Comment

Representation ID: 10463

Received: 29/07/2022

Respondent: Shortstown Liberal Democrats

We are particularly concerned about coalescence with Elstow (and Cotton End) and request that the land between HOU17 and Elstow and Shortstown and Cotton End have a protected designation to avoid coalescence.

Following the recent consultation by Gallagher Developments at the Village Hall we received a lot of views from residents. Many did not welcome the proposal to develop this site.

Almost all of those who contacted me mentioned poor road infrastructure as a major concern:
• The A600 north and south of Shortstown is already heavily used and this proposes approximately 4,000 additional traffic movements per day (2 vehicles per house, each vehicle makes 1 journey out and 1 journey in per day), which the current road infrastructure cannot support.
• The additional traffic will lead to a lot of congestion and we saw recently with the A600 resurfacing work that any closure that is not catered for with reasonable alternative routes (? where would they be – there is just 1 road in and out) this could be catastrophic for emergency vehicles. When the A421 is shut for incidents it causes lengthy diversions through Shortstown.
• As an estimate there would 1,000 to 2,000 additional movements through Cotton End where children have to cross the already busy road to the primary school.
• Can there be a link to the A421 to the north?
• Risk of rat-running through residential areas in Shortstown.

Other concerns which we share:
• Lack of services for existing population e.g. GPs
• Lack of services – buses that run early in the morning and late at night
• Years of construction disruption including the construction traffic (HGVs)
• Coalescence
• Loss of a village feel
• Impact on wildlife and habitats
• Potential negative impact on Shocott Spring due to increase footfall, litter, dogs mess etc
• Loss of valuable farm-land
• Potential loss of light and privacy (due to over-looking) for homes in Evans Croft and Flintham
• School provision – should a secondary school be provided
• Proposed location of school need A600 could leader to traffic backing up on to the A600
• Play parks – two proposed are very small, would benefit from a play area for older children as in Wootton