Mini green belt plan could protect villages from urban sprawl

MINI green belts should be established around all villages.

That is the suggestion amid claims Dunchurch is set to be swamped by houses making it an extension of Rugby town.

Coun Howard Roberts spoke out this week after plans were revealed for 86 homes on Dipbar Fields off Daventry Road to the east of the village centre - land previously earmarked for a hotel.

He also suggested the focus should be on establishing new towns and villages as councils all over the country battle to cope with demand for housing.

The Dipbar Fields plan is the latest in a string of planned developments in and around the village. Last month 50 houses on Rugby Road were approved and last week an outline plan for 250 off Cawston Lane got the go ahead.

In addition a further 600 will be built as part of the extension of Cawston at Dunchurch's north-western boundary and 47 properties in phase four of Lime Tree Village.

Collectively they will increase the number of properties in Dunchurch by a staggering 76 per cent, claims Coun Roberts.

"Historically Dunchurch was the bigger settlement to Rugby but the fear now is it will absorbed into the mass and that will be bad for all sorts of reasons," he told us.

"I would like to see mini green belts around every village and we should also be looking at new towns and villages. People are desperate to move into a village not a conurbation which is what Dunchurch will become.

"Not only is the integrity of our historic village at sake but there are also serious concerns about how the infrastructure can cope."

The parish council has held informal discussions over the proposals for Dipbar Fields and have expressed concerns about the density of housing, car parking, although the developers have pledged two off street spaces per house, and the impact it would have on traffic flows on roads which members claim are already congested at peak times.

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