The planned new development is wrong on a number of different fronts:
1 While it is not politically correct to voice such opinions, we feel it is outrageously unfair on the householders who purchased properties in an exclusive area to find that they will be surrounded by small houses and flats.

2 The infrastructure in this area is not able to cope with an enormous influx of cars. If 2,000 properties are to be built, one would envisage some 3,000 extra cars and these are expected to exit onto Rowtree Road. During the early morning, the pressure of traffic on the A508 is enormous.

3 Once all these properties have been built, the flooding potential will increase significantly.

Bovis blithely talks about drainage and lagoons, using porous pavers etc, but this will never be able to take the water away from Wootton Brook, which already floods at least once or twice a year.

The brook had increased in depth by about eight feet and several areas were under water.

At the initial meeting that we attended at the golf course, when Bovis Homes showed the plans, our concerns were dismissed out of hand.

Bovis told us that we, as residents, should get stuck in and clear any blockages in the brook, and they said it would not be a concern for them if the brook flooded away from their properties.

While we realise that Northampton is expanding in all directions, we feel that the size and positioning of this development is ill-advised.

In the current market, Bovis is unlikely to press ahead with the purchase and building works but we feel it is imperative that we voice, and continue to voice, our strong opposition.
Pamela Jackson,
Sarek Park, West Hunsbury, Northampton.

Plan is a recipe for disaster
I read the article in the Chronicle & Echo regarding the proposal to build 2,000 new homes on land in and around Collingtree Golf Course.

Having visited the exhibition earlier in the year held at the clubhouse, I am convinced that this is the wrong place to build.

The development is planned to be built partly in the existing flood plain and on the valley slopes above the flood plain.

If this is not a recipe for disaster, I don't know what is. The brook, which runs through the area concerned, floods on a regular basis and houses already in existence have been flooded on several occasions.

Developers seem to care only about profit and not the existing residents whose homes they threaten with this development, but also the potential new home owners who find they cannot get insurance on the homes against flooding.

If these plans are passed, can existing residents sue the planners as the inevitable flooding occurs?
Rob Flight,
Spinney Drive, Collingtree, Northampton.

Floods warning
The flooding at Collingtree Park Golf club last weekend only serves to highlight the total unsuitability of the area for further development (Bovis Homes proposal).

The area simply does not have the infrastructure to support further growth; local roads are frequently choked with traffic during the week and are suffering damage as a result, particularly Rowtree Road.

Facilities such as schools, medical centres, dentists, shops (to name but a few) are already stretched to breaking point and will be unable to cope with a population increase of this scale.

Northampton already has a glut of unsold properties and, given the current financial climate and environmental changes, surely no-one in their right mind would want to live on a flood plain in a heavily congested area with inadequate facilities?
Sue Franklin,
Grangewood,
Northampton.

Use some sense
I am writing to you to express my concerns about the plans being developed by Bovis Homes to build some 2,000 homes on land adjacent to East Hunsbury and Collingtree Park.

As a local resident, I can be accused of having a parochial perspective on the situation but common sense suggests that to build houses on land that floods regularly, and in area where the road infrastructure is already inadequate is foolish in the extreme.

Let's hope that the planning authority shows common sense in rejecting these proposals, if they are formally submitted . . . but that is probably too much to ask!
Malcolm Brown,
Tanglewood, Collingtree Park, Northampton.

Ban bar on our school campus
AS a resident of Kettering Road whose home backs on to Thomas Becket School, I am totally opposed to Playfootball opening a licensed bar in the school grounds and running a commercial sports centre seven days a week into the late evening, as I am sure are almost 100 per cent of local residents.

The impact of light, noise and traffic pollution will destroy the quality of life for dozens of families living in the immediate area, not withstanding the impact on wildlife.

I am confused by Sally Keeble's comments in the article on September 12.

Whose side is she on?

The residents are opposed to this development but it would seem that this proposal is almost a done deal.

I urge as many as possible to attend the county council public meeting at 10am tomorrow and voice their opposition.
Michael Torpy,
Kettering Road,
Northampton.

Try a delicious moose steak!
I read with interest John Dickie's recent column on the American presidential election.

I find John's views on American politicians are always derogatory and without foundation.

His comment on Sarah Palin as Republican vice-presidential candidate states that she has a gun.

The gun is actually a high powered rifle.

She uses it for killing her own meat, instead of hiring an assassin in the form of a local butcher.

Now surely there is no harm in that?

I've actually eaten moose steaks when I visited Canada a few years ago.

I can assure John that they are delicious.

The moose, being the largest of the deer species, would keep Sarah and her family in meat for a considerable time.

In 1940 we had two Canadian soldiers billeted with us when they came to Northampton. They were charming men and spoke of hunting moose and of how delicious the meat was.
Charles Keith Barker,
High Street,
Kingsthorpe,
Northampton