Eyebrows should rise

12:09pm Thursday 3rd July 2008

Comments (1)   Have your say »

Whilst we are all busy opposing the proposed eco-town in Middle Quinton it appears our council has just agreed plans to build 2,300 homes in Evesham apparently without many eyebrows being raised.

Whilst everyone is busy worrying about the indirect effects the eco-town may have on Evesham we may all be missing the huge impact 2,300 new households will have on our communities, hospitals, roads and other services. Whilst we are opposing development of a brownfield site your council is suggesting development of two precious greenfield sites seemingly without much consideration.

Of course the creation of an eco-town in Middle Quinton will have an impact on Evesham but the eco-town is on a brownfield site and is in theory supposed to be self sufficient. The 2,300 homes in Evesham won't be self sufficient and will have an impact on everyone's quality of life. Two greenfield sites off Offenham Road and Pershore Road are set to be developed and probably cover the last of some of our long history as the fruit growers of England. Take Hampton for example. A hundred years ago there were orchards as far as the eye could see. The only ones left in the Hampton community are an overgrown orchard off School Road and a small orchard off Pershore Road, tended by locals, which is now destined to be bulldozed for new affordable housing. Imagine instead two new housing estates with 2,300 new households and probably double the number of cars on our roads. Imagine another 5,000 people in your local doctor's surgery or supermarket. Imagine the waste created by another 2,300 homes.

Diana Burgess, Hampton, Evesham.