brentwood.gov.uk

We have noted the Brentwood Local Development plan for 2015-2030 and that there is a recommendation for new housing in Outings Lane on the combined site of the former Doctors Surgery and The Landings.

Unfortunately we are unable to attend the local meeting in Doddinghurst on Thursday September 5th due to a planned vacation. If there are capabilities to join the meeting via audio or Skype then we would be happy to participate.

Nevertheless we have comments on the proposals as follows:
The former doctors surgery has now been demolished and we understand that the sale of The Landings has been agreed with a single owner securing title for the strip of green belt land next to Barfield Farm, the former doctors surgery as well as The Landings. Figure 1 shows the current plot in question outlined in red. Figure 2 shows the current demolished state of the former doctors surgery. Figures 3 and 4 are from the Brentwood Local Development Plan which suggests 11 dwellings for the site of the former surgery and The Landings which occupies 0.27 hectares. We understand from Figure 3 that Brentwood Council is not including the strip of green belt in the current planning proposal.

We have absolutely no objection to redevelopment of the site; clearly it would be beneficial to do so. To construct residential homes on the site is also a sensible solution. Our concern however is on the number of dwellings proposed, what type of dwellings are proposed and especially for the provision of sufficient parking for those homes. In December 2012, outline planning approval for two detached homes on the site of the former surgery was approved (Fig 5). This is the type of construction that is sensible for the area and we would be delighted to support.

Outings Lane consists of relatively large individual detached residential properties. It would be inkeeping with the surrounding properties in Outings Lane to construct similar types of large detached properties. With this in mind, then a proposed construction of 11 properties becomes infeasible and a concern because of the quantity of available land. Being open, honest and quite selfish for a minute we confess we are keen to encourage that redevelopment of the site does not risk devaluing the properties in Outings Lane including our own. Figures 6 shows a mock up indicating that 8 homes could be built on the site but would have limited garden and parking facilities.

When the doctors surgery was in operation, there was always a problem with increased traffic and parking in Outings Lane due to the number of people visiting the surgery exceeding the available parking. This led to parking down Outings Lane which occasionally made it difficult to get onto our drive if vehicles had been parked poorly. Unless sufficient provision is made for parking within the new developed site then we are faced with the prospect of returning to those days which we are keen to avoid. To address the parking issue please can homes be built assuming accommodation and allocation of a minimum of two vehicles per property with the parking space/ garage sufficiently large to accommodate modern sized vehicles and thus avoid the parking situation at Widbrook, which is at the bottom of Outings Lane where vehicles are parked on the pavement to ensure the road is not obstructed (see figure8 9 and 10).

In summary we have no objection to redevelopment of the former doctors surgery site. Our recommendation and preference would be to construct a small number of similar sized homes to the existing detached family homes at the top end of Outings Lane which are inkeeping with the surrounding propreties. We recommend that each is constructed with a garage and off street parking for a minimum of two modern sized vehicles per property.