Response from Mr and Mrs Kirkby (Individual)
1. Mr and Mrs Kirkby (Individual) : 15 Apr 2011 21:24:00
Settlement
Swarthmoor
Map Number
41 Swarthmoor
Site reference number (e.g. R62) - If your comment is about a specific site you must indicate the correct site reference.
R684SW
Housing
Oppose
Employment
Oppose
Retail
Oppose
Community uses
Oppose
Open space
Support
Please explain your reasons
My husband and I strongly object to the building of houses on site R684SW in Swarthmoor. First of all it is already known that the A590 is one of the busiest roads in Cumbria and any new houses built will need to have an access road which joins onto this. We live on Goad Street and it is already a difficult junction to get out of, more access roads will mean a lot more traffic and in turn will prove more difficult to join the A590. Also there is no pelican crossing at the bottom of Ulverston Road, (even though many people have tried to petition this for years and get the council etc to build one), so it will be nigh-on impossible to cross and dangerous. With more houses being built this means more cars in the area and again we have very little places to park as it is.
There are also far too many houses proposed for Swarthmoor, once the houses are eventually built wherever, who on earth is going to buy them, they will just remain empty. People are moving out of the area as there are very little job prospects in Cumbria, so who is going to be able to afford these proposed houses?
As for our local school at Pennington it is already at full capacity and I know that some local children have already been turned away. So what are you going to do about all the extra children, who is going to educate them, where will they go?
I also guess this means that our council tax will also rise, as this will mean that there will have to be more police patrolling around and also with the new houses there will be a lot more bins and refuse to be recycled, no new jobs will arise from this as the council and police are reducing their numbers of staff not increasing.
The field where the proposed houses are to be built is a green field site used all the year round for both sheep and hay timing, places like this seem to diminish every passing year by developers. What will happen to the wildlife that visit it, we are not the only people to have seen badgers, foxes, numerous types of birds there.
I have also been told by a number of residents that the proposed field has extremely bad drainage and I know it is prone to flooding. A number of houses along the proposed site also have to have septic tanks due to the bad drainage of the land.
I feel it would make more sense to build the proposed properties along Park Road R686W near to the Swarthmoor Football Club. The field has much better drainage. Also the properties already built on Park Road have a restricted view due to the higher wall, so I would have thought this would not have such an impact on them. Also considering the few amenities we do have in the village, most of them are along Park Road or very close to it, such as the Swarthmoor Football Club, the playground, the Reading Rooms, Methodist Chapel, this would also mean fewer people trying to cross the road to use these facilities, hopefully avoiding any future casualties.
