I write in response to the above.

Firstly, with regard to the Vision Statement for Hullbridge - There was no consultation with our community before this vision was prepared - why was this not done? The vision I have is for Hullbridge to remain a village with an improved public transport system keeping the coastline as it is for residents and visitors to walk along and enjoy the unspoilt views.

I believe the most appropriate option of the 4 options RDC have suggested for the new local plan is to build all housing in one location whereby the infrastructure can be built to meet the requirements needed for these new developments. Looking at the map it would seem North of Southend appears to have far more land. This would be far more sensible than to start adding bits onto existing towns/villages and then having to add appropriate infrastructure with all the disruption, noise and pollution this would cause.

The infrastructure in Hullbridge is not adequate now, let alone when the new development of, I believe, 500 properties are finally completed from the previous Local Plan! This has caused significant strain on public services, roads etc. Yet the Council have failed to complete transport and sustainable infrastructure assessments prior to this consultation.

Hullbridge is already noticing the effects that increased housing has caused and the development is not even complete! The strain to our primary school (we have no secondary school) and to our medical centre.

The road infrastructure in Hullbridge cannot be improved upon. We have one road that runs through Hullbridge from Rayleigh to Hockley and one road that leads from Lower Road to the river (Ferry Road). These roads cannot be improved upon. It doesn’t take much for the whole village to be gridlocked or cut off if there is a problem. The sinkhole in Hullbridge Road this year is a good example where you could only get out of the village via Hockley causing significant problems not only in Hullbridge but in Hockley and beyond. Similarly, only yesterday, a road accident on Lower Road caused the road to be blocked and when vehicles tried to go through back roads all those roads became totally gridlocked. When the current development is finished we will have a lot more traffic on our one road in and out of the village so more chance of this sort of thing happening more often. Let alone having even more developments in future Local Plans.

A lot of Hullbridge is Green Belt and Coastal Protection Belt. Any further developments would harm these areas and impact on natural habitats.

With regard Critical Flood and drainage risks - Hullbridge will have a significant proportion of the village below sea level by 2040.

Public transport in Hullbridge is not adequate. There is no public transport whatsoever that runs down Lower Road towards Hockley. There is now no school bus that runs in Hullbridge.

On the South side of the village there are no recreation areas and a lack of pavement and crossings, which with the increase in vehicles due to the current development and lack of speed restrictions has made it more dangerous for pedestrians than it was before.

So you can see that Hullbridge hasn’t got adequate infrastructure now so will certainly not be able to cope with any more development and serious consideration must be made to look at alternative options.