brentwood.gov.uk

Having read through the Scoping Report for the 'Sustainability Appraisal' I have word searched 'Garden City' and found 11 references to this 'development speak'. I conclude that 'Garden City' is a euphemism for Brentwood Council proposed building on greenbelt as bequeathed to us by wartime generation Planning Policy makers. I am extremely concerned that this wonderful greenbelt legacy will be in terminal decline, through the proposed 'Sustainability' Appraisal, no matter how you couch planning policy terminology.

I am disappointed that your commissioned URS Scoping Document, on the proposed Sustainability Appraisal, is not easy to find and has not been widely publicised for so an important consultation that appears to set out the ground rules for further consultation on a new Local Plan.

The below is my understanding of this very important document and lifted references are in orange.

Under 3.1.2. 'Biodiversity'

'Once Green Belts have been defined, local planning authorities should plan positively to enhance the beneficial use of the Green Belt, notably to 'retain and enhance landscapes, visual amenity and biodiversity'.
Greenbelt is already defined as established some 60 years ago and in the current Local Plan .

Develop land with the least environmental/amenity value whilst ensuring Green Belt objectives are maintained

With regards to the above the last BRENTWOOD BOROUGH COUNCIL ( BBC ) Local Plan references the below from
Landscape Improvements

9.45 Despite the general attractiveness of the rural parts of the Borough there are also some areas of poor landscape quality. Reasons for this are varied, and include industrial activities, farming practices, loss of trees through development, Dutch Elm disease and other natural events, or simply neglect, in some cases because owners hope that unsightly parts of the Green Belt may then be released for development.

Clearly previous Brentwood planners understood the attempted underhanded ways land owners could attempt to undermine greenbelt in attempts to build on it. Please retain the current Local Plan 9.45 reference in any future planning policy documents

3.2.3 Thames Chase
Community Forest and Red House Lake are both highlighted as sites for protection;

This is the only reference I have been able to find with regards to The Thames Chase. Planting a forest takes time. Please retain the original plans and aspirations of the original Thames Chase project in any new Brentwood policy documents

PAGE 20 of document below

Protect and enhance the rural environment ensur(e)ing the countryside and multifunctional open spaces are accessible to all.

The highlighted yellow text has been crossed out, though left in the document as attached. There is a world of difference to the preferred original text to that which is left. Please use the original text.

Locate new development in locations that are as close as possible to existing
It is essential that infrastructure implications are considered for any application i.e. building home for the elderly in a village location would entail further demand on resources i.e. dentists, doctors, transport, care services, chemists, shops. Without such shops homes could become, inadvertently, prisons for residents with feelings of isolation and loneliness. Such infrastructure 'improvements' would be associated with that of a town environment and lead to the demise of Brentwood Borough villages. See below box

Ensure sufficient healthcare, social and community facilities are provided to support new development

PAGE 21
Encourage the feeling of community spirit
Please consider the following:
1. Home ownership is plummeting in UK with the advent of the buy to let market...many of which are bought by foreign investors
2. There were 29,000 buy to let mortgages in 1998. In Oct 2011 this had increased to 1.34million and rising.
3. 50% of tenants in rented accommodation move on within 2 years. This does little for 'ownership' of a neighbourhood, community cohesion and does not ' Encourage the feeling of community spirit'.
4. There is very little control/sanction against potential 'neighbours from hell' in private buy to let accommodation on short term tenancies.
5. There is no guarantee that local development will be sold to local people or first time buyers...despite the sales pitch of a developer
I am more than happy to provide authorative evidence based research should anyone ask re the above points.
Page 43
'The greenbelt has successfully prevented urban sprawl - but at a price. Evidence from other countries suggests that it should be operated more flexibly, with boundaries revisited regularly.
Page 44
However, should those sources produce a shortfall then Green Belt release may be necessary.
Allowing above statements like this in the Local Plan signals the slow/possibly fast demise of our forefathers/mothers wonderful legacy and who had the foresight to create such policies that have, thus far, stood the test of time.

There are alternatives to building on greenbelt. With current and future controlled and uncontrolled immigration the population of Brentwood will increase. Current brownfield sites will not sustain population growth in the long term. To retain the the current greenbelt please consider high density housing, in the long term, built to the best possible standards applying the principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design in association with ACPO's SecuredbyDesign initiative. Such schemes will avoid the past 1960's and 70's Architectural award winning urban disasters of failed estates that have now been demolished. High density housing succeeds very well in Singapore, Japan and many other countries.
Page 45
Given the limits of the Green Belt, the study concludes that Brentwood cannot meet market demand for new homes. A constrained housing target may have positive and negative implications. There will be less scope to secure affordable homes and contributions towards infrastructure as a result of constrained growth. However, lower housing growth will place less pressure on existing infrastructure, plus a lower requirement for new infrastructure

The above states the obvious though please consider to whom exactly will be buying new property. A large proportion, possibly the majority, will be bought by non Brentwood residents for private rental with transient tenant populations.

Page 50
Protect and enhance valued landscapes, giving particular weight to those identified as being of national importance
What about local importance? It's subjective as to what is a valued landscape. All greenbelt is valued landscape...as previously established

Please do not be instrumental to the destruction of the current greenbelt that is the wonderful legacy left to us and future generations by the wartime generations of 'The Great War' and WW2...Lest we forget.