brentwood.gov.uk

Dear Sir / Madam,

We have lived in Blackmore village for 18 years.
Our property will be the most affected by the local plan proposal to develop the field behind our house (Site Ref: 076) and the field in front (Site Ref: 077). This property is a listed Grade II Property with a frontage only 3- 5 feet from the road. We are concerned that as additional the traffic is forced past our house through the village as a result of this development (particularly the heavy traffic associated with building) may impact the fabric of the building.
Whilst we appreciate that clearly no consideration will be given to the plight of one household in terms of this development proposal we would make the following further observations in response to the consultation and would like to understand how these issues will be dealt with in the detailed planning stage.

Lack of Road access / traffic issues

There is already a development of 30 houses being built further up Fingrith Hall Road / Lane ( on the site of the old Norton Heath Equestrian Centre) which will push additional traffic down this road to the shop, village centre, school and the existing doctors surgery in Doddinghurst.

Fingrith Hall Road / Lane is a narrow and winding road and in many places only passable by one car. Redrose Lane which will be the access road to both proposed sites is even more compromised, often floods and is narrower than Fngrith Hall Road / Lane.

Even if each of the houses only has one car - (which is unlikely as the bus service is not really usable by commuters as it has limited hours - will force households to have more than one car) - the proposed development in Blackmore (along with the development at Norton Heath) will be adding at least 126 cars to the road infrastructure which is already compromised as mentioned above.

How do the council intend to deal with the lack of existing road infrastructure in and around the proposed development site and to protect the centre of the village from congestion and pollution and both after and during building work.

Lack of adequate doctor's surgery

There is already an issue with the local doctor's surgery in Doddinghust being oversubscribed and difficulty in obtaining appointments. How do the council intend to address this issue?

Lack of adequate schooling

Blackmore Primary School is at capacity and children are being driven into the village to school causing congestion and dangerous parking at school drop off an pick up times. Even if further classrooms are created and teachers bought in how do the council intend to address the issue of primary schooling in the village ?

Secondary school children from the village are already having to be bussed to school from the village and current school bus services are at capacity. How does the council propose to deal with the additional requirement for school buses into the centre of the village which will cause additional congestion and pollution at the same drop off and pick up times as the existing bus routes?


Lack of adequate public transport

The existing bus timetable and route has proven itself to be of no use to commuters and this forces households to have one if not both adults driving to Shenfield - as neither Brentwood or Chelmsford station afford the commuter the quickest journey into London. Do the council intend to address this issue within the planning for the development? How do they intend to ensure that there is adequate public transport to reduce the need for each household to have more than one car?


We look forward to understanding how the issues raised above are going to be addressed.