Thank you for this consultation and your call for comments.

I am a resident of Great Wakering (see address below).

I am AGAINST further housing developments in this area for the following reasons:

1. SEWERS
This village has been under constant expansion since the early 1980s. The Taylor Wimpey development bounded on two sides by Southend Road and Star Lane has only recently been completed and two further developments, one to the south of the Hight Street and the other bounded by Barrow Hall Road, Little Wakering Road and Southend Road are currently under development. The sewerage from these developments is putting great pressure on the original main sewer which is notoriously prone to blockages. From what I’ve been told by engineers working on these systems, these sewers are at their maximum capacity.

2. ROADS
We have only two roads serving the village and our existing roads are narrow and difficult to navigate. The developments listed in point 1 are already causing significant pressure on these roads. No further development should be considered without a thorough overhaul of roads infrastructure.

3. SCHOOLS
The existing schools are already fully subscribed.

4. CRIME
The area is already poorly served by the police service; the local police station was closed many years ago. More people will mean more crime.

5. TRANSPORT
The village is poorly served by public transport and has no railway station. The area is bounded by water on two sides which forces people onto the existing roads to travel to work or to nearby Southend-on-Sea. These roads are already considered hazardous by locals and further traffic can only make them more hazardous.

6. VILLAGE LIFE
Traditional village life is very much valued by residents but this way of life is already being compromised by continuous housing developments. The proposed developments would swamp the village and turn it into a town with the loss of the village community.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
We are fortunate to have a viable environment full of wildlife and other biodiversity. Giving over land to housing development can only be detrimental to our biodiversity and wildlife.

SUMMARY
I have seen this once quiet village groan under the pressure of constant housing developments over the past 40 years with little or no commensurate improvements to infrastructure. I believe that the current infrastructure is at full capacity and cannot take the pressure of further housing development.