Local Conservative MP for Rayleigh & Wickford, Mark Francois, has published his response to the ‘issues & options’ consultation.
He writes
Critically, I believe that we should not countenance any major development in the district without the necessary infrastructure improvements being guaranteed to go with them
He then goes on to say
In addition, experience shows that house builders who develop in the district tend to do so at a considerable profit and it has often been difficult and consuming process to persuade them to make adequate contributions in terms of Section 106 agreements and such like to the local community, in return for permission to build.
And finally, probably the most interesting idea in his objection he writes that on the basis of several resident associations that he’s been in contact with…
…..most of the new development in the district should be based around a new “garden village” somewhere to the eastern end of the district, thus concentrating most of the new house building in one area, where it might be easier to provide local, infrastructure improvements on the scale necessary. I remain open minded about this idea but think that it may yet merit further examination.
Here at onlineFOCUS we’ve heard talk of resident groups discussing the idea of garden villages before, we remain reserved on this idea as this could be a double-edged sword if not designed and thought out properly.
What do you think about the concept of a garden village in the East of the District? We’d be happy to hear your comments below.