brentwood.gov.uk

My objections are as follows:

I don't feel that the current infrastructure could tolerate all the added pressures. The additional costs to bring everything required, to a viable standard would be extortionate. I believe it would be more prudent to add more housing to a newly planned infrastructure such as being proposed at Dunton Hills Garden Village. The overall costs to do such would be far less.

Infrastructure that I'm concerned with:

School...I've heard it said by some village folk that they've had to put their children into Doddinghurst School, as the school here in Blackmore is at full capacity and has a waiting list. Whilst at the Tipps Cross meeting recently I believe I heard the Council representative say to someone that they will be expecting to make provision for 25 extra children, with the anticipated new build. If the size of our village is to increase by approximately 28%, then those figures don't add up. If there are 175 children in the school now and it doesn't have the capacity to take all the children already living in the village, then 28% housing increase would surely suggest a minimum of 50 extra children. How will the current village school cope? The school would surely need to expand.

Doctors...My husband recently had to wait two weeks for a doctor's appointment. How much more strain will this put on the current facility?

Roads/Parking...96 extra homes could easily mean a minimum of another 96 cars in the village and this number could quite easily be doubled. Their visitors would also add to this number. This could put extra strain overflowing onto our roads that already have excessive parking problems from the influx of cars that visit the village, let alone those that permanently reside here. (There are 6 vehicles connected to the house opposite me, two of which are parked on the road. More repetition of this scenario could have serious consequences. Young people want to own a vehicle for themselves...and why shouldn't they aspire to this!)

Drainage...We are already having problems with areas that flood because of problems with natural drainage in the village, due to the village being built in a bowl. There seems to be concerns amongst villagers that flooding could increase with more concreted areas and less natural drainage.

Affordable Housing... 'If', this is the plan, this location in my estimation is not ideally suited. Employment here is extremely limited. Homes would be better built in commuter belt locations where there are local job opportunities with good supporting networks of public transport. Affordable homes would be better served if built on the edge of larger towns or cities, therefore making it unnecessary to have the extra expense of vehicle ownership, with all its associated hefty running costs,

As said, surely it would be far more cost effective to add these extra 96 houses to a brand-new infrastructure that has been purpose built to accommodate all the extra facilities/utilities. Bolting on new systems to an already overstretched infrastructure would require extensive investment. Who would be responsible for this huge bill...the Property Developers or the Council? Or, would the village just have to deteriorate and suffer?

Alternatively, build the houses on the edge of a large town, where city dwellers have no objections to living amongst large expanses of housing. People that live in this quaint little village have purchased a home here because they love 'small'. I along with numerous other villagers would request to keep it this way.

Many thanks for giving us the opportunity to make our voice heard. It is very much appreciated.