Questions from Richborough Estates

 

 

1)     What type of housing do you think would be most suitable for the site?

 

Answer: Categorically NONE. It will destroy what’s is left of the natural environment and create unsafe development too close to the airfield, which already has plans to expand and expected to be much busier in the future. It will have huge determent on local infrastructure which is struggling to cope with demand as of today, adding 180 houses would bring a struggling village to a standstill. I have listed some of the points below

 

·        Cranfield Surgery is over-subscribed with 11k patients under only 1 full time doctor and 4 locums

·        Flitt Leys close entrance is dangerously small with overcrowding, resulting in homeowners parking on the road side – a hazard exacerbated by more houses

·        The lower school is located on Braeburn Way, the traffic in the morning is already dangerously busy - Adding another 180 houses with possibly two cars per household, is dangerous and a disaster waiting to happen

·        Eight Acres was not designed to be through road for 180 households’ cars (Photos below)

·         The entrance to the proposed estate is directly next to a children’s park where children often play football and ride bikes outside of the play area so and this is extremely unsafe

·        The houses that currently look out onto the proposed site will be faced with a sea of concrete – The houses prices that were significantly higher due to the views will be directly impacted and would not have been purchased if known that a high density housing estate would be built directly  in front of them

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)     Do you have any suggestions for the areas of public open spaces in the plan e.g. natural play equipment, circular walks, wild meadow flower planting, foraging areas?

 

Answer: This environment is already natural, and the spectacular views would be spoiled and ruined by this high-density housing development, there are also animals that occupy this land and roam free daily (Pheasants and a family of dear). To add, it is used daily by several villagers for dog walking and general exercise with long walks and/or runs. Some key bullet points listed below:

 

·        Natural views and environment spoiled

·        Impact of natural habitat of many different species of wildlife, including deer, buzzards, pheasants, kestrels, woodpeckers, foxes, hedgehogs including Red Kite’s that are on the red list and nearing extinction.

·        Mental health implications – People purposely paid increased premiums to have the spectacular views and walks on their respective doorsteps. This was proven during lockdown with many residents from the village walking the fields for the tranquility and calm

·        Increased noise and pollution from 180 households’ cars having a direct impact on wildlife and current homeowners

 

3)     Do you have any comments on the illustrative Master plan Layout?

 

Answer: The illustrative layout is nothing more than a sketch to publish this land-grab to potential developers, we see from your website the company buys land with the purpose of selling on to builders. The illustration could be significantly different and bear no resemblance to the huge landscape of tarmac, concrete, buildings, lighting, roadways and noise ruining the environment after the builders have gone. I suspect that the actual plans submitted will look entirely different, the actual uptake in homes and people will increase traffic though Flitt Leys to dangerous levels, and not to mention put school children at risk as traffic goes directly past the lower school.

 

 

 

 

 

4)     Please provide any other comments you have on the proposed development

 

As previously mentioned, the current infrastructure cannot cope with additional housing and the stress it puts on those environments. The proposed estate will be a blot on the natural environment and far reaching landscape views across Cranfield will be lost forever.  This proposal absolutely should not proceed, and a petition is underway to halt this process.  The village cannot cope with more high density development and the local infrastructure cannot cope.