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New Town Is Not The Best Option
With the public
now being given an opportunity to comment on the Options and Issues for South
Worcestershire's development, one of the options will be to build a new town,
just as it was in 1997 when the old Structure Plan was under consideration.
Clearly not all CPRE members will oppose
this, but we hope the majority will for the following reasons.
First, even if there were agreement on
where the town would be built, it would take several years to get through the
planning process and more years to build. It would probably be around 15 years
before many people moved into the houses, since much infrastructure and other
facilities would need to be in place frst.The days of letting people move in to
a building site have gone. This is of no benefit to those waiting for low-cost
houses now.
In contrast, small housing developments on brownfeld sites or located
near the edge of existing towns can be approved and built in a year or less,
with the occupants often able to use existing facilities such as shops, schools
and public services without much further building required.
Secondly, because a new town would need to be linked to others, the
impact on the countryside would be greater. Existing roads would need to be
widened, some new ones built, much duplication of facilities provided, not forgetting
a newTown Hall or civic centre. Eventually there would be calls for a bypass!
Thirdly, a new town would need to be
located some distance from existing towns in order to provide a green space or
strategic gap around it.This would change the pattern of town and countryside
far more radically than just making modest extensions to existing towns and
impact more strongly on the landscape.
It is, of course, a blow to those who
lose their views of the countryside, as I experienced in 1995 when the farmland
on the edge of Malvern known asTownsend Fields was built on, reducing our view
of the countryside from 20 miles to 30 yards! In spite of this, I feel that it
was a better solution to Malvern's housing needs, as within a minute or two one
is again able to stroll along the leafy lanes of the Worcestershire
countryside.
Frank Hill
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