Object
Brentwood Local Plan 2016 - 2033 (Pre-Submission, Regulation 19)
Representation ID: 22388
Received: 18/03/2019
Respondent: Dr Philip Gibbs
Legally compliant? Yes
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? No
Dunton Hills Garden Village will destroy an important section of green belt which is preventing the eventual coalescence of East London with Basildon and beyond.
Remove Dunton Hills Garden Village from Local Plan
Risk of Coalescence
A five mile stretch of green belt along the A127 separates Upminster and Cranham to the West from Laindon and Basildon to the East. The Eastern urban area is connected to the larger conurbation of London, while Basildon is separated from urban areas further West by only a small and threatened section of green belt. The preservation of these five miles of green belt is therefore crucial to prevent the eventual coalescence of Greater London with the joined up towns out as far as Southend and Shoeburyness
Five miles may seem enough of a gap, but much of it is already under threat. The village of West Horndon is in the middle and is subject to extra development in the Local Plan. The area between the M25 and West Horndon already has some enterprise developments. The Brentwood Enterprise Park planned near the M25/A127 junction seems to have already materialised on both sides of the A127 despite the Local Plan not being approved and no planning application having been submitted. This can easily be seen by looking at the latest aerial views on Google maps.
To the south of the c2c railway line, Thurrock Council is considering options that include reviving plans for a large new settlement around Tillingham Hall which would join onto the South of West Horndon and could stretch East towards Basildon.
The area of green belt at Dunton Hills is the most robust part of the entire stretch of green belt consisting of a farm and a well-used golf course. This area should therefore be conserved as a green belt buffer to prevent the eventual continuation of London in one long urban development out to the West Coast. Brentwood Council's decision to develop the area of Dunton Hills with a new garden village is therefore completely unacceptable. It is against national policy for the protection of green belt in an area that is serving the purposes of the green belt in its most important form.
The policy to build Dunton Hills Garden Village should never have been backed by the government and must be abandoned by Brentwood Council because it is contrary to national policy for these reasons.
In addition the garden village has not met the requirements for Duty to Cooperate with Basildon and Thurrock who both objected to the scheme.