Petitions
Monday 17 December 2007
PRESENTED PETITIONS
Post Office Closures (West Sussex)
The Petition of Post Office Users of Worthing and Adur,
Declares that the closures proposed by the Post Office Ltd (POL) to nine post offices located in Worthing and Adur in West Sussex, which come on top of previous substantial closures and are the most severe changes suggested in the whole of Sussex, are not in the best interests of local residents many of whom are elderly and are unable to travel the increased long distances that closures entail, local shops rely on Post Offices to encourage local business or indeed the local community as a whole which already experiences long queues for access to Post Offices.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons Her Majesty's Government, as a matter of urgent public importance, to instruct the Royal Mail Group to suspend this closure programme and redefine the criteria on which closures are being proposed with regard to the hardship it will cause communities with high levels of elderly people and deprivation and poor public transport links in particular.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.
OBSERVATIONS
Communities and Local Government
Planning (Leighton Buzzard)
The Petition of the people of Leighton Buzzard, Linslade and surrounding parishes of Eggington, Heath and Reach and Hockliffe,
Declares that, while recognising the need for affordable housing growth to meet local need, it strongly objects to the disproportionate and unsustainable proposals to build 6,000 dwellings on 850 acres of Green Belt land around their communities. This enforced indiscriminate development is a direct result of Leighton Linslade being placed in the Growth Area for South Bedfordshire. Large-scale housing developments have been ongoing around the south of Leighton Buzzard since 2001, and a further such development of 1,300 homes is currently going through the planning process. However, this recent expansion has not brought with it more jobs or opportunities for local people. Their town is at breaking point. They are already unable to sustain the existing population with healthcare, education, policing, social care, sporting and community facilities that it needs. Traffic congestion is intolerable, with roads being completely grid-locked at peak times. They believe that further large-scale development will place an impossible extra strain on an area that is already woefully short of infrastructure. It will accelerate the decline of our historic town centre. There will be a hugely negative impact on their local environment, their communities and their quality of life. Large sections of their Green Belt will be lost forever. Their small market town and the surrounding villages will be irreversibly changed for the worse.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to reject the proposed development
and any similar future unsustainable developments, and to recommend that Leighton Linslade and surrounding parishes are excluded from the Growth Area for South Bedfordshire.
And the Petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Andrew Selous , Official Report, 13 November 2007; Vol. 467, c. 642 .] [P000044]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government:
The scale and location of the development in the area of concern to the petitioners is set out in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy which was produced following extensive public consultation. The level of development to be delivered in the Leighton Linslade area is dependent on the scale of growth to be accommodated within urban extensions to Luton and Dunstable Regis.
The Sub-regional Strategy also requires the local authorities to take positive action to deal with the issues raised by the petitioners including: recycling of urban land; increased housing delivery within the built up area; increasing the attractiveness of town centres; raising environmental quality; tackling congestion and providing better public transport; achieving better quality development; providing a better choice of employment sites to attract a wider range of companies, and ensuring early delivery of sustainable urban extensions (£1 million was recently allocated for the development of a Sustainable Transport exemplar scheme for Leighton Linslade).
The impact on local services should be addressed in the local sustainable Community Strategy prepared by the Local Strategic Partnership and this must be a key input to the production of the Local Development Framework which will set out the preferred development options in detail. The Local Development Framework process is designed to include extensive public consultation and local residents should take the opportunity to engage constructively with the local planning authority as it seeks to develop an effective core strategy for dealing with the growth which Luton and South Bedfordshire are required to accommodate.
The Government has no intention of making fundamental changes to Green Belt policy (as set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 2: Green belts) and the level of protection that it offers. Boundaries can only be changed in exceptional circumstances and after public consultation and public inquiry through the development plan process.
Transport
Rail Services (Northampton)
The Petition of residents of Northampton and people who use the local rail services,
Declares that there is serious concern about the proposal in the draft 2008 timetable to end the 7.12 fast train to London which is the main train service used by commuters who work in London.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Transport to reinstate the fast train service from Northampton to London at 7.12 am.
And the Petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Ms Sally Keeble , Official Report, 19 November 2007; Vol. 467, c. 1071 .] [P000062]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Transport:
Virgin West Coast (VWC) currently provides a Pendolino for the 0712 Northampton to London Euston service because the resource can be provided ahead of other commitments during the day. The service was provided as a temporary measure because the trains were available and the new Desiro trains ordered specifically for the Northampton line had yet to be delivered. This temporary operation was communicated clearly to stakeholders when the service was introduced in September 2004.
Virgin have continued to run the train after the Desiros were introduced because there has not been the option to use the train to relieve crowding and accommodate above forecast traffic growth on the main longer distance route. This is because of the capacity limits on the West Coast Main Line while key infrastructure, such as Rugby station and junctions, are rebuilt.
From December 2008, when the infrastructure upgrade is complete, all Pendolinos will be needed to be in intensive main line use before 0800 to operate the more frequent long distance services between London, the West Midlands, Manchester, Liverpool, the North West and Scotland. These are the services for which the line is being upgraded and the trains were ordered. Despite this requirement, it has proved practicable to retain one morning Pendolino service between Northampton and Euston, at 0642.
Northampton was not planned to receive any Pendolinos or other upgraded links as part of the ill-fated Railtrack upgrade. Government, through SRA and DfT intervention, has secured not only the replacement and increase in fleet size of all of the Northampton to London trains, but it has also delivered higher speed running on the slow lines, 12-car platforms to accommodate traffic growth and a step change improvement in the dependability of the service.
Under the terms of the franchise agreement, London Midland is committed to the provision of three ‘limited stop’( )services from Northampton to arrive at Euston between 0800 and 0900, and to provide 12-car trains for each. These trains are timed to leave Northampton at 07:01, 07:15 and 07:38, taking 64, 61 and 61 minutes respectively, for the 66 miles. The only intermediate calls will be at Wolverton, Milton Keynes and Leighton Buzzard. A 12-car Desiro provides 72 first-class and 639 standard class seats, compared with a 147 first-class and 300 standard-class seats on a Pendolino and much more suitable for peak commuting.
The DfT published an Invitation to Tender in 2007 for the provision of new fleet of 125mph Inter City trains. It included an option for a London -Northampton-Manchester service. A final appraisal of the business case for the deployment of these new trains will take place in 2008.
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