11/27/2019 Mail - Woodgate, Jenny - Outlook

OBJECT: Land South of Winchester Road, South

Tue 15/10/2019 23:20 To: EHDC - Local Plan

1 attachments (20 KB) Planning Objection LSOWR-South Medstead 2019-10-15.docx;

Dear Planning Officer

Please see aached my OBJECTION to the proposed development plan for ‘Land South of Winchester Road, South Medstead’.

I trust my comments will be taken fully into account.

Yours sincerely

s M:

https://outlook.office365.com/mail/none/id/AAMkADIxNjE3NWJlLTMxYmEtNDEwZC1iOGM4LTYxOTllYjNmN2MzZQBGAAAAAABrEkrzGtHSSpsf… 1/1

Planning Policy East District Council Penns Place Hampshire GU31 4EX

15 October 2019

RE: Large Sites Development, ‘Land South of Winchester Road, South Medstead’: OBJECT

Dear Planning Officer I am writing to you in relation to the proposed development on ‘Land South of Winchester Road’ on the western outskirts of and Medstead. I am strongly opposed to this development proposal for the following reasons:

• The proposed development area is a rural part of western Medstead/Four Marks/east , more than a mile from the centre of Four Marks and more than two miles from the centre of Medstead. For villages with the relatively limited (and declining: e.g. no pub in Four Marks for many years now) infrastructure that these two villages have, any further development will simply increase the number of car journeys, and add to the existing traffic situation. • Due to the nature and type of houses in the proposed development, it is highly likely that any additional houses will attract at a minimum of two cars each – resulting in a significantly increased number of car journeys on already over-trafficked roads • During wet weather, Grosvenor Road effectively turns into a river, as water spills off the fields in Upper Soldridge Road and Soldridge Road, and pours down the significant gradient on Grosvenor Road. This indicates that drainage here is already compromised, even before the addition of further dwellings to the south of the railway bridge. • In wintry weather, Soke Hill (from North Street to the 30mph section of the A31 going into Four Marks) already comes to a standstill, as it is too steep for vehicles with standard tyres to negotiate. The result (personally witnessed by me on several occasions) is complete gridlock until the road can be gritted or the temperature rises. The same is true of the eastbound hill from the junction of Lymington Bottom Road to the junction by Oak Green Parade, and the westbound hill from Alton up the Shrave towards Four Marks. During wintry weather, the A31 through Four Marks already attracts a significantly increased volume of traffic due to vehicles diverting from the M3 motorway and/or the A272 between Petersfield and Winchester. Any additional traffic will exacerbate the situation even further. • The hedgerows adjoining Gravel Lane and Grosvenor Road are highly frequented by small birds such as yellowhammers, yellow wagtails and chaffinches (all of which have suffered a serious decline in numbers in recent years); any threat to these small birds would be an unacceptable assault on biodiversity and the preservation of valuable wildlife. • The exit off the A31 to Grosvenor Road opposite the old Watercress Inn is already dangerous, as accessing Grosvenor Road in this way entails slowing down to 25mph or less in the inside lane of a fast dual carriageway approaching a bend and steep hill. In addition, you cannot access Grosvenor Road from the eastbound direction, except by turning down the extremely narrow and steep-gradiented Gravel Lane. • The dual-carriageway section of the A31 from North Street, Ropley, towards Four Marks is a relatively short fast-moving section, which from observation over 31 years a significant majority of drivers seem to use to blast past slower traffic to gain an apparent ‘advantage’. • The left-turn from the eastbound A31 at the top of the hill into Gravel Lane is already an extremely dangerous turning, as it is right at the top of a relatively steep hill, at the end of a dual-carriageway section going into a 40mph then a 30mph limit. This junction is completely unable to support any potential increase in traffic. The speed differential between this traffic and vehicles turning left into Gravel Lane presents an unacceptable risk to road safety. • The railway bridge on Grosvenor Road (carrying the ) is an unlit, extended, single-track tunnel with a blind bend on either side – in my personal experience, there have been numerous near-misses at this location. • The Watercress Line is a valuable local and regional amenity, part of whose attraction is the glorious Hampshire countryside visible from the railway line. Almost all of the line from Alresford to Alton is either in a cutting where any housing development is invisible, or at least significantly screened. Any development at the proposed location would dramatically affect the ‘country ambience’ that this area projects, and significantly detract from the rural nature of the locality, as well as the value of the view from the Watercress heritage railway line. • Single-track Grosvenor Road has a derestricted speed limit, but schoolchildren walk along this road to catch the school bus to Alresford at the top of Gravel Lane. Grosvenor Road is already a highly used cut-through from the A31 by people avoiding the 30mph limit on the A31, and heading to the A339 to Basingstoke via Medstead and . In keeping with its rural nature, there are no pavements or street lamps on this road, and the road is predominantly single-track for all of its length. Any additional traffic would cause significant further danger to pedestrians and cyclists. I myself am a regular user of this road both as a pedestrian and cyclist, and I regularly have to take avoiding action from drivers who do not seem to grasp the restricted road width and general road conditions. • Grosvenor Road has no defined road edge, and a number of potholes that have remained unrepaired for many months, despite having been noted/reported. Any further traffic along this road would further deteriorate the road conditions and increase the danger to pedestrians and cyclists. • The single-track junction of Grosvenor Road and Upper Soldridge Road is already dangerous, with the close-proximity access to Soldridge Business Park (which has expanded considerably in recent years) resulting in stopped or slow vehicles around a blind bend on what is a single-carriageway road. • The end of Grosvenor Road by the water pumping station just before the exit on to the A31 has flooded badly in heavy rain conditions for as long as I can remember – I have been resident . On numerous occasions during the year, the flooding is too deep to allow standard road- going vehicles to go through it and access the A31. The alternative is to use Gravel Lane, but this is only a solution for low traffic volumes. • Four Marks/Medstead is a semi-rural area that has already increased dramatically in size (more than doubled, according to estimates I have seen) since we moved here During this period, the road infrastructure has remained fundamentally unaltered – mostly because the existing road and residence layout does not allow anything other than ‘tinkering around the edges’. o There are only four exits on to the A31 from the north – three of which are severely limited in traffic flow by being single-track roads, or having single- track flow relatively close to each junction. o In the morning and evening rush-hours (from as early as 07.00 in the morning), it can take two or three minutes to exit any of the main southbound routes from Medstead on to the A31. Any further increase in traffic will simply add to this problem and cause even more delay/disruption to existing residents and general users from outside the area o The resulting tailbacks on each access create significant danger to pedestrians and cyclists, as well as to car drivers • Grosvenor Road is a single-carriageway road for almost its entire length. The exit on to the A31 is already dangerous, with a maximum of three or four seconds to see and react to any traffic coming from the Ropley direction. Any further addition to existing traffic volumes would present an unacceptable increase in risk to road users, existing residents and local schoolchildren along Grosvenor Road. • Existing developers in the area appear to flout their agreed obligations in relation to ‘infrastructure’ and amenities such as allotments off Lymington Bottom Road – obtained as part of their planning conditions. No-one seems to enforce any such conditions, which makes existing residents feel that developers are riding roughshod over local conditions, situations and wishes. There is therefore a strong resistance to any further development in the area.

I trust you will understand and fully take account of the import of the above points, and consequently reject this and any further development possibilities at this location.

Yours sincerely