brentwood.gov.uk

I have read the revised proposals and still have very serious concerns about development, specifically in relation to the land at Ingatestone Garden Centre and more generally about supporting infrastructure and services.

New homes on the land on Ingatestone Garden Centre

The proposal to use the land at Ingatestone Garden Centre for housing still raises serious cause for concern in a number of areas. Our view is that the proposal would demonstrably harm the amenities enjoyed by local residents, in particular , valuable green space, trees and protected wildlife and the privacy and the right to enjoy a quiet and safe residential environment. We strongly object to planning proposals.

Character of the landscape
At the moment the border of the proposed plan that is adjacent to Burnt House Lane is densely populated with trees, removal of the tree line will totally change the character of the land. At present the land is pleasing on the eye and seen as green belt (not brown belt), putting a housing development there will completely change the look and feel of the area.

My family purchased our house because of the secluded nature and the fact that our garden looks out onto Greenland (woodland area of garden centre). We believe that building new homes in close proximity would be out of character to the current surroundings and we are concerned regarding the look of the landscape and privacy. The proposed development would not result in any benefit to the environment; in fact to the contrary it would lead to the loss of valuable green space and potentially new homes crammed in together. The building of so many new homes in close proximity to each other would be out of character to the environment of Ingatestone and in particular the surrounding houses in Burnt House Lane and Heybridge that are primarily 1960's build and consist of many bungalows.


Wildlife / environment
The redevelopment of the garden centre will mean removing the existing greenery and possibly removing the trees thus not respecting the habitat and environment. We suspect that there are trees that should be listed under tree preservation orders, and will be extremely interested in the developed plans outlining whether any of the trees will be left alone (in particular the trees on the boundary of the Burnt House Lane properties). There are some particularly large trees on the plot and the proposed development would impact upon the root stock of the trees, either during or after construction.

We, along with other residents have had newts, badgers, foxes and slow worms in our gardens as a direct result of their natural habitat (the green land of the proposed plot). It is a real concern that the wildlife and protected species will be disrupted and or harmed.


Safety concerns
There has been a history of flooding in the area around Burnt House Lane. If trees and natural vegetation are removed there is a real risk that this could result in increased flooding of the area. There would need to be a proper risk assessment undertaken to ensure that past issues will not reoccur, the area may not be currently classed as high risk now due to the growth of trees and greenery that have mitigated some of the problem. It would seem inappropriate and of major concern if the trees on the boundary to the properties on Burnt House Lane that have a past history of flooding were removed.

The access road into the entrance of the Garden Centre is currently inadequate to cope with the proposed number of houses and subsequent increase in traffic, there are real road safety concerns. We have real concern that the current road (set at the national speed limit in order to join the A12) would serve as the main access / egress point , causing major road safety implications. This will be aggravated by the current location of the Bushcade Lorry Depot, at present we have a high volume of HGV lorries which travel at speed into the location. How will this safety concern be mitigated ?

General issues re infrastructure
We are really concerned about additional pressure to existing essential services; doctors, schools and transport. My children attend Mountnessing Primary school and it is near capacity, where will all the new families send their children to school ? An increase in the population will force residents to send their children to schools outside of Ingatestone, surely this is detrimental to the ethos of a village community. The area will expand to the point that there will no longer be a village feel or concept.

At the moment it is difficult to get a doctor's appointment within a few days , development will increase the issues.

There will be an additional strain on passengers / trains running from Ingatestone during rush hour which are already packed most days, there have been a couple of occasions where we haven't been able to board the train.

Although there is reference in the proposals to supporting infrastructure , this just seems to be lip service rather than anything concrete or credible. The area does not have the supporting services to deal with an increased population, it just about manages now. There is no use building new homes and then infrastructure further down the line, the infrastructure needs to be in place to support development prior to new homes being built.

Although it has been woven throughout other issues, we want to highlight that Mountnessing / Ingatestone currently has a village look and feel, please don't change it to its detriment. It is a lovely area and over development will spoil it. This has potential over time to merge the villages into Chelmsford / Shenfield.