I am responding to your letter posted through my door in December with regards to opinions on how I see our surrounding area by 2037.
I have been a resident in Hullbridge since 1962 albeit I was 18months old when my parents moved from London to Essex.When we moved here my father was one of a handfull of residents privaliged with owning a car,in the whole of Abbey road I think no more than 10 cars were owned each one being kept on the driveway, 18 years later when my brother passed his test and got a car as well the local policeman would knock if he dared to park it outside the house as we lived opposite a turning and was deemed an obstruction !!25 years on Abbey road is inpassable to traffic god forbid a fire engine needs to get throughas each houshold seems to have 2 or more vehicles so many are parked on the road.
As the years have progressed so has the volume of traffic but Rochford council has done nothing to keep up with the situationhe roads in the area are the same as they were 55 years ago!! As a child I played down watery lane seeing only the occasional farm vehicle now it has heavy volumes of traffic all the time however the road has not changed and is still narrow and still lives up to its name constantly being flooded.
The lower road again from Hullbridge is a country road and the slightest drizzly day sees it flooding especially the water instead of draining on fields runs straight onto the road like a lake.
My concerns continue now the land at the side of Hullbridge (malyons lane) is now to be developed into 500 homes that field will be concreted where will the excess water go and where will the extra volume of cars go as the roads if you can call them that cannot cope now.If watery lane is closed during rush hour it can take upto 1hour to travel down rawreth lane to Hullbridge a distance of less than 3 miles.
I have seen many changes over the years and appreciate the need for extra housing but feel that Rochford council have sat blinkered for far too long and have not seen life from the general residents of the area,the southest of Essex has become a carpark with any journey a challenge god forbid a broken down vehicle or accident as you leave to do any journey as it can add hours to your arrival at your destination.
The area is already 20 years behind in its planning of invastructure so I do not know how it will catch up by 2037, I take comfort that I may no longer be around by then to see the increasing chaos, Rochford council needs to serriously get some money spent in the area to bring it in line with the 20th century and of course maybe listen to its tax paying residents.