Concern has expressed in Nottinghamshire town that new homes could put a strain on already limited resources. Residents in Southwell are frustrated with a planning application that has proposed a further 64 houses for the outskirts of the town, off Lower Kirklington Road.
The proposed site is currently being used for agricultural purposes, and a small part of the land is home to a property which could be demolished to allow for the 64 houses and associated access and infrastructure to be built. Local residents say they are worried the new houses will not only put more pressure on their doctors' office and school, but will lead to further traffic on the main road and several houses will also lose privacy with a road being built at the end of their gardens.
Semi-retired, Susan Fisher, 67, said: "I've not got any concerns about the building itself, but I think it's going to be a problem as we can't get into the doctors now and there's no dentist here and the schools are all full as well. It will obviously increase traffic but I'm more concerned because it's going to cause more problems with doctors, dentists and things like that."
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Susan added: "It's just going to create more problems." Retired, Charles Gilmore, 69, said: "The developments in Southwell are just getting more and more, there's already 45 houses that I think have been approved. This road is a very fast road anyway, more traffic coming on it could expose to accidents."
Charles explained that he thinks the amount of developments in recent years has added as much as they can to the village. He added: "Schools are under pressure, all local services are under pressure."
The 64 homes proposed by Redrow Homes Ltd would cover 2.9 hectares of land. These would include 34 homes with four bedrooms or more, as well as three two bedroom homes and eight three bedroom homes.
When asked about the proposed development, a Southwell resident who did not wish to be named said: "I'm aware of it, but I don't actually have a problem with it as I understand it, there's a real shortage of houses. I see it as a way of helping the next generation with there being more housing.
"But I do recognise that some people have concerns about the pressures that it will have on facilities in Southwell, like the schools and the doctors. I'm not concerned about it at all as I think its definitely important for young to people to get on the property ladder."
Marketing manager, Kathryn Davies, 55, said: "I'm really worried about the wildlife because it's a really beautiful little street. It's just a rough track but there's a lot of hedge hogs and a wild flower area, and I'm worried about the lack of green space.
When asked if she had any other concerns of the potential development, Kathryn added: "The cars already go too fast, they are often rushing through so I'm worried about the traffic flow. It's also really difficult here to get a GP appointment or anything."
An ecological appraisal conducted as part of the application has found that habitats within the site are of low ecological value and are not a constraint to the development of the site. However, recommendations have been made for further surveys to inform the planning application better.
If the planning for the homes is given approval, a property off Lower Kirklington Road would need to be demolished. Retired, Terry Kirkhan, 80, is one of the residents who will be loosing privacy due to the demolition, as the house neighbours his property.
The demolished building will allow for a new access road to the development. Gesturing to his house and his neighbours, Terry said: "It's these two houses they are going to affect most."
He continued: "I'm not too much objecting about the houses being down there but it's the road. It's dreadful trying to get out of here, when you cant see what's coming down that hill, it's awful.
"They come down here at about 50mph. The original idea was to put a little round about there which would be far more sensible as it would slow the traffic down as well."
He added: "The inconvenience of building and traffic and whatever else going there is going to be dreadful.
"I've seriously looked at moving but at my age you don't want to be moving." In addition to demolition and the houses being built on the land, 167 car parking spaces will also need to be provided.
Midwife, Angie Clark, 44, also has concerns about the development, as the new road will also go across the end of her garden. She said: "We will still just catch the road at the bottom of the garden. It's more the volume of houses for us, when we bought the house where was planning permission for 12.
"There's too many, they have not really taken into consideration any infrastructure, I think that's an issue and they are not spacing the social housing out."
Angie added: "We are going to miss having that space. We bought the house knowing there would be houses on that bit, but they have gone from 12 to a ridiculous number."
A Southwell resident who did not wish to be named said: "We've been here nearly 50 years and It was countryside when we started. I know we have to have houses but I really I'm just against it."
The 70 year old is concerned about the impact more village residents could have on the schools and doctors, as well as the main road. She added: "It's going to be an awful junction down there at the bottom."
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