Objection to Rochford Core Strategy, 175 houses in Hawkwell is UNSOUND

I would refer to the above proposal and would like to register my objections to same.

The proposal in the Rochford Core Strategy for this many houses in the Ward of Hawkwell West is UNSOUND because the vital requirements of PPS12 are not met in terms of sustainability and, therefore, the location of Hawkwell West (South Hawkwell) should be removed by The Inspector and the allocation moved to a sustainable location. In summary, the reasons that development in this location is unsustainable under PPS12 are as follows:

Travel

- limited public transport
- increased car use causing heavy congestion
- inability to improve highways
- distance from shops
- distance from rail stations

I would expand upon these points in the order that they are written:

As you are well aware, Arriva in their infinite wisdom, decided to cut the No 8 bus service to one an hour albeit with it now continuing on to Rayleigh. The last weekday bus in the direction of Southend is 18:17 with the last weekday bus to Rayleigh being 18:48. Clearly there is not a regular enough service for existing usage so any additional housing will only serve to exacerbate the situation. Furthermore, the first bus after 09:00 is often full due to it being the first bus of the day that can be used by those availing themselves of the free bus pass scheme. Again, any additional housing will only serve to exacerbate the problem.



I would suggest that increased car use is, although not exclusively, directly related to the above bus situation. There is already heavy congestion at both ends of Rectory Road at peak times and any additional housing can only make matters worse. It is also important to note that the small row of shops in Main Road incorporating the Co-op is already often overcrowded resulting in vehicles blocking the traffic flow on the main road due to people queuing to gain access to the relatively small car park. This is further evidenced by people parking in the adjacent bus stop which has recently been the subject of parking tickets being issued by the Council. Further vehicular traffic will only magnify the existing problem.

I believe the question of an inability to improve highways has already been properly dealt with by Councillor John Mason, amongst others.

The distance from the shops is self - evident.

The distance from rail stations is self-evident.

Environment

- semi rural location unsuitable for large development
- complete loss of character
- loss of green belt
- loss of wildlife
- No social, economic or environment benefits whatsoever

In addition, the Core Strategy is unsound because it does not fulfill the principles that are expressly stated in the Core Strategy as it relates to the proposal for Hawkwell. Please see the following:

The Core Strategy talks about protecting the character of existing settlements and specifically 'seeks to take advantage of development opportunities that will provide social, economical and environmental benefits'. No such benefits would apply to this location and development would be materially detrimental to the character of the existing settlement in Hawkwell West. It also states 'there is a limit to how much infilling and intensification existing settlements can sustain without their character being adversely affected'. This limit has already been exceeded in Hawkwell West.

The Core Strategy says 'locate development in areas where alternatives to car use is more viable', 'reduce the requirement to travel', and accompany any development with requisite highway infrastructure to 'mitigate their impact on the existing network'. It is not possible to do this in Hawkwell West as there is no space for development of local roads, especially in Rectory Road and any development here would increase the requirement to travel, especially by car. Moving on to Public Transport, the Core Strategy states that 'planning should be well related to existing public transport where possible'. There is just one bus to and from Southend/Rayleigh per hour with no prospect of Arriva providing an appropriate service in the long term (some of these points I have dealt with above under the 'Travel' heading).

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