On Thursday night I attended one
of the consultation meetings on The Castle Point Local Plan. In my next post I
will comment on the plan more specifically but I was not over impressed by the
meeting.
Whilst various meetings are being
held across Castle Point this was the only meeting in Hadleigh. Bearing in mind
that possible proposals include the development of part of the Salvation Army farm
it is perhaps not surprising that many residents are concerned. Notwithstanding
the meeting being scheduled in the school summer holidays and not, in my view,
being well advertised, the organisers were clearly caught out by the level of
attendance.
The original venue of Hadleigh
Baptist Church Hall was swiftly abandoned when it became clear that it was too
small and even after a transfer to the church itself there was soon standing
room only.
The Council officer who made the
presentation was very competent however the process included use of a smart
phone to enter feedback which was beyond a significant number of the residents
sitting around me who either did not have a smart phone or couldn’t follow the
process.
Much of the information provided
was inevitably detailed but what was unavoidable was the level of anger felt by
many residents at the amount of redevelopment being proposed due to the
adequacy of our current infrastructure, and the discussion on use of our
precious greenbelt. Having subsequently completed a response to the Issues and
Options document it is not straightforward and the reality is that a substantial
number of residents will feel unable to do so. I hope that the strength of
their feelings is still reflected in the draft Plan.
One attendee asked if our local
councillors were present. This seemed a reasonable question bearing in mind the
importance of the plan and the opportunity to hear the views of residents first
hand. It is also the case that the Peoples Independent Party swept to power on
the basis of their anti-green belt development position, and that as the
presenting officer made clear, the final decisions on the Plan will be made by
elected council members. The response was that the officer thought that they
might be there but if so they were standing outside!
I am not sure if they were
present or not as I don’t know what they look like but if they were there I
fail to see why they did not make themselves known so that residents could be
reassured that they were being heard, and if they were not the question is obviously
why not!
It is also unfortunate that a representative
from Essex Council was not present as they are of course our Highway Authority
and so much of any potential housing development is practically impossible due
to the inadequacy of our road network to cope with current demands. Having said
that with Essex County Council’s wish to put a ridiculous number of new
residential units on the old school playing field site in Scrub Lane perhaps it
was a good thing that they weren’t.
As I have mentioned I will
comment on the plan itself more specifically in my next post.
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