brentwood.gov.uk

I am opposed to the Draft Plan to build 1500 new houses in West Horndon for a variety of reasons:

Firstly, the issue of flooding, I believe that no proper flood assessment has taken place despite the fact that The Environment Agency's web site shows West Horndon to be at risk of flooding. This was borne out on Christmas Day last year when a number of properties in the village were indeed flooded. I believe that building an extensive housing development on green belt land will reduce the capacity of this land to absorb excess water and so the risk of flooding will become greater. Although the provision of a flood alleviation scheme was mentioned, where do you propose to put the excess water? If it is pumped under the railway line surely it will just flood Bulphan instead. I doubt if it is legal to solve one's own flood management problems by transferring them to another authority, it most definitely isn't ethical.

Secondly, I am concerned that the local road and rail networks will be unable to cope with the increased demand. Our local main roads A127 & A128 are already overcrowded and St. Mary's Lane that links West Horndon to Upminster is a twisty road with some dangerous blind bends that has claimed the life of some of our residents in the past, I dread to think what it would be like with even more traffic on it. During peak times our local trains are already overcrowded and I am not sure if the line has the capacity to increase provision. Bearing in mind that most residents will need to commute to work will put a great strain on the transport system, especially as I suspect much of this commuting will be by means of private cars due to infrequent trains and buses.

Thirdly, I am concerned that the proposal indicates that Green Belt Land will be built upon. If one area of Green Belt land is built upon this sets a precedent that any part of the green belt may be built upon opening up the real possibility of urban sprawl. I cannot believe this will create a healthy environment for anyone to live in.

Many of the residents actively chose to live in West Horndon as they appreciated a semi -rural, village location, this will be lost if 1500 houses are built as the size of the village will be trebled. What effect will this have on crime rates I wonder?
Whilst it is unreasonable to suggest that no new houses should be built in West Horndon a more modest amount (perhaps somewhere between 300-500 houses) may be much more acceptable, especially if it was a phased development over a number of years. I understand that there are other sites that could be developed within the borough that currently have not even been considered e.g. Hutton industrial estate. I do not doubt that Brentwood Council needs to find a substantial number of new homes but to build almost half of them in West Horndon seems unfair.

In conclusion it seems to me that residents are asked to comment on a major proposal without being given the full facts. Have the risks to West Horndon really been fully evaluated and how might problems be overcome? Until such time that proper assessments have been made and viable, sustainable plans have been made to overcome the difficulties made by such a building development I will remain opposed to such a scheme.