I would like to register my concern over the proposals to build on yet more sites in an already crowded and over populated area. I have lived in Victor Gardens for 37 years and one of the reasons we moved to this area was because of the green spaces and rural way of life. There have already been massive developments in the area and many old character houses have been demolished, new large houses built and the character and feel of the place has been spoilt already. The two square hideous houses built next to the Dentist and Barbers in White Hart Lane are just one example. We have lost a lot of our green fields already and to suggest we can accommodate all these houses on the New Local Plan is ludicrous. If lockdown has taught us one thing, it is that green spaces are needed for not only physical well being but also for our mental well being. The traffic around this area is already too busy. If you walk up the Main Road in Hawkwell to Hockley there is a continuous stream of traffic no matter what time of day you walk. Children walking to and from Westerings school are being subjected to constant pollution from the cars, as are the children waiting at bus stops to take them to school.Trying to get anywhere locally by car means being stuck in traffic and the B1013 is already a bottle neck, it took me 50 minutes to do a 15 minute journey last week and it regularly takes me over 35 minutes to do this journey,yet the Council want to build thousands of houses which will feed onto these roads. More cars will add to the already congested roads causing even more traffic problems and pollution. The footpaths which at the moment are used by people to get around, as well as for recreation, will have houses built adjacent to them preventing people from having the option of walking in a rural setting. It will be like walking through a housing estate.The argument that is used is that we need affordable housing, but all the evidence shows that the houses being built are huge houses which are not affordable to the first time buyers. Neither of my two adult children can afford to live in this area,so who are we building the houses for? Why not build 50 -100 smaller affordable houses in every town and village rather than target one area and swamp it.
If the plans go ahead, we will lose the character of Hawkwell , which will just become a part of Rochford and Hockley, swallowed up with no definition of where it starts and finishes, with one continuous traffic problem. Considering how much money was spent last year by the Government on health, I'm surprised that health hasn't been taken into consideration for this proposal. You can't keep building on already built up areas and expect the infrastructure, the Drs, the well being of people, the schools and the other amenities to cope, let alone severe flooding which will happen as more land is built on. We have had problems with flooding in the past and I remember houses in Hawkwell Chase flooding in the 90s, Hill Lane has been flooded on several occasions as has the road under the railway bridge by St Mary's church.
I strongly object in particular to the proposal to build on site CFS074 and sites CFS194, CFS169, CFS150 and CFS020,