Comment
Hockley Area Action Plan - Issues and Options
Representation ID: 9492
Received: 22/04/2009
Respondent: Mr. George Sutton
Having pulled off the website your options for the redevelopment of Hockley Village, my wife I are greatly concerned and alarmed about your proposals.
Having lived in Hockley for 33 years and before that Rayleigh for 17 years we feel your plans could be a repetition of what happened in Rayleigh in the 60's.
That tore the heart out of a lovely old town centre, destroying its character. Why can't councils learn from experience, that bringing more housing into an area, and building more supermarkets onto a village, only increases the existing problems of traffic flow, parking, overloaded services, and pollution!
Have not Rayleigh had to revamp its road system three times over the years? But now Hockley and in particular, the Spa junction. This has already become nightmare because of extra traffic going through the junction via Southend Road to get to Cherry Orchard Way. With the Spa Road (the High Street) being the main route to the Baltic Wharfs and three other industrial/commercial estates. To propose (as all the options do) to place a supermarket right near the Spa junction is sheer lunacy!
In other options you propose to remove the small businesses of the old foundry estate to the 'Saxon' Site. These small units provide local employment, and are well used by the local community. Remove them, and again you increase traffic with local people having to motor in and out of the area for their services. To build more houses and flats on the Eldon Way estate is again, unwanted. With local doctors, schools, etc already overloaded, and recently bus service cuts, enough is enough for any village.
Yet, we also learn that even more are planned to influx the Hawkwell area too!
We will concede that Hockley does need some improvements. The Eldon Way Estate could therefore provide this with more parking, a village green, and a moderate size supermarket. Closing the existing Somerfields in the Main Road, and thus alleviating the problems of supply lorries accessing the stores. Too many 'take-a-ways' are also a problem, with parking and rubbish.
Planners should learn from history, that if they don't listen to the local people, and get it right, then they only exacerbate the problems they sort to improve in the first place. So please, if you can't come up with better proposals than these, leave our village alone until someone can!
To whom it may concern
Sirs
Having pulled off the website your options for the redevelopment of Hockley Village, my wife I are greatly concerned and alarmed about your proposals.
Having lived in Hockley for 33 years and before that Rayleigh for 17 years we feel your plans could be a repetition of what happened in Rayleigh in the 60's.
That tore the heart out of a lovely old town centre, destroying its character. Why can't councils learn from experience, that bringing more housing into an area, and building more supermarkets onto a village, only increases the existing problems of traffic flow, parking, overloaded services, and pollution!
Have not Rayleigh had to revamp its road system three times over the years? But now Hockley and in particular, the Spa junction. This has already become nightmare because of extra traffic going through the junction via Southend Road to get to Cherry Orchard Way. With the Spa Road (the High Street) being the main route to the Baltic Wharfs and three other industrial/commercial estates. To propose (as all the options do) to place a supermarket right near the Spa junction is sheer lunacy!
In other options you propose to remove the small businesses of the old foundry estate to the 'Saxon' Site. These small units provide local employment, and are well used by the local community. Remove them, and again you increase traffic with local people having to motor in and out of the area for their services. To build more houses and flats on the Eldon Way estate is again, unwanted. With local doctors, schools, etc already overloaded, and recently bus service cuts, enough is enough for any village.
Yet, we also learn that even more are planned to influx the Hawkwell are too!
We will concede that Hockley does need some improvements. The Eldon Way Estate could therefore provide this with more parking, a village green, and a moderate size supermarket. Closing the existing Somerfields in the Main Road, and thus alleviating the problems of supply lorries accessing the stores. Too many 'take-a-ways' are also a problem, with parking and rubbish.
Planners should learn from history, that if they don't listen to the local people, and get it right, then they only exacerbate the problems they sort to improve in the first place. So please, if you can't come up with better proposals than these, leave our village alone until someone can!