Dunchurch Parish Council Meeting condemns Dun Cow junction plans

It was standing room only tonight (Friday, 21 November 2014) as almost two hundred people crammed into Dunchurch Village Hall to discuss David Wilson Homes' plans to build 860 houses off Ashlawn Road and alter the crossroads in the centre of Dunchurch Village. Richard Dickson, the Liberal Democrats prospective parliamentary candidate for Kenilworth and Southam, which includes Dunchurch, said "The huge number of people here shows the level of concern about the proposals and in particular the re-routing of traffic through the historic village".

Chair of Dunchurch Parish Council, Peter Eccleson, emphasised the historic centre of Dunchurch and said the Parish Council intended to "gather feeling on the impact of development".

Cllr Howard Roberts (Ind, Dunsmore) said it was "Great to see so many of you care about Dunchurch as a village. Dunchurch gets all the pain without the gain".

County Councillor Peter Butlin (Con, Admirals) said he was "surprised that the meeting had been called so early … [and that] … he would not say anything for or against the development … [but that the planning application would] almost certainly take twelve months [before a decision could be taken]". However another conservative councillor was more forthright. Cllr Graham Francis (Con, Dunsmore) said "I agree with Cllr Roberts we have a very poor plan put in front of us …".

The meeting was read extracts of the latest letters both from David Wilson Homes and from Warwickshire County Council. There was loud laughter in the hall when residents were told that HGVs could work with the proposed layout of the junction and Peter Eccleson said they "must have used very small HGVs, like Corgi toys [in their modelling]". There was further laughter when the meeting was told that the county council believed that David Wilson Homes had ignored the impact of additional primary school traffic in their modelling.

The meeting was told that Warwickshire County Council had raised four objections to the proposed road junction. This has already been reported on our website - see http://rugbylibdems.org.uk/en/article/2014/944130/county-council-backs-richard-dickson-on-dunchurch-junction. Peter Eccleson said there were two further objections which could be made to the proposal. First the Dun Cow junction was already "one of the most polluted junctions in Warwickshire" and secondly the historic nature of the village crossroads. Peter Eccleson mentioned the war memorial (which would be isolated by David Wilson's plans) and how the parish council was working to have the memorial renovated and rededicated.

Cllr Bill Lewis (Lib Dem, Rokeby & Overslade) took the meeting through his powerpoint presentation of David Wilson Homes proposals.

After this Peter Eccleson threw the meeting open to residents. A selection of their comments are below. I apologise in advance for people whose names I missed.

Ann Wright of Daventry Road said the proposal would "Cut the centre of our community out of the village. We need to keep the heart of the village. Historic properties in the centre of the village are under threat".

County Councillor Peter Butlin was asked why the highways engineers had not commented on the conservation status of the village in their objection to David Wilson Homes proposal. Cllr Butlin said that conservation areas applied to buildings but not to the roads which pass through them.

Former chair of the parish council, Robin Aird said "The current junction is very heavily loaded now" and that "tinkering with the centre of Dunchurch would not work".

A gentleman called Nick, whose surname I did not catch, described David Wilson's proposals as a "stupid, pathetic design".

Ian Lowe asked "… what is the strategy from Warwickshire County Council for a relief road?". He was applauded. Following up on this point Terry Leary of Vicarage Lane said "We should not have new houses without new roads". More applause.

Peter Tremayne made a deep point, worthy of another post, when he said that at present most of the profit from development went into the landowners pocket. His solution to this problem was for the Council to charge a large sum to the developer for the necessary infrastructure which would lead to a fall in the price landowners could charge when selling for development.

Alison Ravenhall (no relation to the late Ron Ravenhall) talked of her difficulty of getting her children into schools and said "Schools are already over-subscribed". Others at the meeting pointed out the failure of Warwickshire County Council to plan properly for schools at Coton Park and Cawston when those estates were developed.

There was a display of verbal fisticuffs between county councillors in the meeting when residents asked why Rugby Borough Council had granted planning permission for six thousand houses at the radio masts site and yet was saying it could not meet Rugby's housing needs. Cllr Peter Butlin (Con, Admirals) said it might be a year and a half before the council could count on that development. Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Lib Dem, Eastland and Hillmorton) said that the Radio Masts Site was "Signed, sealed and delivered" and that the developers were moving newts off the site now and would be building new houses in 2015.

Cllr Peter Butlin cited a mistake Rugby Borough Council made with a planning application at Wolston and said that [David Wilson Homes] "could sting us for a considerable amount of money if [Rugby Borough Council] don't get it right". "We are under a lot of pressure from central government to approve more homes" he added.

Peter Eccleson closed the meeting saying the Parish Council would relay the comments made at the meeting both to Rugby Borough Council and David Wilson Homes and that the Parish Council would continue to fight for proper infrastructure funding from the county council.