road is effectively a dead end and every car that enters it has to exit via the junction with Silverdale Road. It is well known in the village that that junction is a major traffic black spot. Roadside parking, a heavily used shop, the nearness of the doctor’s and dentist’s surgeries and the conjunction with Orchard Road all create difficulties at that point. The addition of a large number of new households, many with two cars, obliged to make regular use of that junction, will greatly worsen an already dangerous traffic situation.
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