Testun llawn:
I note the preference for Spatial Option 4 but settlements with train stations do not all have potential to absorb the large scale growth implied by the reliance on a limited number of key sites (defined as suitable for 200+ houses).
1. The site proposed in Dinas Powys is supposedly able to accommodate c 400, c 300 and c 250 houses, the number varying between the various consultation documents. The proposal by Persimmon makes it clear that it envisages the current proposed site as the first stage of a larger development capable of accommodating c1,100 dwellings, but the council's strategy beyond the first stage is nowhere clarified.
2. In 2.2.21 it is asserted that this site will have no significant effect on climate change, although the ISA framework commits the Vale of Glamorgan to supporting resilience to the potential effects of climate change, including flooding. The analyses on which the VoG relies have been commissioned by Persimmon. As a result, although attention is given to surface water drainage and the potential for flooding downstream, the analysis mostly refers specifically to the site in which it is interested, only limited attention is given to the risk of flooding downstream, in a residential area which is already prone to flooding, and none to analysing progress with and the further need for natural flood management techniques upstream.
3. A further major concern is the adequacy of road and rail transport to accommodate the additional demand resulting from the proposed development. It is stated that the development of this site will have "no significant effect on transport and movement". However, given the existing volume of traffic using the Cardiff Road, and the frequent occurrence of significant tailbacks even outside peak hours, the assessment commissioned by Persimmon underestimates the likely increase in the volume of traffic using Cardiff Road.
4. While the ISA framework states the aim of identifying and purusing opportunities to reduce/minimise exposure to air pollution, building additional houses to the N of Dinas Powys will increase the exposure of those living or working near the road and pupils in the primary school to high levels of pollution. These have been exacerbated in recent years by the marked increase in the number of heavy vehicles using the road (there should be a weight restriction).
5. The assessments also exaggerate the potential for active travel,:
a. Eastbrook train station is not accessible to several categories of potential users
b. Cardiff Road beyond the current combined footpath/cycleway is dangerous for cyclists
c. the walking distance to key services considered satisfactory in the consultants' reports underestimates walk times, affecting children walking to school as well as adults.
6. Finally, no attention appears to have been given to the capacity of local health and education facilities, already operating at capacity, to accommodate the proposed increase in population.
