brentwood.gov.uk

I am writing to register my strong protest regarding the proposed plan to develop 1500 new homes and a travellers site in West Horndon. To date the residents of West Horndon have been given very little detail regarding this proposal which is sketchy and ill thought out in the extreme, and it is understandably of huge concern.

The village would not be able to sustain a development of this size and it would totally destroy the existing village.

Increased traffic and congestion
The access in and out of the village is very limited. The 128 towards Tilbury cannot be improved due to the railway bridge, the 128 towards Brentwood runs through Ingrave and Herongate, and heading towards Upminister you have the small railway bridge. Anyone who lives in the area is aware that the 127 towards London is a nightmare, often at standstill and during school term time the same can be said of the 128 going into Brentwood. Traffic coming from Tilbury is also very heavy. At the moment the village does have a significant problem with large lorries thundering down Station Road and Thorndon Avenue has only the one way exit off the A127.

Infrastructure
1500 new homes would mean many more families. The primary school is at full capacity and once the children move on to secondary school they have to be transferred by bus into Brentwood. We have a small doctors surgery and often have to wait now for appointments. The bus service is very poor and anyone moving into the area, unless they can go by rail will need a car to get to work. We have very few shops and amenities, in particular for young people. Again we are dependant on the car for shopping and leisure.

Green Belt
It has always been my understanding that the Green Belt needs to be protected and that both local and National government were there to ensure protection. This is to protect an increasing sprawl of development and to go ahead with this proposal will be to destroy part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. The Green Belt is our legacy to future generations and should not be utilized. Once encroached upon it then becomes an easy option to build more and more. Too often these decisions are taken to people who are not directly affected by the outcome to the detriment of the residents.

Flooding
I understand that there has in the past been flooding in West Horndon and the Environment Agency's own website shows a risk of flooding to West Horndon. This must be taken into account. This is unfair to the existing residents and also to anyone looking to buy one of the new homes.

Redevelopment of the Industrial site
This would impact on people already working on the existing site as there is no guarantee that the existing companies could or would want to be relocated.

Conclusion
This development constitutes 43% of the proposed new development in Brentwood. Why this huge percentage should be inflicted on one small village is a mystery. There has been very little consultation and no information as to how this would impact on utilities such as water, waste etc, and services. This plan would treble the size of the existing village turning it into a huge sprawling estate. The sheer number of houses proposed is totally out of proportion to the size of the village. The rural character of the village would drastically change and the reason why many of us moved here and worked to pay our mortgages would be gone. This plan does not take into account the existing residents and we have had no involvement in the plans so far. This would also affect the wildlife around the village. I do not see that the existing residents would receive any benefits from this proposal and there must surely be other areas within the borough where the amenities are better. The Wash Road industrial estate is one area that springs to mind. New homes should be spaced around the Borough in areas where there is existing infrastructure to accommodate them.

There are serious misgivings regarding this proposal and we would ask the planning department to look again as this is neither sound or fair. The council should also look at sites that do have existing planning permission but have not be utilised. I heard a news report that Nationwide this exceeds the number of new home that currently are being proposed Nationwide.