Object

Preferred Site Allocations 2018

Representation ID: 19073

Received: 04/04/2018

Respondent: Mr Ian Atkinson

Representation Summary:

I expect there will be less responses to this plan than previous ones. You should not conclude from this that this means there is less concern or opposition to it. People have simply become weary of being asked to repeatedly comment on similar proposals and also do not believe that their representations are listened to or taken into account.

Full text:

As requested I am providing feedback on the Brentwood Draft Local Plan, in terms of its impact on West Horndon village.

Like the vast majority of West Horndon residents, I would like West Horndon to remain the small village it is today. My wife and I moved here 22 years ago and it was a conscious decision to choose to live somewhere with a sense of community and with plenty of green space. We enjoy village life and it is a pleasant, safe place in which to raise our son.

I do however accept that some changes are necessary and have got reasonably comfortable with the residential development planned for the industrial estate. Although this would considerably increase the size of the village, it would also bring benefits, not least of which would be an end to the vast number of lorries thundering through the village, albeit many of these would be replaced by cars.

I disagree that this site is suitable for high density housing. The housing built on this site should be similar to and consistent with the existing housing in the village. There are also a lot of elderly people living in the village. Consideration should be given to building senior citizen housing. This would enable our senior citizens, when they reach the point when they cannot live entirely independently, to move to this accommodation. This would provide them with the support they need whilst enabling them to stay within their community. It would then free up their existing bungalows for new families.

I do not agree that the village has excellent transport links and was astonished to be told at a recent drop-in event that this was the main reason this area has been chosen for development. Yes we have a railway station and are close to the A127 and M25 but our trains and our roads are already extremely overcrowded and will not be able to cope with the extra amount of people. Your plan seems to ignore the equally important A12 and Crossrail opportunities. The impact on West Horndon also does not appear to have been taken into account regarding the plan to build Dunton Garden Village right next door to our village.

Whilst I appreciate that you need to come up with a viable plan to deliver the amount of housing required, I would urge you to consider the impact of any proposals you make on the lives of the people it will affect. The residents of West Horndon chose to live in a village, not a large town and our way of life should be respected as much as anyone else.

Finally, what I oppose most strongly in the plan is the proposal for us to have over 50% of the new gypsy and traveller sites. This is a step too far. We should not have to accept over 60% of the housing, over 80% of the employment land allocations and over 50% of the new gypsy and traveller sites. This is too much for one small village and these sites would not be compatible with our community and way of life. An alternative site should be found elsewhere in the Borough.

I expect there will be less responses to this plan than previous ones. You should not conclude from this that this means there is less concern or opposition to it. People have simply become weary of being asked to repeatedly comment on similar proposals and also do not believe that their representations are listened to or taken into account.