Object

Representation ID: 22427

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Mr Michael Murphy

DUH218 OBJECTIONS TO THE CHANGE OF LAND USE IN GORNAL WOOD. 2nd Oct 2021
Guys Lane over the years has become increasingly blighted by road traffic.
This short cut between two main road arteries has got worse and worse [redacted personal details]. It is not like a normal residential street accessed just by residents and the odd delivery vehicle. It is in fact a busy thoroughfare, regularly busy all day with rush hour peak time a nightmare. I often have to wait several minutes to either get in or out of my own street due to queuing traffic in Guy's Lane trying to get to the Himley Road. We have white windowsills, and 20 years ago I would clean them perhaps once a month, but by five or six years ago they had to be cleaned at least once a week and now if I had the time it would need to be a couple of times every day.
This dirt is caused by the volume of traffic continuously stirring up road dust, but more worryingly, I believe a large amount of this dirt is car and lorry exhaust particulates and pollutants. My neighbours and I often say, if this is what we can see on our windowsills, then what must our lungs look like!
Talking to neighbours this residential estate appears to have an unusually high incidence of cancers, especially amongst women (perhaps spending more time daily in the area than their partners, in an unhealthy environment).
It hardly seems possible but the traffic has increased again recently with the completion of many houses on the new Himley View and Catesby estates on Stallings Lane and Tansy Green Road with the prospect of even more traffic from the yet to be completed Oak Lane build.
Adding new housing to Guys Lane would mean adding even more traffic to this tiny residential side road which will lead to an increase in safety concerns let alone further frustration, anxiety and angst to the current residents.
The level of traffic pollution must already contravene a number of clean air and health regulations, and any increases would be regarded as a criminal act and a dereliction of duty of care to local residents.

OBJECTIONS TO THE CHANGE OF LAND USE IN GORNAL WOOD. 2nd Oct 2021
2.
Wildlife and social activities
Having outlined the health and safety concerns above, one of the few positives about living on this estate is being close to the area known by many as the "Horses' Fields, Guys Lane".
This piece of land has been a lifeline, literally, for local families. We all know the benefits of having access to nature for our mental health and some experts say this access is essential.
This little oasis of green is visited daily by local people, taking a few minutes to relax, enjoy and smile. Families, older people enjoy leaning over the gate to look at and interact with the horses. If you are quiet, you can see rabbits running round the fields and sometimes their arch enemy, young foxes can be watched play-fighting in the evenings. Also, in the evening many bats fly from their roosts to feed.
This area really is a haven for wildlife. Over the years my family have watched buzzards circling overhead as well as kestrels, sparrowhawks and ravens, all nesting in and around these couple of fields. In the spring, swifts, swallows and house martins wheel above the hedgerows feeding on insects. Winter visitors include [redacted species information].
Native birds nesting observed by my family include the smallest British bird, the goldcrest, as well as all the usual regulars; robin, blackbird, sparrow, dunnock, greenfinch, bullfinch, great, blue and coal tits, great spotted and green woodpeckers.
As well as the wildlife mentioned above the fields are visited, and crossed by,[redacted species information].
The dry areas contain nests of populations of solitary bees.
The wet areas have smooth newts, frogs, toads, [redacted species information] and dragonflies.
The sheer diversity of the plant species in the established hedgerows surrounding the site indicates these hedgerows have been there for more than a hundred years.