Mount Oswald Survey goes out
Yesterday and today we put out over 1,400 survey leaflets over the Neville’s Cross city council ward asking for feedback on what residents feel about the future of Mount Oswald.
I am quite clear that the current planning application from Banks is totally unacceptable. The area is not zoned for housing and although it is cited for low density high class business/science park use in the Local Plan what Banks are proposing (developing 40% of the area for this purpose) is well beyond what is acceptable.
The traffic implications are also bad news. The application includes up to 2,000 parking places, so the local road network would have to cope with upwards of 4,000 additional traffic movements per day. Anyone who has used the A167 through Neville’s Cross as most residents do, knows all too well that it is close to gridlock at times; the effect of 4,000 extra journeys does not bear thinking about.
I have already had initial discussions with the planners in the County Highways Department and it is clear that they also have significant concerns in that area too.
All this leaves me wondering what exactly is going on here. The application weighs a lot (two massive files each about 10 cm thick) and must have cost a lot (the application fee to the Council is £25,000) but the content seems to be outside all sensible parameters.
This is why I really want to get some feedback from local residents about the future of Mount Oswald. I cannot believe that this is the final shot from Banks and as the local councillor I need to know what my constituents think.
If the overwhelming view is - leave it alone, then I will fight for that all the way, but people have also been asking why have we had all the extra houses in the ward (a 50+% increase in the past 20 years) without any extra facilities.
IF the Local Plan is used to force through some development at Mount Oswald, then we need to know what people really want to see and what residents priorities are to improve the area overall.
SWo if you are reading this and you have a survey sitting on the mantelpiece, please return it to the FREEPOST address given on it.
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