The LDF sub-committee meets in Room 4 in the Civic Suite in Rayleigh at 7:30 pm tomorrow night July 1st . (The Civic Suite in Rayleigh is the building opposite the church).
Chris Black is the one non-Conservative on the committee. His main concern tomorrow night will be the proposed building on the farmland between London Road and Rawreth Lane.
Now, the main local issue in the recent County Council elections in Rayleigh was overdevelopment in Rawreth Lane. In fact the Conservative candidate (Stephen Castle) devoted much of his last leaflet to a bitter criticism of the decision to develop the Park School site . Incidentally that decision was voted for by 26 Councillors – including 12 Conservatives 7 Labour, and 6 Lib Dems (though none of those 6 are still in the Lib Dem group now)
If a decision 8 years ago that allowed 140 homes is still a red hot issue even now, it’s clear that a new scheme with 750 houses (200 on the industrial estate and 550 on the farmland) is going to enrage local opinion.
Alternative sites could be used for this housing. If the two leading candidates in the County Council election – Liberal Democrat and Conservative – have publicly opposed building on this farmland, they can’t both be wrong, can they?
The public can come along tomorrow night to listen (but can’t speak.).
We’d be glad to have some local residents there, to keep an eye on what’s going on and give Chris some moral support!
I am beginning to think that some one has a vendetta against Rawreth .There will be little left of our green lung if the 1000 new homes and the new High Tec industrial site which in the future will degenerate into a mix of retail outlets and entertainment establishments .It should be noted also that in the ldf document it says that the traveller pitches should be sited in the west of the district .This is to easy to legitimise the existing site as there are real dangers where it is .We believe there is a case to use the land opposite Michelin farm as it better forfills the criteria .The proposals as a whole have no benefit for our residents or the future new residents .Our alternative ideas did not meet with councillors approval but we hope the inspector will look more favourably on them .