Date not provided
I was initially very much in favour of the redevelopment of the Springs, but the plans appear to have grown into something completely unsustainable, particularly since the public consultation closed. I'm extremely cncerned about the astronomical increase in the number of housing units planned for the site from 75 to 332, 82 of these units being added after the end of the consultation. I see that only 5% of these are to be at "affordable" rents and there is no indication of what that might be in real terms. I understand that the council is also planning to build 100 new council houses and I welcome that, but as this does not appear to be part of this development, I don't see how this mitigates the extremely low allocation of affordable housing on this development. It appears that there is an assumption that only 50% of residents of the homes will have a car. I'd like to know what this assumption is based on. Statistics show that only inner London and the most central zones of Greater Manchester have such a low car ownership level - the obvious reason being adequate access to public transport. As a non-driver, I'd be delighted to hear that public transport access in Buxton is to be upgraded to a similar level, but I haven't seen any plans for that. It is much more likely that even more residents will be looking for roadside parking and more of our pavements will be blocked to pedestrians by parked cars, as already happens in several Buxton streets, to the great inconvenience of people with limited mobility. I'm also concerned about what the plans are for businesses currently in the Springs. How will the needs of these businesses be catered for during the development?
[Page 2] ________________________________