Oh no - sorry to hear you've got the same issues...... Exactly as you say - when you clock up how many extra car journey's even a modestly sized new estate will equate to over a 12 month period, its a staggering amount of extra traffic and they don't seem to advertise this fact funnily enough. Town centres then get clogged with all those new people driving into the town for supplies because heaven forbid the thought of cycling or walking.... and then they need to build a ring road to cope with the traffic......and then comes the building of new supermarkets to supply the demand which then destroys all the trade for the local shops......and then a new school.....and so it goes on.

What annoys me even more (now I am well and truly on my soap box) is the fact that the developers try to sugar coat the pill for the local townsfolk - for the Much Wenlock new development they are 'going to supply a traffic calming roundabout and a children's play area' whoop de do. I wish they would just come clean and say 'we want to build more houses as there is more profit in it for us and absolutely no benefit to people already living there'. Persimmon also had a questionnaire for locals regarding the new development full of closed questions (yes / no) such as 'should 20% of new houses be affordable homes' for which of course you tick 'yes', and when they compile their answers the questionnaire was designed in such a way that you had to answer yes for most things which will then give the false impression to anyone looking at the results that you are in support of the development!

The problem is that each county has a house building target to meet, and building and growth is seen to be the way forward for economy......they won't rest until everywhere is busy, overcrowded and people wishing to pursue rural activities will have to go further and further afield. How sad. We can never stop it but I am going to give them as hard a time as I possibly can.

Like you say, the car journeys are a big problem. There's a new development happening near us. I checked the planning application and it started as you'd expect - lots of hot air about how green and sustainable this development is going to be. Skip ahead to the transport section and I find that despite being a ten-minute walk from the city centre, this "sustainable" development is going to have more than 2 parking spaces per residence - taking up about half the land that is to be used. A lost opportunity, when with a bit of imagination and will they could have created a place in which people would want to walk and cycle, especially being so close to the city and rail station. Sigh.

Just wondered whether anyone is affected by all these new developments springing up everywhere. I moved because of the proposed 10,000 development in sutton coldfield but Shropshire is by no mean exempt - 85 homes in Much Wenlock (although it is hoped to be restricted to 25) and my friend in malvern is saying that there is a development of 850 houses in the pipeline.......its not the houses I mind so much is all the extra car journeys - average 3 people per household each owning a car and doing an average of 2-3 car journeys per day.......I know there is a housing shortage but it is a shame the developers don't exhaust brown field sites and try to keep development within the existing footprint of the town to restrict the need for car journeys into the town centre. There was a consultation meeting on Tues night regarding the 85 homes in MW and I am afraid I bit the guys from Persimmon's heads off......being a horse rider, walker and cyclist I know only too well that traffic and these persuits don't mix.........thanks all I feel better for the rant.