Local Development Framework Consultation

Re: Proposed Oxenholme Development, Land West of Oxenholme Road, outline planning application SL/2012/0566

Dear Planning Officer,

Thank you for the opportunity to feedback on your proposed development on the Oxenholme/Kendal separation green belt land.

We as a family, as do many of our neighbours and local Kendal people (as evidenced by the recent petition results showing unanimous opposition) oppose any suggested development on green belt land in and around Kendal. My families reasons are below:-

1. Local school capacity-local school places are at a capacity and further pressure on the system would lead to a poorer standard of education for Kendal children. The standard of education we have in Kendal at the moment with the small community schools is something we can be proud of. Over populate Kendal and the schools won’t cope, and quick short term expansion of the schools clearly is not the answer. Has any study been done on the proposed number of new families coming to the area and the pressure on the local school systems and impact on standards of education?
2. Road infrastructure. Oxenholme road already struggles coping with the capacity of the traffic and pedestrian safety, with it being a small rural road. Adding more pressure on the traffic congestion will inevitably put pedestrian, cyclists and other road user’s safety at risk. This is not a dual carriage way that can support the added traffic. Only this week end I was on my bike with my 2 year old son on the back, the road surface going towards Kendal is so bad I had to keep veering out into the middle of the road, add anymore traffic and this could have been fatal. Please be warned. As a regular cyclist on the road it cannot cope with anymore added traffic without the risk to childrens, pedestrians and cyclists safety.
3. This is green belt area and serves as important true separation between Oxenholme and Kendal. The land currently serves as important farm land including a diverse spectrum of wildlife, including field nesting birds. You state that the proposed development will “improve the diversity”; by all means landscape the area without the houses as this will even further diversify the wildlife in the area.
4. General infrastructure of Kendal such as water treatment, drainage, policing, quality of life, added pollution, litter etc...Kendal is at capacity both in terms of local services and road infrastructures. In Kendal there is sufficient brown belt land and existing vacant properties that can be developed for affordable housing without encroaching on very environmentally and community valuable green belt land. This urban spread does not have to happen...please learn in other areas where communities have been lost and have suffered as a result of urban sprawl, there are other better alternatives. Could the council give me the answers to the following if these new developments are built, what will be the increase numbers of police, GP’s, nurses, litter pickers, grounds men etc....?

This honestly is not a case of “not in my back yard”, but a genuine concern of over populating Kendal to overtake the population that it can support. This is not Manchester or Salford with the infrastructure in place to support more and more development. And most people who chose to live in Kendal and stay in Kendal chose to stay due to the semi rural feel that it still has, the small local community schools, the small less congested relatively traffic free roads, the community spirit etc.... If this development goes ahead you really do run the risk of many families who work out of the boundaries of Kendal, however support the Kendal economy by substantially spending there salaries in Kendal moving away to other communities where overdevelopment is less of a concern, which will take away a substantial spending support and investment away from Kendal.

As for the very vague plans I witnessed, they didn’t give a lot away to specifically comment on. However one very real concern that I and once again my neighbours have is the “emergency access” from Hardknott Gardens. You should be aware there is a children’s park opposite Hardknott Gardens and many children cycle to and from the park. I have witnessed with the traffic that already uses Whinlatter/Hardknott Road some “close calls” with children on bikes with cars. Any further usage of this route either by any amount of traffic or heavy vehicles concerned with the development would inevitably lead to an accident and I would have to hold the planners responsible for any such accident would arise if any further traffic was allowed to use these roads in relation to the development, either during building works or post development.
Within the plans the “emergency access” if it were to be there, would mean covering over the beck, and going against the 10m exclusion zone around the beck, this is totally unacceptable as I am sure you would agree, with your strategy of diversifying wildlife, as this would put at threat species that habitat that part of the beck. I would also have to and will pass on these concerns to the environmental groups with an interest in protecting these environmentally valuable areas.

We enjoy living in Kendal and bringing up our family in Kendal, however we know that capacity of this town is at a high. You may think it two faced for a resident of the Oaks to oppose any further development as the Oaks would not have been built on that premise, however South Kendal can just about support the added population of the Oaks, but has pushed services to almost capacity and any further development would indeed add to much pressure on the infrastructure and tip it over, which would negatively impact on local services and quality of living of people who already live here. Affordable housing, yes, may pose an issue, however I go back to my point that many properties lay vacant in Kendal and more suitable brown belt area that could be redeveloped which would improve the locality and not impact negatively upon it. Please do not turn Kendal into inner city Salford!

I hope you understand our real life concerns.