Comment

Representation ID: 11360

Received: 30/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs Maria Cassidy

These two sites are precious areas of green belt land to the local residents. Not only do they provide areas to walk and exercise, but they also form a distinct boundary of the Dudley Borough.

My concerns about these two proposed sites involve the following areas:

Roads & Transport

The road network through and around Kingswinford is already immensely overburdened and struggles to cope with the existing volume of traffic. To add to the problem with a potential additional 800 plus homes for residents within the Dudley Borough will only exacerbate the problems currently experienced. It is already accepted that Wordsley High Street is one of the most polluted roads within the Black Country and with absolutely no scope to alleviate the pressure, this pollution will only spread further along the main route between Kingswinford and Stourbridge, including onto surrounding roads.

To travel anywhere from Kingswinford involves high volume traffic and regular queuing traffic.

If the thought process of Dudley Council is that these two sites will potentially attract buyers of property from further afield that could access the sites by using the A449 (again another densely used road), this indicates that the properties are not being targeted at people requiring property within the Dudley Borough.

NHS Services

We are all acutely aware of the pressures the NHS is under nationally.

To add to this burden locally will certainly have an effect on the current residents of Kingswinford. Doctor’s surgeries already struggle to facilitate the current population in the area and, without major changes, would only struggle further should more residents require registration at the existing doctor’s surgeries.

Education

We have many excellent schools within Kingswinford and the close surrounding areas. Many families already relocate to the area to take advantage of these establishments. Should further properties be built, surely this will only increase the requirement for school places. Even if schools can accommodate more pupils, this is only going to be to the detriment of the pupils who may no longer be able to gain access to their first-choice school, thus having to travel further and again adding the pressure on the road network.

Green Belt

These two sites are precious areas of green belt land to the local residents. Not only do they provide areas to walk and exercise, but they also form a distinct boundary of the Dudley Borough. Should these green belt areas become large housing conurbations, it would surely only be a matter of time before South Staffordshire Council would also consider developing on green belt areas up to their boundaries. This would lead to immense areas of green belt that have existed for many hundreds of years being lost to facilitate housing.