Objection to Rochford Core Strategy - 175 houses in Hawkwell is Unsound

The proposed building of 175 houses in Hawkwell as included in the Rochford Core Strategy, is we believe unsound, because the key requirements of PPS12 cannot be met in terms of sustainability, and we therefore request that the location, Hawkwell, be removed by the Inspector and the allocation be moved to a sustainable location such as the old Brickworks in Cherry Orchard Lane, which even has the access road already in place, is brown land rather than green belt and would not cause many of the problems we have highlighted below.

We believe that the development of Hawkwell is unsustainable for a number of reasons, including (but not exclusively);

The increased car use causing even more congestion (it already takes up to five minutes to get out of Thorpe Road at peak times at peak times and then only when somebody 'lets you out'.

The inability to improve the highway as it is built up on either side.

The lack of sufficient doctors or dentists to support the existing population let alone an increase.

The lack of additional school place and the fact that these schools are land locked so cannot expand.

In addition there are environmental issues, including;

Hawkwell is a semi rural environment and as such is unsuitable for development.

Such a large development would ruin the character of this village. The development would encroach on much needed green belt, when there are brown sites nearby that would actually benefit from development. We currently enjoy the benefit of a varied wildlife and they have a superb environment in which to thrive, exactly where it is proposed to create this development. Once the wildlife has been removed/killed it is gone for ever and our children will be the worse for not having the experience we can enjoy on a daily basis.

We are afraid that we can see no social economic or environmental benefits whatsoever. Apart from the points raised above, we will see more teenagers loitering in Clements Hall Park as they have nothing else to do.

In addition, the Core Strategy is unsound because it does not fulfil the principals that are expressly stated in that Core Strategy as it relates to Hawkwell as follows;

The Core Strategy discusses the protection of the character of existing settlements and specifically 'seeks to take advantage of development that will provide social, economic and environmental benefits'. No such benefits would apply to this location and such development would be materially detrimental to the existing settlement in Hawkwell.

The Core strategy also seeks 'to mitigate the impact on the existing network'. It is our belief as shown above that the network is already stretched too far. As a simple test, I would ask you to travel by car from Thorpe or Rectory Road and Rayleigh between 8.20 and 9.00am or to do the reverse journey at any time after 4.00pm, when you will queue from just past Hambro Hill until you turn left into Thorpe or Rectory Road. With 175 extra houses and 300 extra cars, we could find ourselves with the hair that breaks the Camel's back. For those travelling by public transport, the experience is made worse by the fact that there is only one bus per hour.

Finally, such a large scale development would lead to an unwelcome strip coalescence of built settlements which as you are aware, is not in line with Council Policy.

Would you please acknowledge receipt of this letter.