Anger at Great Kingshill houses plan

2:08pm Friday 29th August 2008

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ANGRY residents are opposing plans to build houses close to the site of a fatal road accident.

Developers want to build 36 houses on the site, known as Hoppers Farm, adjacent to Cockpit Road in Great Kingshill.

Five-year-old Charlie Harris was killed on the road, described as a 'rat run' while walking home from school in September 2007.

Original plans, including three new access roads, were rejected by Wycombe District Council last year.

But developers B.U.T. Ltd have now appealed against the decision.

More than 100 villagers wrote to the council to object to the original proposals for the 40-acre site.

Richard Coleman, secretary of Great Kingshill Residents' Association, said: "I haven't come across any other people who have said Yes, it should go ahead.' "A hundred people took the trouble to sit down and write a letter to object to the original application in December last year. That gives a fairly good view of the feeling in the village."

The Lime Tree Close resident added: "It's definitely used as a rat run, mornings and evenings. It gets pretty congested in the mornings and this invites more accidents.

"In our view, the infrastructure is inadequate.

"If the application is allowed, it would open the floodgates to potentially more housing on that site."

The Residents' Association has carried out a speed survey on Cockpit Road, which has a 30mph limit.

Their research showed 49.4 per cent of motorists checked this year were driving faster than 31mph - a decrease from last year's figure of 58.7 per cent.

David Carroll, WDC member for Great Kingshill, said: "It's gone through local government, but now it's taken away from local democracy to an inspectorate which knows nothing about the area whatsoever, and that's sad.

"It will create more traffic and we've got plenty already."

The application was also criticised for being built on green belt land.

No date has been set for the appeal hearing.