Sprawling suburbs and gridlock ahead

The Local Plan draft proclaims that it will deliver high quality layout and design - well it could hardly offer low quality, or merely mediocre designs. There is also a nod to principles of garden towns and a further nod to low carbon economy and lifestyle.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Apr 2014, 07:25 BST

What is the real prospect? A number of sprawling suburbs, inevitably serviced by a carbon intensive lifestyle and little public transport: a recipe for gridlocked traffic and ever increasing pollution.

Applications are being made in outline, listing numbers of units but entirely lacking any real design details – good, bad or indifferent. The delivery is to be by commercial development, devoid of the co-ownership principles which drove the garden city movement.

Well, at least it might deliver affordable housing. But the terms will be “subject to negotiation” and to “viability”. Already we have seen the Myton housing consortium stating that they can do only 20 per cent affordable, not 40 per cent.

Richard Ashworth, Willes Road, Leamington

Leamington