2.2.1 Comments on Interactive web-based consultation.

Those Hockley residents, like myself, who have no or limited access to a computer, have been excluded from this consultation. Through a proper democratic process we should have been notified of this, the Placecheck Initiative and the Hockley Action Plan through mailshots, not by word of mouth, as has been the case with the latter. I understand that there was a snippet in the latest issue of Rochford Matters, but that has not been delivered to me.

One of the key points highlighted by the members of the Citizen Panel shows that they have not grasped the realities of retail trade in Hockley. The retail shops which don't specialise, such as a clothes shop, tend to do well. The charity shops are one of the few attractions of the village and are always busy - we need more not less!

Two other key points, however, are very relevant to the improvement of Hockley; free parking should be extended to the Library carpark, especially if the health centre is moved there and traffic issues, which engender the most severe problem in Hockley but which have not been dealt with at all in the consultation document, in particular dedicated bus lanes and cycle routes, tracks or paths.