Comments Form / found out via social media/word of mouth/leaflet

Ref: CFS023/COL38 Appendix B. Development of Land to the North and East of Malvern Road.
OBJECTIONS & SUGGESTIONS FOR ALTERNATIVES

Ref: CFS023
1. Green Belt
The area of land described being sloped at a steep gradient has for numerous years been used as grazing land for horses. No farming or growing of crops having taken place. No use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Un-polluted Green Belt.
Reducing the Green Belt of Beckney Woods (which is registered Ancient Woodland) would seriously damage the wood itself. Home for wild flora and fauna and the habitat for Pheasants, Herons, Bats, Sparrow Hawks, Owls, Buzzards, Muntjac deer, Adders, Grass Snakes, Badgers and Foxes. Blackbirds which are a protected species nest in the dens hedgerows that pass through the fields, safe from predators. All of this would be lost forever.
2. Infrastructure
The proposed number of houses required by RDC to be built would cause too high a demand on the current infrastructure and without substantial upgrading, demanding huge investment, systems would not cope.
Houses along Harrogate Drive are not on mains drainage, a major expense to any developer. Water pressure in the area, being maintained by pumps, would also require upgrading along with piping, all adding to the cost of development. Harrogate Drive would need to be built into a road as at the moment is unmade and huge potholes. Footpaths would be required and the road sidened to allow Blue Light services (Police, Fire & Ambulance) access to the area. A junction (roundabout) would be required to be built in Greensward Lane to allow vehicles to enter Harrogate Drive this would cause an already busy road to be busier raising the chances of accidents in a narrow part of the road.
Land drainage is a concern as previous flooding has taken place after extreme rain conditions (Fluvial flooding) due to Clay soil (Blue Clay), the lack of field drains and inadequate drainage.
3. Loss of Amenities
The proposed development would rob the residents of forty years of enjoyments and quality of life afforded by the views of fields and woodland. The steep gradient of the land will encroach on the privacy of residents as they would be totally overlooked. Traffic volume would increase with potential increases of both air and noise pollution that would be unable to clear due to lack of airflow in and around the buildings.
4. Alternative development areas
In the surrounding district of Gusted Hall & Stroud Green, Areas Ref: CFS074/CFS079/CFS081/CFS082/CFS083/CFS084 large areas for development of greater numbers, all with access to roads connecting to the feeder roads A127/A13. Disruption to normality would be minimized because traffic would not have to pass through Hockley and the bottlenecks of the Spa junction and Ashingdon Road.

Ref: COL38 The small plot of land Malvern Road "Play Area"
1. Designated Play Area
This area was designed for the residents of Malvern Road as a Children's Play Area and given to them as such due to the poor soil structure. Flooding occurs after heavy rainfall due to the clay content (Blue Clay high water content). Global Warming only making the possibility of flooding more frequent.
Recent proposal to class it as a bridal way were firmly rejected.
The inspector recording significant concerns expressed for the need to protect the public open space from development.
1. Access to Beckney Woods and beyond.
The path is used daily by a number of residents and dog walkers to access the woodland footpath.