I would like to express my support for the recent letters from Ian Caney of Kington about the proposed Neighbourhood Development Plan for his area.
Lyonshall risks similar problems. We too will be asked to vote simply “Yes or No” to lengthy plans which most people will have had no real opportunity to read and on which “consultation” has been extremely sketchy.
Kington and Lyonshall are so close together that what affects one parish also affects the other.
The total number of new houses proposed on the NDPs for the two areas in the next 12 years is 300-400.
This is three times the number which Herefordshire Council considers “sustainable”, and far more than needed.
Nobody appears to have given the slightest thought to who is going to live in them or where they will find the work to underpin mortgages etc.
Nor has consideration been given to the effect on shared facilities and infrastructure such as schools, GPs and traffic.
Kington and Lyonshall need moderate growth in employment – one or two new employers offering 400 or more jobs – and if that growth occurred there might then be demand for a few more homes in the area.
Large-scale speculative development without any demand is madness: sadly, not all property developers will realise this.
If the NDP referendums present the voters with just a simple “Yes or No” to these complex plans the answer has to be “No”.
Any future proposals can be evaluated independently according to circumstances at the time.
Julia C Evans
Lyonshall
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