brentwood.gov.uk

We would like offer our observations on the way that the Local Development Plan affects our Parish. A couple of years ago we attended a Public Meeting at Tipps Cross Remembrance Hall where Brentwood Council officers categorically told residents that there would be no developments in our Parish. Then, out of the blue, the Council has decided that they are now planning to build 116 properties - 26 in the Tipps Cross area of Hook End and 96 in Blackmore. There are a total of 53 properties also being planned for Kelvedon Hatch. We are at a loss to understand why our Parish and Kelvedon Hatch have been targetted while the neighbouring Parishes of Doddinghurst and Stondon Massey have been left untouched. First let's leook at the 20 properties planned for the recreation field, aka the Croquet Lawn, and the adjoining Chestnut Field at Tipps Cross Remembrance Hall. At a recent Public Consultation at Tipps Cross Hall, many of the large number of residents from around the Parish who attended were left with very few answers to the questions put to Council officials. Requests for what seemed a logical Question and Answer session had been rejected in advance and a last-minute plea on the night for a Q and A session was turned even though a microphone was available. Residents variously described the meeting as "a waste of time" and a "pointless exercise". With regard to the proposed developments at Tipps Cross, many people got the feeling that the Council did not know that the recreation field is a vitally important and well-used asset that contributes significantly to the viability and continuing success of the Remembrance Hall. We got the impression that the Council thought the field was overgrown and never used - even though the field has served the local residents well for more than 100 years! Nothing could be further from the truth as the field is used regularly by the Tipps Cross Croquet Club who have been playing socially and competitively for 22 years at this venue. The field also features a basketball net and the field also used by a cycling club, Stondon Massey Pre-School, dog walkers and young people playing football. The field also plays host to a Dog Show and family activities and is used by the Papworth Trust, a charity for disabled young people. Brentwood Council has even booked the field for a Family Fun Day in August. The field is a vital selling point when Tipps Cross Hall is hired for weddings, anniversaries, children's birthday parties and other activities. If these properties are built why would people hire a hall with a brick wall just a few feet away from the back door? The loss of the field would have serious repercussions for a hall that us used seven days a week for well-run and well-attended community activities. With regards to the 96 houses proposed in two areas of the village of Blackmore, this seems a very high number of dwellings for such a small community and would, in our opinion, have a potentially disastrous effect on the balance of village life for its residents. We all accept that new properties, especially smaller and affordable houses and NOT 4-5 bedroom houses favoured by money-making developers, need to be built but to impose an increase of housing in the heart of Blackmore of almost 30 per cent is totally disproportionate. Yes, we need more housing but not such a large development for such a small community! Once again this proposed development seems to have been led by housing developers who have had their eyes on these sites for many years. It also again begs the question: "Why has Doddinghurst and Stondon Massey been left out of the housing equation?". You will receive many objections saying that there are not enough places in Blackmore School, the local doctors' surgery is totally full and patients wait weeks for an appointment, the public transport links are dismal and continually under threat and you even admit in your LDP that the local waste treatment centre are already running at "full capacity". Based on these facts can you seriously believe that Blackmore is the right place to impose an increase in population of nearly 30 per cent? Based on these facts can you seriously believe that Blackmore is the right place to impose an increase in population of nearly 30 per cent? Therefore, while readily accepting the need for an increased in housing, we feel that the two sites you have chosen in Tipps Cross are totally unacceptable and the number of properties planned for Blackmore need to be reduced considerably.