Comment

Representation ID: 15921

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

SO12 states that BBC will "improve public transport, cycling and walking facilities and encourage sustainable transport choices". This will be absolutely essential for West Horndon village should sites 020 and 021 be developed, however no details regarding delivery are included in the Draft Local Plan. It is unclear how this goal would be enforced on to any development within the village.

Comment

Representation ID: 15922

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

Policy 6.5 of the Draft Local Plan states that "Locations around rail stations should contribute to these aims through the delivery of higher density development to meet local needs in central sustainable locations". As noted above, the proposal for 500 houses near to West Horndon Station on sites 020 and 021 would close to double the size of the village. Any development needs to include a range of property types to create a sustainable and balanced community. It is also noted that at present, West Horndon village has a specific character which will need to be protected. Densities and styles will need to reflect and complement the existing village, to create a seamless transition between the "new" development and the "old" village.

Comment

Representation ID: 15923

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

SO11 states that BBC will "protect and nurture existing leisure, cultural and recreational assets such as the Borough's Country Parks for residents and visitors to the Borough and promote and enhance social inclusion, health and wellbeing". Thorndon Country Park is mentioned extensively throughout the Draft Local Plan as both a leisure and environmental area that it wishes to protect and enhance. WHPC share this view. Should development east of the A128 take place, be it in the form of the proposed Dunton Hills Garden Village, or an alternative development, WHPC recommend that an environmental buffer is created between the A128, any new development, reaching up to Thorndon Country Park. This would have the dual benefit of i) preventing urban sprawl which would be inevitable should no buffer be created given proximity of West Horndon to the A128, and ii) improving an existing leisure and environmental resource.

Object

Representation ID: 15924

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

WHPC note significant concern however that the Green Belt boundaries are not currently defined. The Draft Plan is considered too vague, and given the importance within BBC's proposed Spatial Strategy, greater detail of boundaries of any development east of the A128 is required for any final Local Plan.

Object

Representation ID: 15925

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

The south of the Borough is bounded by neighbouring authorities Thurrock, Havering and Basildon. Whilst WHPC agree that it is bounded by the A127 and railway line, in reality it would be easy for all neighbouring authorities to develop up to their borders, creating massive urban sprawl from London to Basildon. Indeed, the Basildon Dunton Extension plans in their emerging LDP already point to this. As such, WHPC reject the notion stated throughout the Draft Local Plan that current "defensible boundaries" would prevent this.

Support

Representation ID: 15926

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

5.32 of the Draft Local Plan states that "it will be important to retain the settlement (West Horndon) as a village and not over-develop in order to be consistent with the proposed spatial strategy. This is a statement WHPC fully agrees with

Comment

Representation ID: 15927

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

As a general representation, WHPC state that even if sites 020 and 021 are developed in line with the Draft Local Plan (500 houses), material infrastructure would be required to ensure that this development is considered sustainable. With the village close to doubling in size, further health and education facilities would be required.

Comment

Representation ID: 15928

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

A re-think of current transport would be essential. The existing C2C trains are well above capacity at peak times, and roads around the village (A127, A128) are characterised by standstills and queues in both the morning and evening peaks. An additional 500 cars (assuming just 1 per property) would have a very material impact on already severely congested roads. This comment does not consider the proposed development at Dunton Hills Garden Village which would clearly have an even greater impact on the local infrastructure network.

Object

Representation ID: 15929

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

5.20 of the Draft Local Plan states that "Significant improvements to infrastructure and services will be required to support growth within the A127 Corridor". SO13 states that BBC will "secure the delivery of essential infrastructure, including transportation schemes and community facilities in order to support new development growth throughout its delivery". However
WHPC note that there is no detail as to what this would entail, how it would be paid for and how it would be delivered. Given the high concentration of proposed development, this is an area which requires far greater
evidence than that provided.

Comment

Representation ID: 15930

Received: 12/05/2016

Respondent: West Horndon Parish Council

Policy 6.3c states that "Proposals for development will be expected to meet all of the following criteria - ensure the transport network can satisfactorily accommodate the travel demand generated and traffic generation would not give rise to adverse highway conditions or highway safety concerns or unacceptable loss of amenity by reason of number of size of vehicles". The size and scale of development proposed for the A127 corridor at present, would not be supported by existing infrastructure in particular, transport infrastructure. The A127 is already severely congested, as is the A128 at rush hour. Additionally, any development east of the A128 would not be readily served by a train station and indeed, the C2C trains at West Horndon are already above capacity. All in local transport south of the Borough is severely strained, and whilst investment may help alleviate some of this problem it is hard to see how i) the train capacity could be upgraded sufficiently noting wider development along this line, and ii) the A128 could be expanded to support intra-Borough car journeys. We also re-iterate that Highways England and Essex County Council have not supported an A127 widening scheme in relation to development alone.