brentwood.gov.uk

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write to provide my opinion on the recently updated Local Development Plan which has been published.

I am a resident of West Horndon which is part of the major redevelopment you would like to carry out in the South of the Borough. As I mentioned in my previous response in August 2013 there is no sign of any joined up thinking or obvious forethought in your redevelopment proposals. The plan to initiate Dunton Garden Village as the major residential housing problem solution is obviously a poorly thought out attempt to shove the problem as far away from Brentwood as possible. As you must surely be aware the A128 and A127 are already extremely congested and at the limit of sustainability. There are no plans to improve the A128 despite advanced plans for a second Thames Crossing which can only worsen the situation. Placing a small town of 500 plus houses directly on these roads is a disastrous idea, especially with all the road improvements taking place on the A12 corridor. Where is the joined up thinking in our Borough Council Planning Department? The same again with railway connectivity. The West Horndon to Fenchurch Street line is already at capacity with no scheduled improvements planned in the near future. However, at Shenfield there will be the Elizabeth Line connection and major developments planned but obviously only for the elite selected few. The big housing area is at the wrong side of Brentwood obviously!! There is an obvious error here isn't there? To put all this housing stock so far away and joined to this major transport hub by the already congested A128 road is frankly very poor planning. The improved transport will only benefit Shenfield and local areas nearby.

Bus transport in West Horndon is already poor service and the village children now have to be funded by parents to get to school... This is a very poor state of affairs which will be made worse by the 300 extra houses planned for this village. To live in West Horndon you must have a car but the already badly congested A127 and A128 make travel anywhere difficult and the Dunton Village proposal will make this situation far worse. This is an appalling transport strategy.

As you should be very aware West Horndon and Dunton are adjacent to Basildon and Thurrock Boroughs. Both Boroughs are also considering the Dunton area for their own housing expansion needs so Dunton Village could end up as Dunton Town. Both councils have stated that there has been very limited consultation about perceived infrastructure or transport planning and do not seem to be very much in favour of Brentwood Borough future local development proposals. This is at odds with the statement in your LDP about local joint consultations with neighbouring boroughs. Again, this is symptomatic of a lack of joined up thinking in the planning process.

No surveys or work have been carried out prior to the issue of the LDP with reference to the flooding. West Horndon and Dunton are in a geographical dip between higher ground in all directions. In the past we have experienced several floods including my own property. It is not sensible to put all this additional housing in flood prone areas and to consider doing this without even basic land surveys is poor practise to say the very least.

In your proposal you mention people altering the gardens to accommodate off-road parking is hazardous because of rainwater re-direction but you have no future plans to even begin investigation into building a substantial number of houses on a flood plain risk area! Again poor planning.

In previous neighbourhood consultations Brentwood residents have stated their priorities which were:-
a) protection of the green belt
b) protection of local character
c) Re-use of existing buildings in Brentwood Town Hutton and Pilgrims Hatch

It seems that the residents views only matter if they comply with the councils wishes but can be ignored if they do not.

The Local Development plan rides rough-shod over residents views as you plan to build a small town in the GreenBelt, because it is far away from Brentwood Town and is much easier than re-using brownfield sites throughout the borough which residents want done and specifically requested their feedback to the council. This plan will also change the local character as it will put a small town in Dunton and change West Horndon from a small village into a small town used as a stopping off point for the Dunton Town residents. This is a major hypocrisy to the espoused Borough statement of a Borough of Villages. Obviously this does not apply South of Brentwood Town.

The Green Belt around West Horndon and Dunton is meant to prevent the urban sprawl of London creeping along the A127 and A13 corridors. This is the most important part of the green belt in the whole country due to the extreme pressure on housing needs in the South East of England. To state that the Green Belt area around the A12/Shenfield area is somehow more important or of greater character is risible and frankly insults the intelligence. The A12 improvements have already affected that part of the Green Belt whereas the area around West Horndon is so far unaffected but will be completely ripped apart by this local plan. This was the major point mentioned in residents feedback to the Council and should be the number one priority. It is the councils job as elected officials to carry out the wishes of residents not to completely ignore them when it does not fit into the Councils plans. Infringement of the Green Belt should be the very last option not the easy get out!

What happened to the original spatial Option One for centralised growth in and around Brentwood Town Centre with re-use of Brownfield sites and expansion of the Town?

What happened to spatial Option Two for a transport corridor led growth along the A12 and A128 area of the Borough?

Were they just planning pie in the sky and a bit too difficult to carry out with a much easier option being to move the problem somewhere else a bit farther away?

This Local Development Plan represents a poorly thought out strategy reflecting a lack of joined up thinking. It bears no consideration of residents wishes but shows a desire to move the problems elsewhere. There is a distinct lack of consideration for the ideals of Village Life.

There has been little consideration given to the effects on neighbouring Boroughs or residents of areas affected by the poorly thought out proposals.

Over the whole consultation period scant regard has been paid to residents feedback because it does not fit in with the Council Planning Departments way of thinking.

All in all a very poor plan which we, the Borough residents do not want.

Regards

Typed by Joanne Craske
Dictated by Kevin Craske.