The land proposal involves building a million square feet of buildings mostly on Green Belt Land. It also involves increasing flights from the Airport which will increase carbon dioxide emissions. If the airport does not expand those emissions will not take place. It is an absolute nonsense to waste reams of paper and time not to mention resources discussing putting in cycle paths if any possible benefit is totally eclipsed by new aircraft movements and increased pollution from grid locked vehicles on our local roads.
The consultation fails totally to deal with the increased road traffic which will be generated not only by some two million extra passengers but also by the extra freight movements and vehicle movements involved with the new industrial space. The suggestion that a road will be provided to the A127 is a joke bearing in mind that the road is already at saturation point much for the day and now restricted to a maximum of 50 miles an hour as far as Basildon. There is no commitment to upgrade the A127.
Clearly the other surrounding roads cannot cope and are not capable of handling the increased traffic. Whilst the new train station will go a little way towards accommodating some passenger traffic it will do nothing for freight and only serve a proportion of passenger traffic.
This will increase carbon emissions in two ways firstly from the increase in vehicle movements and secondly from the increase in congestiion which will lead to further emissions from the existing level of traffic. Any suggestion that public transport will cater for the new industrial areas is pie in the sky as at present there are railway stations in the borough without peak bus services. If these are not viable it is certain that ones serving these areas will not be. Cycling as a solution is a red herring as it only applies applies to a very limited number of people in good weather. In addition were it to be used more widely the effects on traffic congestion on the main roads would be counter productive as cycles slow down and impede vehicle traffic. One cannot do a major shop on bicycle nor take the children to school or comfortably undertake most journeys. In fact there now seems to be a trend towards increased road journeys. In fact there now seems to be a trend towards increased road journeys to access attractive areas in which to cycle!