Object
Draft Local Plan
Representation ID: 13509
Received: 23/03/2016
Respondent: Mrs Helen Gabell
Developing at Dunton is in breach of almost every one of the criteria set out, as it is a valuable Green Belt for the nearby communities, with no roads and infrastructure in place for the development, leaving users in complete isolation, and risking their health through noise and air pollution, increased flood risk, traffic, etc. It is unacceptable visually and environmentally, as it is a destruction of Green Belt in an area with little Green Belt fulfilling its purpose.
a. Developing Dunton will have a massive unacceptable effect on visual amenity, as well as the character appearance of the surrounding area;
b.The site is isolate from the Brentwood Borough, in an area not currently serviced by public transport or roads, so it fails to provide satisfactory means of access to the site for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians and parking and servicing arrangements;
c.There is no public transport at the Dunton site, and no spare capacity on the C2C at either Laindon or West Horndon, and the C2C service doesn't link to the rest of the Brentwood Borough, so they would be isolated. The A127 is already heavily congested, and hasn't benefitted from the massive investments of the Crossrail and A12, which would be better suited to the addition numbers of users. People trying to cross the busy A127 have frequently lost their lives, and the isolation of this development would force people into crossing the A127 and the A128 to get to the rest of the Brentwood Borough. Highways England have proposed a Lower Thames Crossing, which may come up through the middle of the proposed Dunton site, adding increased risk to health and safety from vehicles and pollution, and creating another physical barrier for the residents, as there is currently no road system in that area.
d.A development of 2500 homes, plus employment and travellers sites, will definitely have an unacceptable effect on health, because of the high levels of pollution created. The loss of GreenBelt is an unacceptable effect on the environment, particularly as the concrete, and increased vehicle use through the years of development and forever after, etc, will release pollutants to land, water or air (light, noise pollution, vibration, odour, smoke, ash, dust and grit);
e.As there is currently no access to this site, it will cause unacceptable effects to the surrounding areas of Basildon and West Horndon, and their already congested road system, through excessive noise, activity and vehicle movements; There will be a loss of the Green Belt views, and the wildlife that they would have previously contained;
f.It is doubtfull that it will take full account of opportunities to incorporate biodiversity in developments, as too much development is being planned in a small space;
g.The development shouldn't go ahead, as greater weight should be given to the existing assets conservation and enhancement;
h.As it is Green Belt, there is limited residential units to lose, but this doesn't make the development acceptable.
i.As any new development would be required to mitigate its impact on local services and community infrastructure, and there is currently no services and community infrastructure in the area, it would be essential that absolutely all of that was in place before anyone moved in, otherwise BBC are forcing new tenants, employers/ees, travellers, etc, into surviving in isolation, or using the services of nearby Basildon, which are already stretched beyond capacity.