brentwood.gov.uk

London Development Plan 2015 - 2030
Proposed development at West Horndon

I cannot believe that we are sitting here in 2013 discussing a proposal for the building of 1500 new homes in the village, when in 2010 a proposal for a smaller development was rejected. This is a small village which has reached its maximum capacity for additional development. West Horndon has seen flooding only last year as a result of heavy rainfall; a potential development of Green Belt land to the west of Thorndon Avenue will exacerbate this flooding or ship the water to the other areas. I understand that Government policy of maintaining Metropolitan Green Belt land will be breached. Additionally the area in designated by the Environmental Agency as being at risk of flooding; the Government's policy is not to allow building in flood areas, so again guidelines are being ignored. Not to mention the loss of diverse amount of wildlife that I observe in the field to the rear of my property.

Having spoken to the planners I understand that this area was chosen for expansion because of the railway station and the network of trunk roads in the area. With regards to the station it has limited additional capacity and does not link directly with local areas such as Brentwood, it is merely a commuter line into Fenchurch Street Station which is limited to four platforms. I feel insufficient consideration has been given to the accumulative effect of other developments along this route for Fenchurch Street Station to handle this increase of commuters.

The road systems would not be able to able to cope with additional traffic including the small country lanes. A traveler's site is also being proposed for the village this is on top of the fact that West Horndon is being asked to take up to 43% of the development for the Borough which is showing an imbalance in your development plan.

These proposals will overwhelm and destroy our village with potentially just 3 people per household would result in an increase of 4500 people when we currently have less than 1900 people.

Having regard to the above I object most strongly to the proposed development in West Horndon. I believe much greater consideration should be given to relocating your plans to Hutton Industrial Estate, which is a large are already accustomed to the weight of traffic and infrastructure needed to support such a vast building scheme. It is also near a station and has good road networks around it. I believe that much of Hutton Industrial Estate is not in use and in much needed renovation.