Policy P18

Unless or until the health impact assessment tool has been approved then it is difficult to see how a developer can submit a Health Impact Assessment which would satisfy Policy P18. This part of the policy should not be come into force until the promised assessment tool has been approved by the Council, following appropriate consultation with the development industry.

Policy P20

Richborough Estates Limited support the identification of land West of Dickens Heath (Potential Housing Allocation 4) for residential purposes, especially the land south of Tythe Barn Lane contained by Birchy Leasowes Lane, Tilehouse Lane and the existing accessible settlement of Dickens Heath.

If this Potential Housing Allocation is to come forward for development then Richborough Estates fully recognise that the existing sports clubs would need to be relocated. The opportunity exists for the existing facilities to be enhanced for the benefit of the clubs and to provide a recreational, sporting and community resource for both existing and future residents of Dickens Heath and the wider area. This matter is addressed in more detail in the site-specific representation on this Potential Housing Allocation. To facilitate the provision of the new sporting and community facilities, Policy P20 should include a specific allocation for a Community Sports Hub on land generally contained by Tythe Barn Lane, Tilehouse Lane and the Stratford upon Avon Canal to the north of Dickens Heath. Richborough Estates' preference is for the allocated Community Sports Hub land to be excluded from the Green Belt because this then provides greater flexibility concerning the nature and types of facilities which could be provided and would avoid the need for very special circumstances to be demonstrated just to erect a small store.

If the land remains in the Green Belt then, in the alternative, Policies P17 and P20 should still specifically identify the land as a location for sporting and recreation uses. The principle of land being identified for such uses and remaining in the Green Belt has been incorporated into the Warwick District Local Plan to the south of Kenilworth.

Although the proposal is for the land to be removed from the Green Belt, the provision of a Community Sports Hub has some resonance with the approach identified in the White Paper Fixing our broken housing market of securing compensatory improvements to the environmental quality or accessibility of remaining Green Belt land, particularly for community, sporting and recreation purposes.