Response from Mr Stuart Fisher (Individual)
1. Mr Stuart Fisher (Individual) : 11 Apr 2011 11:40:00
Settlement
Arnside
Map Number
5 Arnside
If none of the above then please state here what your comment is about
General development plan for Arnside
Housing
Oppose
Employment
Support in part
Retail
Support in part
Community uses
No view
Open space
No view
Please explain your reasons
Land Allocations: Consultation on Emerging Options.
As a long standing resident of Arnside (25 years) I would like to make the following observations with regard to the “need” to built 107 houses (35% affordable) in the coming years. It is clear that some small scale, affordable housing will be necessary so as not to loose the younger generation. However, I would like to remind the planners of the following paragraph in the LDF Land Allocation Development Plan:
Extension to Local Service Centres (like Arnside) will be pursued only where:
1. There is a clear local need
2. Significant environmental impact can be avoided
3. Previously developed land has been utilised
Re: 1. What is the evidence that Arnside needs 107 dwellings? What is this evidence based on and have these figures been independently verified or audited?
Re: 2. A. Many of the emerging options are based on “Designated Open Areas for Amenity”. These areas form an integral part of the village character. That not all have public access does not diminish the importance of their role. E.g. the footpath along The Common (site R81) is much used not only by local residents but also by walkers on their way from the station to Arnside Knott. A housing estate would make this footpath obsolete. The thought that access provided to the path from the housing estate would lead to continued use of the footpath is no more than wishful thinking.
B. Traffic will become a major issue. During the summer Station Road gets regularly gridlocked, while Silverdale Road and Redhills Road – main arteries within the village – are often reduced to single lane traffic due to parking by visitors. In relation to The Common (R81) the junctions of Redhills/ High Knott Road and Redhills/Silverdale/Orchard Road are already local blackspots, where children cross on their way to school or the playing fields and with shoppers for Avery’s, patients for the dentist and further along for the surgery all looking for parking spaces.
C. Parking problems will therefore increase with needs of local residents clashing with those of visitors. Adequate parking for commuters, of which there will be more in case of development, will need to be provided.
D. In an AONB that is aiming to become a low carbon community the need for new residents to find work outside the village – employment opportunities within the village being very limited – will lead to an increase in the village carbon footprint. As the cost of commuting increases one wonders whether the possibility of building nearer existing and/or developing places of work would not be more appropriate.
E. There are already substantial problems with water, drainage and power supply, while broadband connection via telephone lines remains slow.
Re: 3. All of the proposed sites are greenfield sites. Brownfield sites are available (e.g. the former garage on Ashleigh Road and BT’s telephone exchange) but have not been included. Development of both these sites would help improve the general look of the village. Only when these sites have been used might there be a need to develop some of the smaller greenfield, infill sites.
As a further observation regarding The Common: it is locally well known that sound coming from the footpath alongside The Common gets amplified by the rise that forms the base of High Knott Road. It is quite possible to follow a conversation held by walkers on the footpath word for word in the gardens of Redhills Road. At this moment this is not a problem. However 42 houses would greatly exacerbate this situation and create a considerable noise problem.
I would therefore like to suggest that any new development in Arnside should be tailored to affordable housing for local families using in the first instance only brownfield sites. The non-allocation of sites of less than 0.3 ha should be maintained for greenfield sites but seems unnecessary on sites that have decrepit buildings. I would appreciate if these proposals were included in any representation.
As for houses for the free market: considering the number of houses for sale in Arnside at any one time there appears to be little need to create a major housing estate, two thirds of which would be for the open market, a situation born out by the lack of building for the free market since 2003.
