North Baddesley Village Website-Council page 2

COUNCIL NEWS ARCHIVE

14th April 08
The North Baddesley Parish Council and Hampshire County Councillor Alan Dowden has been working to tackle the speeding in North Baddesley. I have attached an e-mail received by Cllr Dowden:

SUMMARY OF TRAFFIC SPEED SURVEYS – NORTH BADDESLEY - LOCATION PLANS...

Dear Councillor Dowden,
I refer to our earlier e-mails regarding the results of the traffic speed checks carried out along Rownhams Road and Rownhams Lane, North Baddesley following the site meeting in February. Please find attached the document which details the location of the surveys and a summary of the results.

The results for Site 2, Rownhams Lane south of Hoe Lane, indicates that there is generally a high level of compliance of the 30 mph limit at this location. This is despite the fact that this location coincides with the start of the 30 mph limit and motorists are slowing down from the derestricted section of Rownhams Lane from the Nursling direction. It would appear that the traffic islands do constrain traffic speeds to a certain extent. In similar circumstances where there are no physical traffic calming measures, experience has shown that traffic speeds would normally be higher at the start of such a limit.

Although the traffic speed results for Site 1, Rownhams Lane north of Crescent Road and Site 3 Rownhams Road, north-east of Brook Close, are not untypical of those often measured within a 30 mph limit, they are slightly on the high side. I will therefore draw all of the traffic speed survey results to the attention of the Police and ask them to take enforcement action as they consider appropriate. As you are aware, an analysis of the reported injury accident data over the latest three year period for which police injury accident data is fully available shows that the accident data for Rownhams Lane and Rownhams Road is, thankfully, very good.

I hope this information is of assistance to you. Please let me know if you require me to report these findings to the Parish Council or wish to do this yourself.

Martin Wiltshire Assistant Area Manager Traffic Management Environment Department Hampshire County Council.

If residents have any other concerns about speeding in their road, please contact Cllr Steve Cosier: 02380 734335 – stevecsr17@aol.com

30th March 08
£85,000 FOR NEW YOUTH WING ON SPORTS PAVILION

The Parish Council working along side Hampshire Youth Service have been given £85, 000 by Hampshire County Council's Youth Opportunities Fund to add a new youth wing onto the new sports pavilion planned for development on the recreation ground.

A Local Action Group which was set up to look at ways of providing more youth facilities, have been working to reduce antisocial behaviour in the village following low-level problems with vandalism.

Hampshire County Councillor, Alan Dowden has been working behind the scenes to help the high percentage of young people aged 13 to 19 in North Baddesley.

Cllr Celia Dowden, a borough councillor and a member of the Local Action Group. parish chairman, David Knight and Ann Tupper and Steve Cosier (borough members), have been working with outside authorities to get the youth club off the ground.

The Local Action Group decided that the pavilion was the most suitable place because the sports facilities are on the site. The Parish Council has also applied to South Central Connexions for a basketball cage and floodlighting on the recreation ground.

23rd March 08
Response from Parish Council to the proposal for an additional 500 homes to be built in Baddesley

North Baddesley is cited three miles East of Romsey between Chilworth and Ampfield. In total it covers 116 hectares of built-up land and has a population of nearly 6,000; the estimated number of peoples in each dwelling being in the region of 2.5. A substantial majority of people live in the heavily built-up urban fringe in the South West corner of the village, where the new development is proposed.

Unlike the neighboring town or Romsey, situated to the south-west, some 2.5 miles away, North Baddesley does not have the luxury of one major supermarket, four primary schools, two secondary schools and three medical surgeries. Its infrastructure is made up of one infant school, one junior school, two convenience store and one doctor’s surgery – servicing a population of 6000 men women and children.

It is a fact that both schools in North Baddesley were oversubscribed last year. The resultant consequences of this oversubscription meant that the children of North Baddesley parishioners did not obtain a place in their preferred school. This led to parents/guardians driving to Romsey and Ampfield.

There is an assertion that inserting 500 houses to the south west of North Baddesley will constitute sustainable development. The Parish Council believe that this is an over-optimistic belief by planning officials. The Parish Council will not support any proposal which fails to give a balanced and thoroughly evidence-based assessment on the effects that an extra 500 houses will have on the transport system, environment and infrastructure of North Baddesley.

To begin with, one of the most prevalent factors in objecting to the development proposed in North Baddesley is the strain that extra vehicle movements will have on the already over-used transport corridors of Botley Road, Rownhams Lane and Rownhams Road. Clearly vehicle movements through North Baddesley have a significant impact on the existing road network. If we take the three key trunk roads mentioned above, they have significant percentages of traffic using what one could only describe as a limited network, which regularly exceeds its capacity; not only at AM and PM peak times but throughout the day. Adding a possible 750-1000 cars on to a network which often exceeds 55% of its capacity, will cripple the network infrastructure. Rising transport demands already put our transport network under great strain.

To naively believe that vehicle drivers will seek to use alternative means of transport is to ignore current trends in motor vehicle use. It is a fact that the car dependency is here to stay. Any measures aimed to discourage car use will fail because the planning authority can not hope to change the behaviour of this group. In fact there has been no new infrastructure built in this country for years. Road transport has grown by 81% since 1980. According to latest research 25 per cent of traffic will be subject to stop-start travel conditions by 2025 due to over-development of existing communities.

The knock-on effect of any increase in vehicles using our three main transport arteries is increased carbon emissions. Average emissions of cars using our roads is 171.4 g/km CO2, way above the EU target 140 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre. That would equate to an extra 0.1714 kg / m of carbon being pumped into the lungs of North Baddesley residents if we build 500 houses. This alone is grounds to object to a development which ‘could potentially give rise to pollution’ and have an adverse effect, not only on the environment but on the health of local residents.

In addition, research has established that of the 6,000 people living in North Baddesley work elsewhere. They travel to the city of Winchester, Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford, Southampton and along the M27 corridor. Also a lack of sizable supermarket in the Village will mean that there will be a migration from the village to Eastleigh, Romsey and Southampton for major shopping trips.

It is already acknowledged in the Core Strategy that:

‘Test Valley has a high car dependency. Ownership levels are high with 46% of households owing 2 or more cars. This figure is well above the County average of 40%...’public transport provision is patchy and infrequent. The areas best served by public transport are Romsey and Andover; both have a rail and bus station.

This recognition supports the Parish Council’s objections that the settlement of North Baddesley suffers from a lack of direct links to key educational and retail destinations because of unreliable and poor frequency of services, poor quality of infrastructure and lack of bus passenger priority. This problem with an inadequate bus service means that cars are the preferred option for the majority of residents in the village. The introduction of 500 houses will exacerbate this dilemma due to continuing trends in the ‘cost of motoring and public transport use: motoring is still cheaper in real terms but bus and train travel is more expensive’. Unlike, Romsey and Andover there are no existing transport schemes to enhance.

It is the Council’s argument that the Core Strategy fails to support the Government’s Climate Change Programme which forecasts end-user transport emissions rising by 22% from 1990 to 2020 and by almost 19% from 2000 – 2020, and therefore is fundamentally floored.

It is also the Parish Council’s contention that it is extremely implausible that North Baddesley will provide any additional jobs for those living in the 500 houses proposed. As a result locating housing in North Baddesley on the scale proposed is not a sustainable option.

A more viable option, supported in 10.13 of the Core Strategy, is to review the housing allocations in Nursling and Rownhams, where the M271 transport corridors would provide a better transport link to multi-destinations; allowing for the growth of larger sustainable development, enhancing accessibility, mobility, and community vitality.

1 Chap. 17 policy DCS15.

2 DEFRA (2004) ‘Review of the UK Climate Change Programme – consultation paper’ section 3 table 6

3 Ibid

The M271 plays a vital strategic role supporting the national and local economy. The granting of planning permission for the new Ordnance Survey headquarters at Adanac in January 2008; supports our conjecture that the LPA needs to build houses where there is employment. It is recognised that this industrial development will generate between 3,500 – 4,000 new jobs.

The Core Strategy identifies that ‘the perceived gap’ between Southampton and Nursling has ‘been eroded over recent years and it is not proposed that a local gap should be retained’ . This adds credence to the North Baddesley Parish Council’s push to increase the opportunities for more development in the Adanac vicinity. There is in our opinion, no demonstrable harm in increasing the number of houses in Nursling by 450-500. If this land is developed correctly and sensitively it will elevate the quality of life of local residents and the profile and appearance of the area, and create new opportunities for local people by making it more attractive for business./

The Parish Council also feel that permitting development on land which is high quality agricultural land flies in the face of current planning policies. The Core Strategy fails make any provision to conserve agricultural land. The Rural White Paper: Our Countryside: The Future - A Fair Deal for Rural England states:

We want to reverse the decline.

Our vision is of:

a living countryside, with thriving communities and access to high quality public services;
a working countryside, with a prosperous and diverse economy, giving high and stable levels of employment;
a protected countryside, in which the environment is sustained and enhanced, and which all can enjoy; and a vibrant countryside which can shape its own future and whose voice is heard by government at all levels.

Additionally PPG 7 paragraph 2.17 clearly indicates that ‘development should not be permitted on grade 1, 2 and 3a land…and where developing agricultural land is unavoidable’. The Parish Council urges the local planning authority to seek low-grade agricultural land as a replacement for the land proposed. According to PPG7 advice should be sort form DEFRA, English nature and other relevant bodies prior to any consideration of land for development. It is our belief that other areas, less agriculturally important should be considered before this location. It is our belief that the LPA has failed to weigh the options in the light of government advice.

Concerns have also been raised concerning North Baddesley’s ecological footprint. North Baddesley’s ecological footprint equates to the total area of land and water required to supply the resources it consumes and dispose of the wastes it produces. Our footprint is determined by the lifestyles of its inhabitants. At present there is a fine balance between the natural environment and the impact of human activity, especially near the proposed site. The government has made strong connections between policies for regenerating large conurbations and safeguarding the countryside. Sadly, this proposal does neither.

4 Chap. 8 para 8.12.

5 www.defra.gov.uk/rural/ruralwp/summary.htm

Policy ENV 08 in the current Borough Local Plan presumes against development on high quality agricultural land. The location of the proposal to build 500 houses and the subsequent change in the agricultural use of land will increase the risk of flooding in this area. Run off from rural areas and discharges of waste water from urban areas are both factors in the growing problem of eutrophication of surface waters. At present parts of the Ringwood Drive estate suffer from drainage problems, due to a disintegration of the basic sewage infrastructure.

Though this is only at the proposal stage, the Parish Council feels that the Core Strategy lacks any concrete examples of data on air and water quality, waste, economic and social data How can members of the public, including Parish Councillors consider a report which in-itself is not sustainable. The proposal does not allow a comprehensive view to be taken of environmental issues, pollution and vehicle impact on the existing conurbation. We feel that there is a real lack of clarity as to the level of detail and nature of this investigation into proposed development in North Baddesley.