brentwood.gov.uk

I have tired to complete the consultation questionnaire via your website, however, I could not find the on-line word format only the PDF version. As you know you cannot overtype on PDF. I contacted your Planning Office and the person I spoke to could not find the on-line Word format either! She suggested I email you and assured me my comments would be taken into consideration and reported in the same way as submitting my response via your website.

I would be grateful therefore if you could acknowledge receipt of this email and confirm my concerns will be relayed in an appropriate manner.

I viewed a property in October 2014 and consequently moved to Peartree Lane in January 2014. Our Solicitors searches showed no suggestion of any plans for development for an additional 50 dwellings at the end of Peartree Lane, and obviously had we have known this we would have had to re-think our plans to move the area.

My concerns are as follows:-

Consideration of this site seems premature with a lack of a Green Belt review, as other more suitable land could be available elsewhere within Brentwood that could be taken out of the Green Belt to deliver the housing required.

There is no secondary school provision within the village, many local secondary schools are reaching capacity. An additional 50 family homes will place added pressure on the local secondary school, which is primarily accessed by car, and potentially displace other village needs.

Buses are not as readily available as the consultation document suggests. The only service is the No. 261 which runs every hour mon-fri with no service before 6.45am or after 6.15pm, with the latest bus back to the village being 6.35pm from Brentwood Railway station. On a Saturday it is worse with no bus prior to 8am or after 5.15pm and the last bus back in the evening is 5.30pm. There is no service on Sundays or public/bank holidays. Thus providing poor connectivity to Brentwood for employment purposes, looking at the times of travel available and normal working hours. This constrains a shift worker, or someone working on a Saturday/Sunday in Brentwood and certainly hinders the night time economy within Brentwood from these outlying settlements. The nature and timings of this service do not promote sustainable development or enable this site to be categorised as sustainable in the terms set out within the NPPF 'golden thread' of social, economic and environmental, in fact this site runs contrary to the three sustainability objectives.

Does the junior school have provisions for the impact of the growth of 50 family homes?

The consideration of site allocations within the Green Belt seems premature prior to a comprehensive Green Belt review being undertaken to identify land within the Green Belt that's loss would have a lesser impact on the wider function of the Metropolitan Green Belt.

The National Policy Framework (para 83) stipulates that the Green Belt boundaries, once established should only be altered in exceptional circumstances, this section of the NPPF goes on to look at the nature of a review of the Green Belt and ensure that when reviewing the Green Belt that it should not need to be further reviewed following the Development Plan period. Whilst accepting that Brentwood needs to deliver a large amount of new houses and that this cannot be accommodated on Previously Developed Land in its entirety, it is considered that the proposition of such Green Belts for residential development is premature.

There is strong support, as can be seen from the Issues and Options Consultation Analysis 2010, for the retention and protection of the Green Belt from the local community. If the Green Belt is to be altered, it should be approached holistically, via a comprehensive review that assesses the quality and quantity of the Green Belt available and only once this is undertaken can a realistic assessment of available sites for residential development then be undertaken.

The village is modest in size, who's character is a compromise between residential development and pockets of green space giving a rural feel to the area. The loss of this section of Green Belt to development would fundamentally change the character of this part of Doddinghurst to its detriment resulting in an ad hoc play space and residential development hiding the wider countryside from the established community, to its detriment.

In conclusion, it is considered that Brentwood have failed to look holistically at this matter to ensure that the sites identified are in fact deliverable and sustainable and will pass the tests set by Inspector's as part of the Examination in Public of any proposed Local Development Framework. This is endorsed by representations made by Thurrock Council, who also emphasise the need for a Green Belt Review to take place.

It is noted that a proportion of the evidence base has not been made available as part of this consultation exercise, therefore the consultation is considered to be flawed.