Proposed Submission Core Strategy and Policies Development Plan Document Review

See attached

Policy CS9 Previously Developed land
Westerfield Parish Council supports the policy of focussing on previously developed (brownfield) land first.

Policy CS10 Ipswich Garden Suburb
Westerfield Parish Council is concerned over the effect the development will have on the rural character of Westerfield Road. However Westerfield Parish Council is supportive of steps taken to maintain Westerfield's independence, by ensuring any development has an appropriate physical separation from the village.
This council also supports the provision of a country park in the proposed location.

Policy CS13 Job Growth.
The policy indicates that housing allocation is mainly justified by job growth in the Ipswich Policy area. Job growth has stalled over the last few years and the global economic growth forecast for the foreseeable future is not good. Although we support job growth, the figure of 12,500 within the Ipswich bounday which equates to a 17% increase, seems optimistic. Also recent evidence of national job growth suggests that a proportion is in part time or zero contract positions. The forecast model used to assess the housing requirement based on job growth prediction should take the above caveat into consideration when predicting housing needs.

Policy CS17 Infrastructure
The policy states that housing growth should not adversely affect the quality of life of existing communities. It also says that growth requirements across the Borough will place additional pressure on existing infrastructure and will therefore require improvements to be made to existing infrastructure, and the provision of new infrastructure.
Westerfield Parish Council supports the strategy to deliver the key infrastructure requirements listed in this policy to ensure existing communities, including Westerfield, can be sustained.

Policy CS20 Transport.
Clarification is needed on the Travel Ipswich scheme to reduce car dependency by 15% over the lifetime of the plan. Is it just within the town centre or the whole of the borough? Does it include the Garden Suburb, which on its own is expected to generate a significance increase in car usage? Where is the evidence to back up the policy objective? The Travel Ipswich on-line documentation states that the expected increase is 15% and the measures in the scheme give smarter choices to reduce car dependency. We cannot find any statement to say that it will be reduced by 15%.
Highway capacity concerns in the town centre are mentioned (eg Star Lane), but it does not mention the severe congestion on Valley Road, which will be worse when the planned 3,500 houses are built on the Garden Suburb in the Northern Fringe of the town.
It recognises that east west traffic movement is a problem but does not offer any planned solution - only continuing to make a case for alternative east west movements or encouraging key partners to investigate the possibility of new roads.
The policy should include the need for traffic modelling to assess the impact building 13,500 homes will have on the road network within the area.

Westerfield Parish Council is concerned that little detail is given on how some of the necessary utility services will be implemented to show the services meet the requirement of both the development and do not have any permanent adverse affect on existing communities. The main services of concern are management of surface water drainage and foul waste.
However Westerfield Parish Council supports the inclusion of detailed infrastructure requirements and the trigger points for the Garden Suburb in the core strategy.
The Garden Suburb infrastructure requirements mentions a traffic management scheme for Westerfield and we welcome this initiative. Westerfield Parish Council have been discussing limited physical traffic calming measures for the village with the County Council, but at the moment no viable solution can be found on safety grounds.
Residents are extremely concerned about the speed and volume of traffic through the village. The east west route through the village is of particular concern as there are no pavements. Some residents no longer walk from Lower Road to the bus stop or Village Hall as they consider the road to be too dangerous. Because the planned development on the Garden Suburb is expected to produce a significant increase in traffic in Westerfield, we would like this requirement to be expanded to improve pedestrian access where no pavements exist.
Westerfield Parish Council supports the inclusion of the detailed Garden Suburb infrastructure requirements in the Core Strategy.
We also support the requirement to implement a traffic management scheme but would like the scheme enhanced to improve pedestrian facilities.