Response from Mr David Salisbury, SOLEK - Save our Landscapes East Kendal
1. Mr David Salisbury, SOLEK - Save our Landscapes East Kendal : 2 May 2012 08:37:00
Policy/Site No.
LA1.3 Housing Allocations - R121M-mod KENDAL EAST OF CASTLE GREEN ROAD
2.1 Do you consider that the South Lakeland District Council Land Allocations DPD is sound?
No
2.2 If NO please identify which test of soundness your representation relates to by selecting the relevant option(s) below and completing section 2.3.
The DPD is not justified in that it is not founded on a robust and credible evidence base and/or is not considered the most appropriate strategy when considered against the reasonable alternatives.
The DPD is not effective in that the document is not deliverable, flexible or capable of being monitored.
2.3 Please give details of the change(s) you consider necessary to make the South Lakeland District Council Land Allocations DPD sound, having regard to the test you have identified at question 2.2 above.
It would be helpful if you could state your proposed change to the DPD and the reasons why you think it is necessary.
We list below our response to the unsoundness of the possible development ofland at
the top of Oak Tree Road, Kendal and at the rear of Rowan Tree Crescent, Kendal
which come under Reference R121M in the SLDC Land Allocation document:-
There are numerous issues of unsoundness including infrastructure, bio diversity,
landscape and flooding.
There is a total lack of preparation and detail (unsoundness) in these recommendations,
especially for such a sensitive site.
For example, SLDC claims to have liaised with the Local Highways Authority regarding
access but I understand CCC Highways Dept. have not even measured the width of Oak
Tree Road - their preferred option for access onto the site. Anyone with any sense will
see that this road is too narrow to provide access to the site.
When the last highways survey of the Castle Green Road area was done 3 years ago
there was never any suggestion of opening up the end of Oak Tree Road for vehicular
access. An access road (with lighting etc.) would cross this most sensitive area (RS6 and
R141) in order to allow access to R121, which was worthy of County Landscape
designation in 1999, and has been subsequently judged as highly sensitive in various
reports.
In the Council's 1996 Deposit Local Plan, RS6 was put forward as a potential housing
allocation. This was because it was excluded from the County Landscape Area, and was
thus regarded as acceptable "infill". Both of these arguments were strongly rejected by
the Inspector following the subsequent Public Inquiry. He noted that the land provided
a visually important link between the open land west of Castle Green Road, and the
higher slopes of the hillside to the east, and concluded that "notwithstanding its omission
from the Landscape Character designation I believe that the allocation site has a visual
quality of some considerable local importance which outweighs the very small
contribution which it can make to the housing land need"
There is a colony of Great Crested Newts in and around the pond below the Castle
Green Hotel and we understand that they need at least 500 metres for food, habitation
and hibernation and the greatest threat to this protected species is loss of habitat. I also
understand that another colony has been discovered at Broom Close which is on the
northern boundary of the site. The newts have also been seen on our property at Rowan
Tree Crescent.
A survey of the local area was undertaken by Derek A Whitcher Ltd in May 2008, on
behalf of Network Rail. The pond was found to be home to Great Crested Newts (one of
only 2 colonies in Kendal) , a species protected by virtue of the provisions of Section 9 of
the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). It is an offence to intentionally or
recklessly kill, injure, take, or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to places of
shelter or protection used by them, including their breeding ponds and their
surrounding terrestrial habitats.
Since the 2008 survey the topography of the area has changed markedly, with flood
water from the original breeding pond to the south having eroded a large gully running
north-west into the proposed allocation. This created a number ofsubsidiary ponds,
which are now becoming vegetated, and it is therefore very likely that newts will be
making use of these, and extending the size of their colony.
There are many issues of flooding of this area and most of the properties especially at
the top of Oak Tree Road and the land at the rear of Rowan Tree Crescent adjoining the
site have been flooded on a regular basis and SLDC recognises publicly that flooding on
the eastern side of Kendal is a very serious problem, all other land potentially flowing
into the very expensive Stock Beck Flood Alleviation system has been removed. So why
compromise the scheme with this additional risk? Why would Cumbria County Council
want to take on the risks, the responsibilities and the cost?
Taking these issues and the many others which have been pointed out in the SOLEK
submission and the one prepared by Michael Hyde on behalf of SOLEK we request that the site 121M is deleted from the land allocation document
