I WRITE to take issue with comments made by local councillors and planning officers concerning road traffic generated by the proposed new housing estate near Kimberlands, Northlew (Green light for 25 new homes in village, Times, June 2). I refer in particular to the comment by Cllr Dennis Bater that ?there?s a misconception sometimes about 25 houses and the amount of traffic it (sic) can produce?, and an earlier comment by the local planning inspector who is quoted as saying that the road into the estate ?wouldn?t be heavily used?. In fact, as councillors and inspectors must know, there are established models for estimating long-term road traffic generated by new estates. New housing developments generally have about 1.6 cars per household, with many households having two or sometimes three cars, depending on the age of the residents and how many are in employment. Transport and environment experts estimate that each car is responsible for four to six vehicle movements each day. Using this simple arithmetic, it can be seen that the new development of 25 houses will add about 40 cars to the village, and these will be responsible for between 160 and 240 additional vehicle movements through Northlew each day, or between 58,000 and 87,000 additional vehicle movements each year. Is this the borough council?s definition of ?not heavily used?? There are factors for and against the new development, but the borough council should consider these openly and on the basis of fact, rather than simply dismissing the fears of local residents. Morgen Witzel Honeychurch Northlew
