A Letter to the Residents in the area of Green Lane, Idle

 

Dear Friend,

I learned that as residents living in Green Lane area, you are faced with a potentially adverse development south of Sandhill Fold. I listened to your concerns, and spent time studying the situation.

Being acquainted with the proposed development, I proceeded to support you in your objection to the proposed development by writing to the Development Services at Jacobs Well. A copy of that letter is appended below.

I look forward to other opportunities of serving the community. Indeed, I will continue to serve you to the best of my ability if elected your Member of Parliament.

Yours respectfully,

Teck Khong

Planning application for the construction of 8 two-storey and 12 three-storey houses.
OBJECTION: Application Number 04/05620/FUL

As the Conservative Party parliamentary candidate for Bradford North, I visited at the invitation of the Idle Moor Urban Green Space Protection Group (“the Group”) the site of the proposed development contained in the planning application above.

The concerns of the Group have been highlighted to me. I have visited the locus and appraised the situation based on the information supplied and in the context of the submitted development proposals.

Having driven there on a number of occasions and familiarised myself with the environs, it is clear that Green Lane is so inhibited in its lateral layout and restricted in width that it could not be considered as a safe and ideally suitable route for the likely traffic which would be generated by this proposed development.

When Green Lane was originally designed, it was never anticipated that it would handle the present-day volume of traffic, and the residents now assert that the current traffic load has long surpassed the optimum capacity of the road.

The entire residential area served by Green Lane is over very hilly terrain, and the road is both tortuous and narrow, having unsighted bends, with numerous smaller roads feeding into it. From a road safety perspective, any further increase in traffic is not acceptable since it would exacerbate the present problems and create further dangers to the existing residents and their children. In this issue, the residents and I are unanimous, and we are extremely concerned that this suggested development could be allowed to introduce such serious risks and hazards to the community.

Traffic on winding roads running through inclines means that noise, smells and toxic emission levels will be much higher as a consequence of more gear changing, compared to conditions on level and straight roads. These undesirable results would be magnified manifold by additional traffic that would accompany the proposed development.

In these respects, the deterioration of sound and air quality in the area would adversely affect the health of residents there.

People with asthma would get more attacks, and those unfortunate to have shortness of breath due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease would deteriorate and become more distressed. Furthermore, people of all ages including children who have previously been well, may develop lung diseases for the first time.

The likelihood of extra noise pollution at night could not be discounted, the result of which would be disturbance of sleep, with negative impacts on alertness and performance of school children and working adults and parents.

Consideration must also be given to the unborn child, as the effects of toxic air pollution on foetal development are well documented. There are also similar risks even with young children.

In view of these points, we cannot therefore countenance the additional burden on the people in the area and ignore their Objection, especially if Green Lane is to become the access and service road for the above planning application.

With this letter, I lend my support to the Group’s opposition to the above planning application and express my willingness to meet with you for discussions if appropriate.

The Conservatives are here to help make lives better.