Re: Consultation on New Local Plan Spatial Options

I am writing to you to give my feedback on the new local plans for Hullbridge and the surrounding areas.

I have been a resident of Hullbridge for over twenty years and in this time have seen lots of change and development not only to Hullbridge but to the surrounding areas, but during this time have not seen many changes or upgrades to the local infrastructure.

I believe building more houses within Hullbridge would cause a negative impact to our village and our way of life, as follow:

• There will be more harm to the green belt land in our area, which should stay as green belt and be protected for future generations.
• More properties will be at risk of flooding and draining risks, and by 2040 Hullbridge will have a significant proportion of the village below sea level
• The impact on natural habitats of wild animals and birds being reduced or even lost
• The lack of accessible open spaces and amenities for people of all ages
• Loss of footpaths or bridleways which many people in Hullbridge and surrounding areas currently enjoy and use
• Only the First Bus group operates a bus service out of Hullbridge, which is the number 20 and only runs every 15 minutes. This was recently confirmed by a First Bus Group representative in an interview with the Echo Newspaper. If the bus is delayed or cancelled, which can happen and result in delays to people’s journeys. First Group have recently withdrawn the school bus service to Sweyne Park School. This has caused lots of problems and has had a detrimental impact to children/families that rely on this service and resulted in more traffic on the roads due to parents having to take their children to school. Surely this is not good for air pollutions within the area.
• The existing community infrastructure needs to be considered, with poor road links within the area and only one main road in and out of Hullbridge (Hullbridge Road/Lower Road). When these roads are restricted due to road works or quite recently where Hullbridge Road was partly closed completely due to a sink hole in the road and also Watery Lane being closed due to maintenance, the only way out of Hullbridge was via Hockley which caused chaos in both areas and resulted in long delays. People struggle to easily get doctor’s appointments at the local surgery. The school in Hullbridge has had to increase the yearly intake to accommodate new children moving into the area and local children are not always able to get a place within the school. Hullbridge only has one small play park for the children to use, whereas other areas have larger play areas and more leisure facilities.
• Due to the number of new houses already being built it now takes over 20 minutes to get out of Hullbridge either along The Hullbridge Road/Rawreth Lane or Watery Lane. The same applies in the evening when the traffic queues are just as long.
• The preservation of our rural coastal village outlook will be lost.

I believe by not building these houses in the Hullbridge, you will preserve our natural wildlife sites, local geological sites, and sites of specific scientific interest i.e., Hullbridge Meadows and Hullbridge Foreshores.

Over development of this area, has not only impacted residences of Hullbridge, but surroundings area as well. It is well known that roads such as London Road in Rayleigh and Crown Hill in Rayleigh are heavily congested at certain points during the day and at the weekend and trying to get through Rayleigh to Rayleigh Weir or back from the Rayleigh Weir to Rayleigh High Street at the weekend is awful and as my point above mentions is not good for air pollution within this area.

My suggestions would be that the council builds all new housing for this area within one location, possibly North of Southend where they could also consider including a school. Southend also has better transport links with two main railway lines going into the area and more bus routes available. This has been done at Beaulieu Park near Chelmsford which also now has a new school from preschool age up to secondary school and I believe will have a train station added in the future. This area is much larger than Hullbridge and can accommodate such development.

I look forward to hearing from you.