Object

Representation ID: 46052

Received: 10/10/2021

Respondent: Mr Richard Westwood

Site Reference Numbers: The Triangle: DUH 211 page 371 and Holbeach: DUH 208 page 371
I have strong objections to the proposed development of greenbelt land sited at 'The Triangle', Swindon Road, Wall Heath, Kingswinford and the land south of Holbeache Lane, Wolverhampton Road, Kingswinford. My main objections being:

1. Highways and resultant traffic issues
I am confident that a visit by any of those in support of development on these sites would immediately reach the same conclusion that existing residents of Wall Heath are already well aware; that roads in our village are already heavily congested and in no way capable of sustaining the kinds of increased traffic we would incur, in the event new houses are built near the village.
At peak times queues of traffic stretch nose to tail along the stretch of A449 that runs through the village, belching carbon monoxide and other pollutants as it crawls along. I fail to see how this issue will not be exacerbated by developments on these sites.

2. Local Infrastructure and supporting services
Unless the developers plan to build a new Doctor’s surgery, Primary & Secondary schools, and a Hospital, I am intrigued to know how the existing strained and oversubscribed services that serve the local area will accommodate the increase in the population and resultant demand, that the introduction of 800+ new houses would bring.
3. Environmental Damage
Since moving to the village my family and I have spent many wonderful days exploring and enjoying the beautiful countryside on our doorstep. Through the pandemic, this was a major factor in our mental-health and well-being. When I explained to my two young daughters that there was a proposal to build houses on these beautiful and vibrant sites, they were both as dismayed as I, and queried why this had to happen. Their innocent and simplistic suggestion is the obvious and logical one here – build your new houses elsewhere. Only once all brown-field sites have been truly exhausted should one even consider building on green-field sites. The reality is there are plenty of viable alternatives in the Black Country, however, I expect they are more complicated & expensive to build on, and so the appetite of these mercenary developers quickly evaporates, and the ‘easy option’ gets favoured. The wildlife, flora and fauna that face eviction cannot object to this abhorrent proposal, but this does not mean they should be ignored. Development on green-belt land means irrevocable damage to the natural environment, which categorically cannot be allowed to happen.