Object

Representation ID: 16578

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Mr Gary Crutchley

Site number WAH238, WAH240 & WAH236
We wish to raise our objections to the scheme which outlines plans to build houses at the three sites listed above. As a resident immediately in the vicinity of site WAH236 and close to WAH240 I would highlight the issues currently at these locations.
The road infrastructure cannot cope at present let alone with the addition of hundreds of houses. The road junction of Coronation Road and Vicarage Road immediately outside my property is at a standstill for around two to three hours each weekday in the mornings and afternoons. It appears to be worse during the afternoons, when the road becomes busy around 3pm and does not start to clear until around 6pm most evenings. This junction is used by parents and staff accessing the Sheffield Community Academy and this increased traffic clashes at peak times with general traffic. The pavements are used by schoolchildren who also have to compete with traffic, often from frustrated drivers, who put the children at risk. The traffic is constricted by the former disused railway bridge sited in Vicarage Road (McClean Way) and also the traffic lights in the middle of Pelsall Common. These existing installations cause a major restriction during peak times, often resulting in impatient drivers breaking the law and driving across grass verges directly in front of my property and cutting up other laws abiding drivers. It is only a matter of time before a major incident occurs at this junction, either as a result of an accident or a road rage event. The addition of hundreds more houses will exacerbate the current situation to unprecedented levels which will be unsustainable. The present road infrastructure through Pelsall Village was never designed to facilitate the sheer volume of traffic it now faces every day and does not lend itself to the type of road widening schemes that would be necessary to sustain the traffic that would inevitably arrive with the building of a total of 1293 houses, WAH238 (504), WAH240 (209) & WAH236 (580), not to mention the effect of the traffic as a result of further housing developments proposed at Clayhanger under WAH239. Whomever has dreamt up this scheme, simply has no comprehension of the impact upon existing residents nor current difficulties faced by road users and pedestrians alike on a daily basis within this location.
In addition, the fields to the side and rear of my property are a natural flood plain as a result of the brook which crosses Vicarage Road. During periods of high rain fall or persistent bouts of rainfall, the brook becomes flooded and one of the fields then completely backfills with water, which can reach into my rear garden. The addition of several hundred houses will prevent the natural seepage of rainwater into the ground as a result of grasslands being covered with concrete, block paved driveways, roads, all of which are known to hinder the natural dispersal of heavy rainfall.
The rainfall also runs down from Pelsall common at the junction of Victoria Road and Vicarage Road resulting in major flooding under the aforementioned railway bridge in Vicarage Road, which can make this impassable except for larger vehicles, but this again further impacts on the excessive traffic. I have serious concerns as result of increased run off from new developments with regards to the increased flood risk to existing properties along Vicarage Road, Coronation Road and my own property, not to mention the risk to building new properties on what is clearly defined as a flood plain on the UK Governments website.
Whilst I recognise the need for more housing, there are plenty of brownfield sites available within the borough which lend themselves to new developments and regeneration. The simple fact is that developing those sites is not considered cost effective when compared to a ‘clean canvass’ of a greenfield site. The choice to ignore such available spaces and leave them dilapidated and run down, which tends to result in them being used for increased levels of crime, is simply not acceptable and is a failure and an oversight by the local government officials who are supporting these developments.
To summarise , this is a badly thought out plan which will result to further increased traffic, danger to pedestrians and schoolchildren, hinderance to residents, flooding of existing properties, flooding of new properties and ultimately the further destruction of a village which in recent years has already grown beyond the number of houses for which the infrastructure was originally designed to accommodate.