Object

Representation ID: 13150

Received: 07/10/2021

Respondent: Mr Alan Hollingsworth

We object to this proposed housing development on the basis of these points:
Access and Egress
Longwood Lane is far too fast for any sort of turning into a new estate. Vehicles race along, not adhering to the forty mile an hour speed limit. That would be an accident waiting to happen. There are no pavements either - not very pedestrian friendly. It would also destroy habitats and may affect the ancient limestone mine workings in the Hayhead Wood area.
Sutton Road is far too fast for a turning off into a new housing estate. The proposed site for the entrance (where the green roofed bungalow now resides), or any spot between the Longwood Lane turn and the Long Horn Public House off Sutton Road, would be unacceptable due to safety concerns. This is based on:-
1 . No one takes any notice of the 30mph speed limit on Sutton Road and come racing down Three Crowns Hill, sometimes, at a very alarming rate of knots. 'Speed merchants' have caused a number of serious accidents. This can be verified by police records and Express and Star newspaper reports. A notable one was so bad, it needed a police incident hut being set up on the Long Horn car park, with staff offering tea and coffee to blue light personnel. My daughter who regularly gardens in our front garden, has witnessed a massive increase in volume of traffic recently, and increased speed of vehicles, at all times of the day. There are regularly 'boy racers' with revved engines careering down the road, irresponsibly massively over the speed limit. They would be out of control in no time if there were cars turning into a new estate entrance, as there is a blind bend (appendix 1) on Sutton Road, before the road straightens out. There would be inadequate stopping time after coming down the hill at speed, as these 'racers' would be 'upon' cars/buses turning, before they knew it. Another accident waiting to happen. By the same token, vehicles also drive far too quickly the other way up Sutton Road past the Long Horn. And again, this proposed estate turning at the site of the green bungalow, would be 'upon them' in no time. If they couldn't stop in time with cars accessing or egressing the estate at that point, there could be fatalities.
2. As a mobility scooter user, regularly travelling on the pavement up and down Sutton Road, I would be uncomfortable having to cross a new road, created as a new entrance to this new estate. I wouldn't feel safe, and without adequate dropped curbs would find myself compromised. I find the ride on the pavement bumpy and unpleasant enough on sections of raised and undulating slabs, and do not fancy my chances at [redacted], of tackling yet another obstacle. At present, I can travel to McColls Newsagent in one go, without crossing a road.l feel this would impair my disability.
3. To create an entrance (access/egress) for this new estate at the site of the green bungalow, some large trees would have to be felled (appendix 2). As I have lived in [redacted], I know how old they are. And there must be a TPO order on them as they are over 50 years old. We are not happy that they would need to be felled, or that other local habitats would need to be destroyed. More on that to follow.
Services
As a shared sewer owner, who regularly has to monitor my sewer, I can state that the 1930s drainage system along Sutton Road, is not very robust. Our sewer regularly gets blocked and our neighbours' sewer [redacted], on the verge area, has recently collapsed twice and had to be extensively repaired by Severn Trent. Also, there have been patch repairs on the road completed recently, prior to the National Cycle Event, after years of heavy vehicles pounding the road and breaking to go round into Longwood Lane. There will be a collapse at some point.
We are concerned about the consequences of 644 houses being plonked behind our home. We do not feel the infrastructure is there to sustain such development. You should also be made aware, that in 1983, there was a freak flooding occurrence, combined with a lightning strike which struck one of the properties in Longwood Lane. An immense volume of water cascaded down Three Crowns Hill, which by the time it reached the bottom of the hill, was forceful enough to overturn freezers in garages. All the sewers flooded, and we had to try and sweep water down the side of the house as fast as possible to not get sewage in the property. And with climate change only worsening, and more prolific rain 'forecast' this would be a great concern for all on Sutton Road and Longwood Lane and also the houses proposed behind them.
Mine and my wife's decline
We moved into our home, primarily for 'the view' behind the property (appendix 3). 'The view' is one of the things we pay a considerable council tax charge for. 'The view' is what's stopped us from moving into care homes. We paid a lot of money for a huge picture window to admire 'the view' of the Green Belt behind us, one of the jewels in Walsall's crown. As we decline [redacted], we will become more infirm and require downstairs beds in the lounge [redacted]. At present (appendix 4), all we can see are trees and fields and we are not overlooked. As soon as houses are plonked at the very perimeter of our bottom fence, we will be very inconveniently overlooked. We do not want to be exposed to people looking in at us when we have carers dealing with our personal needs! We would not find that acceptable at all. We would not want to have the curtains closed all day either, as we are staying here 'for the view'. We would probably lose our lovely, tall rose hedging at the bottom of the garden too, and that would be a great shame, as it forms a ha-ha for the rest of the view that we are lucky enough to share with our neighbours and gives us added security from the risk of burglars.
Habitats
The whole area behind our home has been tended and nurtured for decades. Some special work has been done by numerous bodies, to develop habitats; encouraging flora and fauna, dredging and re-enlivening the canal and introducing new species. Calderfields Golf Club have even installed EcoCabins on their well-managed site, as they see the area worthy of visitors staying, with some wonderful landscaping habitats created. Indeed, various canal trusts and volunteers have worked extremely hard to create a beautiful environment, which some people actually call their home at the Longwood Lock Basin.
There have been sightings of [species redacted] and all manner of wild flowers and wildfowl can be seen on the canal and surrounding fields. We regularly have [species redacted] fly over, and [species redacted] catching prey in the fields behind the house. All those trees being demolished would be a criminal waste, as those habitats have taken some considerable time to develop. What would David Attenborough say!
This housing development, by losing those habitats, would be detrimental to cyclists, dog walkers, ramblers, children learning about their environment and horse riders. As the government's agenda is to get as many people as possible out and about getting fit, this would be another loss of green space which is ideal for the above purposes.
There are lovely walks on the 'Beacon Way', linking the Arboretum Extension, Canal, Hayhead Wood Nature Reserve, Cuckoo's Nook Nature Reserve and Barr Beacon. Plus extended links with Park Lime Pits and Sutton Park. All of these would be interrupted, optically and practically by the erection of 644 houses over the two sites at Sutton road and Calderfields. That would be a heritage loss that we and a lot of other people would be unhappy about.
In conclusion
In conclusion, the erection of 644 houses (202 Sutton Road, 442 Calderfields) would not be appropriate on these proposed sites. There are plenty of better suited brownfield and other underdeveloped sites that would be far more usable and appropriate (as Andy Street's policy attests), and they would be a lot safer to easily access and egress.