brentwood.gov.uk

I would wish to record the objections of my wife, my son and myself to the above-proposed site being included within the Local Plan. The reasons for my objection are noted below:

The proposed development will ruin the rural environment in which I have lived for over 20 years. The development will create a huge housing estate almost equal in size to the Homesteads estate with more than double the density. It will destroy the character of the whole area. Even though the site is constrained and adjacent to the A12 the green open space is highly valued by local residents in terms of the environment and significantly contributes to the quite rural setting. You state in the plan that sites are also selected to prevent sprawl, however because of the restriction of he A12, traffic from the development can only disperse via Honey Pot and adjoining roads. A housing development of 200 homes will totally destroy the character of the whole area; create increased traffic related issues including noise nuisance and concerns related to safety and rat running.

The new St Charles development has created additional traffic nuisance through Honey Pot Lane and in particular Hill Road and the Homesteads estate. This is as a result of motorists having difficulties exiting at the junction of Honey Pot Lane and London Road; motorists now use Hill Road as a rat run. Indeed Councilor Will Russell admitted to me himself at a previou road show event at South Weald Parish Hall that he uses the estate as a through route taking his children to St Peters school. This will be made worse by increased traffic from the proposed development site and the inevitable widening of Honey Pot Lane next to the site.

Highway improvements although funded by the developer will not improve this situation regardless of how achieved, roundabout or traffic lights introduced at the junction of London Road and Honeypot Lane. London Road is an extremely busy Principle Road and will always be given traffic priority, increased traffic using Honey Pot Lane will not readily exit onto London Road and as a result will divert down Hill Road. Hill Road is a privately owned road, non adopted and should not be used as a through route to the M25 and London Road. Indeed the access into Hill Road should be closed if you permit this development to take place.

Access to the proposed site will have to be made via Honey Pot lane and as such, the narrow road adjacent to the site will I assume be widened this will make the use of the route from Weald Road to London more attractive as it will be easier to access and will further create increased traffic nuisance in Honey Pot Lane and again resulting in Hill Road and the Homesteads being used as a rat run and short cut to avoid the junction of Honey Pot Lane and London Road.

An additional concern related to the wider road network relates to motorists using a route from Ongar Road, Sandpit Lane, Weald Road to London Road this will inevitably result in increased traffic movement North - South if widening of Honey Pot Lane is carried out and the junction of Honey pot Lane and London road redesigned. Any increase in traffic using Honey Pot Lane will have a significant impact on Hill Road a private development of individually designed houses. Hill Road and the Homesteads Estate should not be a through route or rat run for traffic at any time.

Other proposed development sites within the draft plan will also have traffic implications in regards to Honey Pot Lane.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend the council meeting where our local Petition was discussed and I understand the council agreed to include the petition as part of the consultation process. However having viewed the video of the meeting I was amazed to hear one of the councilors mention that the inclusion of sites in the draft plan had not been considered previously by councilors. The inclusion of sites within the plan it would seem is officer led. Unfortunately officers had previously recommended a back garden development for approval on the Homesteads Estate that was rejected unanimously by all planning committee members and also rejected at a subsequent appeal. Hopefully officers will listen to the significant objections of local residents and remove the site from the plan.

A new huge housing development on the scale proposed in Honey Pot Lane will totally destroy the character and environment of the area, create increased local highway problems and add to problems associated with the North - South route created to access London Road and the M25. This development and density will be double the size of the existing estates of the Homesteads and surrounding properties and will totally transform the whole area for the worse for the existing community.

I strongly object to the proposed site being used for Housing Development and would hope that officers and councilors will take note of residents objections and also the petition presented to the council some time ago. I also do not believe you have considered the full potential of land adjacent to the A12 from Shenfield heading East to the A12. This land if at all is better suited particularly as it is also fronted by a principal road and the associated public transport link.