Overstretched Wellesbourne can’t cope with more houses, say locals

PLANS to build 300 homes in Wellesbourne have prompted scores of furious objections from local residents who say the village simply cannot take more housing on that scale.

The homes – along with associated green space and “biodiversity enhancement” – are proposed on land east of Kineton Road in Wellesbourne by Richborough Strategic Land Promotions.

Protests against the scheme have been coming in thick and fast on Stratford District Council’s planning website.

On complainant who succinctly sums up the reaction to the plans is Gillian Lee. She declares: “Village infrastructure under stress already. The roads in particular were not built for the current volume of traffic never mind adding more.

“Community facilities are also overstretched. I moved to Wellesbourne four years ago. If I had wanted to live in a town rather than a village community I would have moved to Stratford. Enough is enough.”

Another villager, Gill Troth, states: “As a Wellesbourne resident I strongly object to the above application because Wellesbourne has already accommodated large-scale new housing development in recent years and has allocated sufficient planned housing for the next 25 years.”

She adds: “Wellesbourne does not have the infrastructure to accommodate this scale of development. There is no secondary school and the primary school is oversubscribed. Healthcare services are already stretched. There is no rail service and a poor bus service.”

Mrs Troth says the A429 is often blocked, with delays on the 5-ways roundabout and market congestion. “There will be major traffic impact with the increased housing, together with the proposed gravel pit and development of the University of Warwick Innovation Campus,” she says.

She says the development would cause increased flood risk in Stratford and surrounding villages, pointing out the area’s status as a major tourist attraction. “I would urge the council to try to spread any necessary development more evenly and in smaller-scale pockets across Warwickshire,” she concludes.

Brian and Diane Bromfield echo the complaints about inadequate infrastructure, and declare: “In the last 14 years of living in the village we have witnessed at least two major housing estates being built and the loss of more and more countryside. We therefore strongly object to this proposed housing development.”

Jill Whittingham puts it bluntly. She states: “We do not need more houses in the village. Stratford district already meets the housing supply on developments already approved.”

And she adds: “We already have regular issues with water and waste supplies through Severn Trent with regular interruptions in supply and burst pipes.

“The traffic is already intolerable on Saturdays with the market and vast numbers of shoppers driving through the village that it is regularly grid-locked in the summer months, together with traffic from the distribution park.”

Adrian Parsons concentrates on the environmental impact. He says: “This development does not meet the stated objective for sustainable development. We already live in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and building yet more houses will only make this worse, despite the green washing claims of biodiversity enhancements.”

The application will be considered by councillors at a date in the near future.