The District Council website now has the complete agenda for next week’s meeting of the Local Development Framework sub-committee. You can find it on this page here..
This sub-committee is looking at the future housing figures for our district. The key housing figures are as below:
Up to 2015 / 2015-2021
Rayleigh – North of London Road 450 / 200
Rayleigh ? South West 100 / 0
Rochford ? West 300 / 100
Hockley ? West 50 / 0
Hawkwell ? South 100 / 100
Ashingdon ? North East 120 / 0
Ashingdon ? South East 120 / 0
Hullbridge ? South West 0 / 450
Great Wakering ? South West 100 / 100
Great Wakering ? West 50 / 100
Canewdon ? South 60 / 0
Total 1450 / 1050
2021-2025
Rochford ? West 150
Hawkwell ? South 130
Ashingdon ? South East 380
Hullbridge ? South West 90
Great Wakering ? South West 160
Canewdon ? South 90
Total 1000
Some thoughts:
To get the full picture, you need to download the full document (35k). For example, these figures do not include ‘infilling’ of existing urban areas.
These figures are a darn sight fairer than the original figures that had 1800 for Rayleigh.
There’s a long way to go yet. We’ve seen in the past how schemes can change wildly from the original idea. (for example at the Park School site – original idea was for education and recreation only.) We have to make sure that every area gets the infrastructure and amenities it needs.
We will have lots of questions to ask. For example, exactly where is “Rayleigh North Of London Road”? The Lib Dem group of councillors will be considering this document very carefully before we decide whether to support it or not.
Even so, this is a step forward. It’s a success for the residents who opposed the 1800 figure last year, and for the councillors – nearly all Lib Dems – who spoke out.
Some days as a councillor you feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall. This isn’t one of them.
Next week’s meeting is open to the public, please come along.
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Does the reference to Hawkwell – South mean the District Council Ward area of Hawkwell South ?
From what I have heard already some residents in Hawkwell are assuming that this is the case and because Hawkwell West is not mentioned that there is no proposal for that area.
I forsee many residents feeling that they have been misled if this is repeated in the forthcoming public consultation on the Core Strategy.
I concur with your question “exactly where is “Rayleigh North Of London Road?”
John – the short answer is “I don’t know”.
I did ask Shaun Scrutton by email this afternoon by email and, having received no reply, I thought that I would pop the question on here in case one of you might have an idea and support your similar question too. Chris, I am not surprised to hear your answer “I don’t know”. Neither would it seem does Rochford District Council. From what I had gleaned talking to an employee of the Council several weeks ago, I don’t think that they really want us to know more than a general locality as it was put to me that the descriptions would be styled “west of x village”. So I suspect that “Rayleigh North Of London Road” is the best you can expect. But Hawkwell South is somewhere that is already specifically defined as a District Ward. I have seen an email from a resident who already concludes that there is no allocation for Hawkwell West (or even Hawkwell-West) and the campaign there could be stood down!! I fear that the misuse of Hawkwell-South is an serious error by the Council which has misled residents. If the campaign being run by The Hawkwell Action Group were to be stood down on the strength of this report then I suspect that there might be some very angry residents when the houses get built where they did not expect.
Seems Rawreth has no allocation !! or we have not been recognised as seperate from Rayleigh Then off cause we have been here before at a west area meeting when asked a direct question.Like John’s comments we are likely to be misled by this report.We are happy to accept our fair share of developement which by my reckoning is about an 10% increase in households. What we may not be so happy about is some of Rayleigh’s allocation under the the guise of of a non-existing Rawreth !
Rawreth is the gateway to The whole of Rochford District and that should not be overlooked .It is green wedge between the sprawl of Basildon District and the 90% green of Rochford soon to become 80% the way things move on .
According to a news article I read on the internet this morning, it seems that unless something radical is done, this figures will not be met by the 2020 deadline, in fact they won’t be met until 2029. You can read the article here….
http://news.aol.co.uk/house-building-target-in-doubt/article/2008091902465892352926
Does this article answer some of the questions?
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/3688613.New_country_park_for_Rayleigh/
It includes the following;
‘The latest proposals to find a total of 2,500 new homes by 2021 will be discussed at a meeting on Tuesday, and would mean the largest number of new houses being built north of London Road, Rayleigh, near Rawreth Lane.
But Keith Hudson, councillor responsible for planning, said: “We would ensure there was a condition the rest of the land south of the London Road and up to the old A130 becomes parkland so it can never be built on. ‘
Does land North of London Road, Rayleigh sound better than land off Rawreth Lane?
Hi Ian
I telephoned Essex County Council on Friday and had two really interesting conversations with officers responsible for strategic planning. I was told that they had been asked by Rochford District Council to assess for 1500 houses in West Rayleigh but the problem was getting a new road connection to the A127. The problem was the siting of the sub station, where moving just one pylon would cost a million, and the proximity of the railway line. So that is, very basically, why Rayleigh is planned for less. Because ECC cannot not see any future resolution of these issues it is easy to say that there will be no more houses here and a new country park is a fine option. It can’t be built on!! I hope that helps explain the article in the Echo on Friday about a new country park for Rayleigh.
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/3688613.New_country_park_for_Rayleigh/
So it was not so much that the public and political campaign was successful…………..it is more that it just could not be done !!
If it could then I will leave you to fill in the gaps. Regards, John
John, I think you will find the problem with the County Council referred to a particular location, the “South-West Rayleigh” allocation.
The “public and political campaign” , as you put it, still IS necessary. Only a small part of Rayleigh and Rawreth is close to the railway line.
This is NOT the time for people concerned on this issue to sit back and realax.