Object
New Local Plan: Spatial Options Document 2021
Representation ID: 40059
Received: 04/08/2021
Respondent: Mrs M Endsor
Site No CFS072 – 167 houses proposed (field to the right looking up Cagefield Rd)
Site No CFS073 – 74 houses proposed (field on the left looking up Cagefield Rd)
Site No CFS141 – 231 houses proposed (fields at Stewards Elm Farm)
Site No CFS113 – Mill Lane – 39 houses proposed
Site No CFS114 – Behind the Cherry Tree – 39 houses proposed
In terms of objections to the proposals to build 550 homes in and around the area of Great Stambridge, Rochford…where to begin as there are so many!!
With three generations of my family having lived in Great Stambridge since 1982 (and many others here able to say the same) I can vouch for the fact that this is a very tight knit rural community with strong ties to the surrounding countryside. A countryside that they rely on for work, for equilibrium of the environment and for mental health and that they will defend and protect to their last breath
To quote the Council’s own information –
“The Village of Great Stambridge lies on the north bank of the River Roach. On its northern and western boundary, Little Stambridge. It has numerous creeks and inlets interspersed with saltings and old oyster pits. With its water meadows, landscapes and riverside walks, Stambridge is one of the most picturesque areas of Rochford Hundred – tranquil, and in parts – lonely and desolate, its scenes of natural beauty untouched by time”
This quote speaks for itself and people who live here know well that the village is built almost entirely on a flood plain and therefore building any further dwellings would be the utmost folly and present numerous issues. Should the Council be in any doubt, then a visit to the river bank at high tide or a view of the flood scarring on Google maps should be enough to convince you. If not a conversation with local farmers on the need to dig double ditches at times of inclement weather to cope with the enormity of “run off” from the very fields being proposed for new housing should be in order.
The objection where the natural environment is concerned should therefore also be obvious given the nature of the surrounding countryside. The proposed housing and accompanying population increase, pet predator increase, traffic increase, construction works etc would decimate the local flora and fauna. As well as the beautiful and unique meadow and marshland landscapes, we have many species of wading and marshland birds and mammals who’s populations would be destroyed, some of which are rare and protected.
Only a couple of miles down river the RSPB have the Wildlife Project for just this very reason and throughout my time here, badgers, foxes, herons, swallows, swifts, woodpeckers of all shapes and sizes, water voles, pipistrel bats and even on rare occasions the odd muntjac deer have been seen in the surrounding copses and meadows. Their survival and that of their environment is of even more importance given the current Environmental awareness.....data from the RSPB Wildlife Project, the Essex Field Club and numerous other environmental organisations would bear this out
The impact on the residents of Stambridge and all the surrounding population would be equally as devastating. More than double the traffic on the rural roads not designed for such loads, the increase of population on the infrastructure such as Doctor’s surgeries, dentists, schools etc would further compound already straining facilities and this does not take into account the individual affects to mental health that the additional noise, crime and decimation of their views, way of life and tranquillity would bring…… (often the reason for purchasing in such a secluded setting in the first place)
With the current nationwide push to preserve our heritage and the natural environment, I find it bewildering that despite there being evidence that Stambridge has survived as a village from as far back as the Iron Age, through the Saxons and down through the ages via numerous conquests, it will now be the Conservative Council and Government which begins its destruction and decline as it is gradually absorbed into an ever expanding building site that has become Rochford which is fast becoming a local disgrace.
Please rethink the options that are available to us to become a beacon of Environment awareness and protection. This is not only prime agricultural land (with Essex being the bread basket of the country) but is so rich and diverse in its heritage and wildlife because of its proximity to the Roach, that to do anythng more with this land that protect it would be an utter travesty
I and many of my fellow villagers have always been lifelong Conservative voters, but should proposals to build move any further, it will be the very last time my cross will be seen next to a Conservative candidate and I know I speak for many others here.
Site No CFS072 – 167 houses proposed (field to the right looking up Cagefield Rd)
Site No CFS073 – 74 houses proposed (field on the left looking up Cagefield Rd)
Site No CFS141 – 231 houses proposed (fields at Stewards Elm Farm)
Site No CFS113 – Mill Lane – 39 houses proposed
Site No CFS114 – Behind the Cherry Tree – 39 houses proposed
In terms of objections to the proposals to build 550 homes in and around the area of Great Stambridge, Rochford…where to begin as there are so many!!
With three generations of my family having lived in Great Stambridge since 1982 (and many others here able to say the same) I can vouch for the fact that this is a very tight knit rural community with strong ties to the surrounding countryside. A countryside that they rely on for work, for equilibrium of the environment and for mental health and that they will defend and protect to their last breath
To quote the Council’s own information –
“The Village of Great Stambridge lies on the north bank of the River Roach. On its northern and western boundary, Little Stambridge. It has numerous creeks and inlets interspersed with saltings and old oyster pits. With its water meadows, landscapes and riverside walks, Stambridge is one of the most picturesque areas of Rochford Hundred – tranquil, and in parts – lonely and desolate, its scenes of natural beauty untouched by time”
This quote speaks for itself and people who live here know well that the village is built almost entirely on a flood plain and therefore building any further dwellings would be the utmost folly and present numerous issues. Should the Council be in any doubt, then a visit to the river bank at high tide or a view of the flood scarring on Google maps should be enough to convince you. If not a conversation with local farmers on the need to dig double ditches at times of inclement weather to cope with the enormity of “run off” from the very fields being proposed for new housing should be in order.
The objection where the natural environment is concerned should therefore also be obvious given the nature of the surrounding countryside. The proposed housing and accompanying population increase, pet predator increase, traffic increase, construction works etc would decimate the local flora and fauna. As well as the beautiful and unique meadow and marshland landscapes, we have many species of wading and marshland birds and mammals who’s populations would be destroyed, some of which are rare and protected.
Only a couple of miles down river the RSPB have the Wildlife Project for just this very reason and throughout my time here, badgers, foxes, herons, swallows, swifts, woodpeckers of all shapes and sizes, water voles, pipistrel bats and even on rare occasions the odd muntjac deer have been seen in the surrounding copses and meadows. Their survival and that of their environment is of even more importance given the current Environmental awareness.....data from the RSPB Wildlife Project, the Essex Field Club and numerous other environmental organisations would bear this out
The impact on the residents of Stambridge and all the surrounding population would be equally as devastating. More than double the traffic on the rural roads not designed for such loads, the increase of population on the infrastructure such as Doctor’s surgeries, dentists, schools etc would further compound already straining facilities and this does not take into account the individual affects to mental health that the additional noise, crime and decimation of their views, way of life and tranquillity would bring…… (often the reason for purchasing in such a secluded setting in the first place)
With the current nationwide push to preserve our heritage and the natural environment, I find it bewildering that despite there being evidence that Stambridge has survived as a village from as far back as the Iron Age, through the Saxons and down through the ages via numerous conquests, it will now be the Conservative Council and Government which begins its destruction and decline as it is gradually absorbed into an ever expanding building site that has become Rochford which is fast becoming a local disgrace.
Please rethink the options that are available to us to become a beacon of Environment awareness and protection. This is not only prime agricultural land (with Essex being the bread basket of the country) but is so rich and diverse in its heritage and wildlife because of its proximity to the Roach, that to do anythng more with this land that protect it would be an utter travesty
I and many of my fellow villagers have always been lifelong Conservative voters, but should proposals to build move any further, it will be the very last time my cross will be seen next to a Conservative candidate and I know I speak for many others here.