February 2022 Update
It had been quiet for months, if not years, but over the last 3 months or so (November 2021 until now), details have been emerging of a number of modifications the council wants to make to the Local Plan that they approved and submitted to the Planning Inspector back in March 2019. Some of the modifications can be traced back to 2019 but some are much more recent. In some instances the modifications come about through developers seeking clarification. We have yet to find any that are the result of resident engagement!
The Inspector is allowing Basildon council to put forward these modifications but they must be subject to public consultation if the council wants them to be included in any final Local Plan once the he (it’s a Mr. Griffiths) has concluded his examination process later this year.
The modifications are more than mere tweaks, in parts they materially change or add new elements to the version of the plan from 2019. There is a mass of new evidence to support the modifications, plus additional evidence to further underpin the original 2019 plan. It could be argued that much is a complete rewrite.
The modifications are more than mere tweaks, in parts they materially change or add new elements to the version of the plan from 2019. There is a mass of new evidence to support the modifications, plus additional evidence to further underpin the original 2019 plan. It could be argued that much is a complete rewrite.
From a Billericay perspective the 2,700 houses across 9 major estates and the south west link road (previously a relief road) are unchanged. The 150 hectares of Green Belt release required to support that development is unchanged. Those elements remain in the core submitted Local Plan, and our core long-held argument remains that the scale of housing is not sustainable and the resulting ecological damage is unnecessary and unjustified, and does little to address the real local housing need.
But that bad plan is now made worse by these proposed modifications or addition evidence;
But that bad plan is now made worse by these proposed modifications or addition evidence;
- The link road will need land and one whole property to be acquired by compulsory purchase on Frithwood Lane. 14 properties are affected. See map below showing the land in pink to be acquired.
- The link road appears to be of sub-optimal design due to a lack of space on Frithwood Lane but details are sketchy and the Essex Highways evidence unconvincing.
- The long expected extension to the Mill Meadows Nature Reserve has been removed potentially leaving the meadows an island within development with no external wildlife corridor.
- The location of the new early years & primary school in the south west is now very loosely defined leaving it open to developers to decide where it’s built.
- The 4 sites along the link road can now come forward is phases suggesting that complete road may not be ‘infrastructure first’ as promised.
- The access points to the Potash Road site are now vague other than that they will be from off Potash Road somewhere leaving residents even more unsure of the future.
- Road and junction improvements at Sun Corner, Mountnessing Road & London Road, , Hickstars Lane & Southend Road, and Outwood Common Road & Southend Road have been removed with no published reason. If they were needed to support the Local Plan in 2019, and all the housing developments remain, why are those improvements no longer needed?
Not All Bad?
To be fair, against that long list of negative changes there are two that are positive and are worthy of note. But on balance we seemed to have lost more than we have gained.
- It’s now stated that the developers of the 4 sites in the south west will have to fully fund and deliver the link road. They will also be responsible for making Laindon Road 2-way again, cycle routes and potentially a new bus service in that area.
- There will be improvements on Stock Road at the Queens Park Avenue & Potash Road roundabout which will be needed with 255 houses still proposed off Potash Road.
Not Just Billericay
We have naturally concentrated on the modifications relative to our town but there are a few others elsewhere in the borough to be aware of.
- The Basildon town centre mixed mode retail and residential redevelopment will be included in the Local Plan for the first time. The 4,700 housing units being proposed there will no doubt need high rise tower blocks.
- A major new junction on the A127 near the Dick Turpin pub has been downgraded. Like the junction improvements being removed here, that junction was to support the Local Plan that includes significant housing development south of Wickford, and residential & employment development east of a Basildon. All that development remains but why is there no longer a need for that major new junction.
- 260 houses and a complete Green Belt site have been removed from Nethermayne ward.
- 40 houses have been removed from a Green Belt site in Wickford North ward but the land will be used for public facilities.
- 190 houses have been moved from a Green Belt site in Pitsea South East ward.
What Happens Now?
On the 27 January all the modifications were due to go to a full council vote for approval, together with sending them out to public consultation. That vote was deferred but all the signs are that the same will happen on 10 February.
Let’s see!
Let’s see!
