Over 5000 residents have been disregarded if this policy SER1 proceeds. That is a disgrace and totally undemocratic. To further suggest the removal of the 5% cap on allowable development that could lead to a much higher density development being sought by the landowner/developer on this greenfield/greenbelt site, is unacceptable in the extreme. It was adopted under the Core Strategy despite there being grave concerns over conflict of interest issues with a serving Councillor on the original Planning and Transportation Committee when sites were first suggested for development. It also further fails to address the failure of RDC to seek out and utilise greenfield/brownfield sites, in line with the NPPF, before destroying our precious agricultural farmland / greenbelt.

The opportunity for RDC to claim that other sites have failed to materialise, thus requiring this site to have an increase in housing density, is one the local neighbourhood would be very fearful of given the political imbalance currently present on the local RDC. The ability to make political advantage by manipulating the approval process might prove very tempting to some political operators who are not represented in this area of Rayleigh but make decisions that seriously affect the residents that do live here.