Sustainable site selection and transport

BPPO Cllr Keith Kondakor response part B 29/08/2013 page 1 of 6

Sustainable site selection and transport. This is part B of my formal response to the Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough plan

“preferred options” consultation.

Cllr Keith Kondakor

19 Gloucester Close, Nuneaton, CV11 6FU

29th

August 2013.

Introduction. This consultation response is made not withstanding my grave concerns about the soundness of the

process which produced the so-called “preferred options”. This part of my response is a possible

alternative site selection based on viability and sustainability.

Sadly this is not a consultation that looks at more sustainable alternatives. Here I show one possible

alternative to illustrate the type of development that should be undertaken.

I have also focused on the Nuneaton area of the Borough. It should be for the public in Bedworth,

Bulkington, Ash Green and Keresley, to shape the site allocations within their areas.

I have inserted maps inline and provided a full map as a separate document.

Location of jobs

The Borough plan is based on increasing employment within the borough. In reality much of the potential

increase in employment is outside the borough

The big excuse for pushing 3000 of the 5000 earmarked for countryside to the north of Nuneaton is the

expansion of MIRA from around 500 to 2,500 jobs. This has already been used to push for the approval

of 326 homes on the Weddington road as well as the large expansion of Barwell in nearby Hinckley &

Bosworth district.

It is very unlikely that the full 2,000 jobs will materialise and many of those that do will be the result of

midlands based firms relocating some activity onto the MIRA site. From the bus services to be provided

for the site it is clear that those jobs that are provided to local people will be from a wide catchment area.

A far bigger location for new employment activity will be the Friargate development near Coventry

Railway station. This is targeted to produce 13,500 jobs but the reality will be many of these will also be

relocated from other sites. There is also an outstanding call-in for the Coventry Gateway project. This is

even more hyped than the others but, if approved, would be another major employment site outside the

borough.

http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/200079/regeneration/1824/friargate

The reality is that around half the working population leave the borough to find employment. House

building is more viable in areas with higher house prices and greater job densities. Increasing fuel prices

and above inflation public transport cost increases will lead to a net migration out of Nuneaton.

Within the Borough additional employment land is proposed to be allocated at Bermuda (ECO1 & 2).

This is on top of the existing 49 Hectares1 still available in the current development plan.

Within the Borough there is currently a total of 52.39ha of

1 NBBC AMR 2011-12


employment land, of which 49.54ha is still available for development

From the 2012 annual monitoring report it is clear that we have plenty of unused employment land. Some

small sites may not be carried forward but the existing supply is extensive.

The small sites that may be lost to employment use, shown in table 4 of the PO document, will not all be

lost. It is also very likely that those lost to employment use will become windfall housing sites.

The allocation of 3 major new sites seems excessive given the massive competition from employment

sites outside the borough, excessive employment growth forecast and likely retention of some sites in

table 4.

Given that site ECO2 has great potential as a housing site it should be allocated to housing not

employment.

Location of additional Housing We need to look at a far more achievable housing target. From the demographics highlighted in part A of

my response I start from the basis of around 4,800 additional households between 2010-2028. Looking at

existing building rates of 280-300 homes per year points to just 5000-5400 homes additional homes over

the period.

The Borough plan “preferred options” (BPPO) points to a total net supply of site for 3,354 homes. It is

my view that we should look to allocate sites for around 2,100 homes above the current net supply. This

allows for a small amount of existing allocation not be developed while still housing the 4,800 new

households. Some additional elasticity is provided by changes in the amount of empty homes in the

Borough. We are already seeing the effect of council tax changes encouraging empty homes back into

use.

Land between Griff Brook and Gipsy Land

I do not wish to proscribe the site for new housing in Bedworth & Bulkington but would expect sites for

around 1/3rd

of the new housing (700 units) to be allocated in those areas. Of the remaining 1,400 the best

location for the majority would be land East of the New Bermuda station. This comprises land used for


BPPO site ECO2 (H97 & H98 on my map) and housing land at Gipsy lane (SHS1 called H99 on my

map). This should be linked by a cycle path (green) and new road to the Bermuda Railway station. There

should be an extensive cycle network produced (solid green) to link in new station, housing and existing

cycle network (dashed green lines). It is vital to protect the green corridor (G9 in dark green) along the

Griff Brook & Griff Hollows.

There are 6 no.48 buses going each way per hour on Coventry Road and there is a planned 2 trains an

hour from the new Bermuda Station (T1).

Land East of Judkins

The area around the Coventry canal east of Judkins was earmarked for large amounts of employment use.

It remains a vast wasted asset. The site is relatively close to Nuneaton town centre but there are issues

with increasing traffic though the Midland Road Air Quality Monitoring Area. In the short term the area

(H96) that I would like to see as housing is being used in connection with restoring the Judkins landfill

site. It is likely that this site would not be available for around 4 years. In order to enable the development

of the site we need a significant reduction in traffic on Midland road. I would like to see the reopening of

Stockingford railway station, massive improvements in the bus service and an extensive network of cycle

routes (marked as light green lines) to connect Housing & Employment sites (H96 & ECO9) to the

railway station, town centre and Camp Hill developments. There are regular bus services passing on

Midland Road.


Land opposite Horeston Grange shops

Horeston Grange shops provide local services to the St Nicolas Ward. The fields in the opposite side of

the Eastboro way would provide a suitable site for a doctors surgery, extra care and similar style housing

close to shops and good 7 day a week bus routes. We should also protect an area so that a local railway

station can be provided for Horeston Grange and employment areas to the south. We need to improve the

local cycle network with a dedicated cycle path along the Eastboro Way and West to the Town Centre.

From 2nd

September there will be 5 buses an hour (48 & 158) passing each way on north side of H95 and

2 number 55 buses going into Horeston Grange from Eastboro way.

Overall transport network Bus services

Nuneaton and Bedworth needs to be integrated into the Centro system so that we have regulated fares and

interconnecting services. The Stagecoach near-monopoly on bus services has lead to excessive fares and

poor levels of services. If nothing is done to regulate bus operators, growth will suffer.


Only a few key bus routes in the Borough provide high frequencies and 7 day a week services.

Development of significant housing should only be permitted where a there is an Evening & Sunday Bus

service.

We need the “bus bridge” building into the bus station from Bond Gate. This was in

the plans for the “new” road system but dropped. This would take pressure off the

section of Newtown road from Bond Gate to the existing bus station entrance.

New railway Stations The new station at Bermuda could be a great success. The Borough plan must look at adding stations to

the Leicester to Birmingham line both to the East & West of Nuneaton. Sometime post 2018 it is

expected that new local stopping services will be added to the line to serve planned new stations in North

East Birmingham such as Fort Dunlop. We need stations at Stockingford and Horeston Grange to be

provided.

Cycling network I have indicated the general routes for an extended cycling network within the borough. We need a policy

that means all new roads must have a separate cycle lane unless the speed limit is a maximum of 20MPH.

The attached map show new cycle lanes as solid light green lines (existing routes are dashed). Key to the

network is to link into employment sites and railway stations.

For Nuneaton (Trent Valley) station we need a

new entrance on the Northeast side. I would

provide a cycling route north from the station on

Northeast side. It was also proposed in the 1990

to have a cycle route under the west coast

mainline using the river Anker tunnel. We

should look if that is feasible. We should also

look at a cycling route on the course of the

disused by-pass rail track bed.


The A444 Bedworth Bypass is a very dangerous route to walk or cycle.

There has been a campaign to provide a footpath between the Bedworth

area and Bermuda industrial estates. We should look at making this a both

a cycling and walking route.

Road network A significant change/ increase to the Road network is not sustainable or

affordable. We need to take the pressure off the road network by

providing extensive cycle routes, cheaper bus fares, new railway stations

(at Bermuda, Stockingford & Horeston Grange) and sensible locations for

new housing and employment sites.

We need the existing road space to work better by synchronising traffic

lights in the town centres and have more intelligent control systems. The

current system is just stupid.

There are three projects that need investigating.

1) Bus bridge for Nuneaton Bus Station

2) A slip road from Newtown road in Bedworth to the North Bound

A444 Bedworth Bypass ( completing 3/4th

of the Diamond)

3) A link road between the Whitacre Road and Attleborough Fields industrial estates.

Conclusions

The site selection and transport ideas in this alternative to the Borough plan show that we can improve the

borough in a sustainable way. The Borough plan should focus development on sites that will be well served by

public transport. The cost and impact of providing new railway stations, cycle routes and only minor road

upgrades will be far less than the council “preferred option”.

Documents

Sustainable site selection and transport