Response from Mrs Margaret Pierce (Individual)
1. Mrs Margaret Pierce (Individual) : 10 Jul 2017 14:53:00
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Arnside - Hollins Lane A8/A9
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Hollins Lane is one of the narrowest roads in Arnside; there are few passing places and the road struggles at times to accommodate the traffic that uses it. There are no footpaths on either Hollins Lane or for parts of Silverdale Road; I feel that any pedestrians walking along either road are in some danger. This is especially the case in the summer when both roads are used by tourist visiting the area. Fourteen houses could mean 28 more cars and maybe 28 children. The potential increase in traffic could be extremely hazardous especially with the possible increase in the number of young children using the either of the roads to get to and from school.
The development and open public space suggested make houses on Hollins Lane vulnerable to crime as anyone walking along the public space will have a direct view into the homes of most dwellings thereby being able to ascertain whether there are any residents present. This creates an opportunity to those seeking unlawful entry to a property. The public open space created within the proposed development also creates potential for other low level crime such as littering, vandalism and nuisance behavior.
Properties on Hollins Lane and Swinate have problems with drains there is least one resident on Swinnate that on some occasions has raw sewage seeping into the back garden. Some houses on Hollins that have water seeping into the garage after heavy rain. There is usually a stream that flows down Hollins Lane after a downpour.
The privacy of the properties on Hollins Lane would be adversely affected by the proposed development. Because of the incline of the field and the positioning of the proposed development the residents of the development would be able to see directly into bedrooms windows. People walking along the proposed walkway would have a direct view into the windows of many of the houses on Hollins Lane. The rear gardens of properties along Hollins Lane would have absolutely no privacy. In the Yorkshire Dales a planning officer dismissed an appeal against refusal of permission for a 2 bedroomed property on land at Spedding, the proposed development would be overbearing and severely harm the neighbours’privacy.
There are sites that are far more suitable in Arnside that have previously been identified. There are sites with more suitable access to local amenities such as the primary school, doctor’s surgeries, public transport and local shops.
The inspectors report in 2014 stated:
‘some of the sites proposed for allocation add to my misgivings. At the hearing session, the Council confirmed that the land proposed to be allocated for housing at Station Road (RN337#), Hollins Lane (RN225-mod) and Redhills Road (R81) is considered to currently perform a greenspace function. I am told that the Council judges these sites to have amenity value, in that they contribute positively to the character and appearance of the settlement and thus of the AONB, to some degree. From my site visits, I concur with that analysis.’
The Cumbria Rural Housing Trust published the results of the housing needs survey for the Arnside & Silverdale AONB in September 2014. The site allocations contained in the AONB DPD that had been drafted prior to the public consultation in the winter of 2016, provided more than enough development land to satisfy the housing needs outlined in the CRHT survey. There is no evidence to suggest that a need for more development land has been proven since that survey. The Hollins Lane site is currently designated as an Open Green Space, and in my opinion it should remain so.