Maurice Littlewood

The whole essence of Waverley has changed from what they first promised. When this land was reclaimed it was going to be turned into parkland. The wording was a miniature ‘Rother valley’. Since then the proposed township has come into being … I know the air quality in this area is not good ... and I can’t see how putting 4000 houses in the middle of an already congested and polluted environment can have any other effect than making it worse. It’s not just about money, it’s about people.

Response

An Air Quality Assessment has been undertaken for the development having first agreed the methodology with Environmental Heatlh at RMBC and Sheffield CC. The development will not have any significant effect on the air quality of the area.

John Grant

The big question is whether the 4000 houses will be affordable to normal people, or this just going to be just another rich suburb?

They are looking at managing the water around the development, that should be a good thing, so thumbs up for the Waverley development if they can actually hold onto the water. I am positive about that if they can do it right and hopefully they have some smart men and women working on that.

What I was hoping to hear was that these houses would be proper environmentally sensitive houses.

The idea of putting a new railway station on the site seems to have dropped off the map, which is a disaster. No tram line as well from what I have seen, and no massive park and ride. The idea of having a huge park and ride on the park way struck me as being quite a sensible idea - but again I didn’t see anything, though fingers crossed.

Response

The housing will built out in phases of approximately 200 a year over a 20 year period. 25% of the houses will be affordable housing, including both social rented and shared equity, in accordance with RMBC policy.

The houses will be built to exceed Government sustainability targets, and will be built to at least Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4. Other sustainable features of the site are a sustainable drainage system, high quality public transport utilising the Transport Interchange and a site wide Combined Heat and Power system.

The Transport Interchange and Bus Rapid Transit System have replaced the initial ideas for an extension of the Supertram service. This is because funding would not be secured by the SYPTE from the Government for a Supertram extension. There is still space provided for Supertram so that one could be developed in the future if funding was forthcoming.

A rail station has been considered and there is still the potential for one on the Sheffield – Lincoln line. However, at this stage there is no capacity on the line and the operators would find it very difficult to provide even a limited service. There is also no funding available to provide such a service.

The Park and Ride adjacent to the Transport Interchange will cater for up to a 1000 cars.

Roy Sharpe

I am not happy with the UK COAL site at all it would raise the land which means we will get flooded.

Response

The levels of the site were agreed with RMBC some time ago as part of the restoration of the site and are largely in place already. The contours of the site will allow for the gravity-fed drainage system to discharge surface water from the site into the on-site reservoirs. These will have capacity to hold water from a 72 hour storm or 1 in 100 year flood event with extra capacity to allow for the impacts of climate change. They will attenuate water into the River Rother at a controlled rate to stop the River from rising excessively downstream.

A Strategic Flood Risk Assessment was undertaken, and demonstrates that the proposals will not increase flooding elsewhere off site.

Mrs H Cotterhill

It was put to the local community that it would be parkland and leisure facilities. Since then the plans have changed considerably, I’m already concerned about the level of traffic in the area. I am extremely concerned about the future potential impact of the new development.

Response

A large amount of open space will be provided within the development utilising a network of linked open spaces. The southern area of the site will be turned into a significant new open space, approximately 115 hectares in area.. These open spaces will contain play areas and sports facilities. Public footpaths and bridleways will be reinstated and new ones created to allow pubic access to the site. The impact of the development on the area has been considered in the Environmental Impact Assessment that accompanied the planning application for the development. This considered items such as traffic impact, flood risk, air quality and local ecology.

Gary Cooper

I remember Orgreave when it was the original coke works and the environmental pollution was incredibly bad. What is happening now in Waverley has got to be for the better of the people who live in this area. There are issues …. the amount of cars, the great concerns over flooding ... but I do believe these can all be overcome and in years to come, people of this area will find that the environmental impact is much better and to their advantage.

Response

An Environmental Impact Statement was undertaken and submitted with the planning application. The scope of this was agreed with RMBC and it is intended to assess the potential impact of the development on the surrounding environment. The Transport Assessment formed part of this, as did a Flood Risk Assessment and an Air Quality Assessment and various other documents.

Jane Gude

It's all right them saying were not going to get flooded in Catcliffe. I think we will. We got flooded which we never ever did. What they've done now is raise all the land so they won't get flooded but we will still. So what are they going to do about it?

Response

A Strategic Flood Risk Assessment was undertaken for the development, and demonstrates that the proposals will not increase flooding elsewhere off site.

A surface water strategy for the site has been the subject of lengthy negotiations with RMBC and the Environment Agency. Central to this strategy has been the creation of x3 large reservoirs on the site. The surface water drainage system will discharge surface water into the on-site reservoirs, from which water will be attenuated into the River Rother at a controlled rate.. These reservoirs are designed to hold water resulting from a 72 hour storm, or a 1 in 100 year flood event (plus 20% allowance for climate change). All surface water from the site, including some that currently comes from outside the site and including some that currently goes into the Airport Drain will now flow into the reservoirs from where it will pass into the River Rother at an attenuated rate agreed with the Environment Agency.