Q56a. Do you agree with our vision for Rayleigh? Is there anything you feel is missing?

I object to inclusion of land north of Bull Lane. The road is already heavily used as a ‘rat run’ and additional housing would make this worse. Rayleigh’s existing medical facilities are heavily oversubscribed (try making an appointment at Audley Mills surgery) and additional housing would make this worse.

I agree with this statement in principle but I find it difficult to understand how this will be accomplished when the current infrastructure can not cope with the existing population.

Rayleigh is an overstretched community, we are already in crisis with a deplorable infrastructure, infrastructure not fit for purpose with too many new houses already being built resulting in too many cars. Too many people with not enough schools, doctors etc, Rayleigh does not need any more houses or flats. Too many green spaces being taken, ancient monuments being trashed, all to the detriment of resident's health and allowing wildlife habitats to be lost for ever.

Rayleigh is already over developed. The infrastructure is inadequate to support the housing which already exists without adding more to the list. There are areas to the east of the district which can be developed better. For some reason - Rochford District Council always seeks to develop in Rayleigh. Leave Rayleigh alone and start building houses elsewhere.
I accept the need for more housing but before this happens - we need better roads, less traffic density and more GP appointments and school places.

Lack of infrastructure to support the number of proposed homes. Adverse impact on green belt and agricultural land.

Too many houses and too many people. Rayleigh is meant to be a small market town, not a massive housing estate. You are not building for the locals, you are building for the London fallout. The main roads in and out of Rayleigh A127, A13, A12 are already a nightmare to travel on. We don’t have enough doctors surgeries now, let alone when you let all these people move in. Rayleigh Police Station needs to be open properly again as there will be more crime. Building flats on the Mill Hall site will ruin the cultural beauty of that area.

CFS053 Address: Land south of 38 and 39 Wellington Road, Rayleigh
22nd May 2017 ECC Flood and Water Management Planning and Environment noted this area is a flood risk and requested a bund for 3 Olympic size swimming pools. This was followed up with a site visit to protect Albert Road. Building on this land will cause severe increase in flood potential as per floods of Autumn 2013 experienced by Nelson Road and Albert Road.

The new plan will greatly impact our green spaces in the area, impact our wildlife, cause greater traffic and congestion in an already over populated area. The town is already struggling with capacity, from getting doctors appointments to nursery and school placements. The area cannot accommodate more housing without a significant impact and burden on the existing infrastructure.

There are already too many properties in such a close proximity without any extra facilities being provided. For example I have to wait weeks to get a doctors appointment, months to get a dentist appointment and nearly always have to stand on the train into London (pre-Covid).
The individual towns and villages of this area will just merge and become one big city with hardly any green areas left which will mean less wildlife, more pollution and more crime.

CFS 059
SPOIL OF TREES WITH PRESERVATION ORDERS
BATS OCCUPY THIS AREA OF SANDHILL ROAD AND TUDOR MEWS
OCCUPIED BY BADGERS
OVER DEVELOPMENT OF AREA
ACCESS RESTRICTION AT SANDHILL ROAD , SINGLE LANE ACCESS
GREEN BELT LAND

You acknowledge that capacity of infrastructure is a challenge. Rayleigh already is a nightmare to negotiate. Further development for housing should therefore be minimal as the infrastructure cannot cope. Retaining Rayleigh's strong historic and cultural character is vital and should be protected rather than be degraded by building housing at the Mill site. Access to services via Rawreth Lane is NOT good unless travelling by car into the town centre as public transport is almost non-existent, therefore, your statement does not ring true.

There seem to be one vision in focus here, housing at any cost. Where is the forward planing for roads, railways or any other forms of public transport. At present the roads leading to and from the area are chocked, and what is the resolution add more housing.

Congestion in the local area
Availability at local schools for new students
Parking in Rayleigh town centre insufficient to cope with the increase of vehicles from new housing developments around the area
Albert Road and close also bull lane at the junction of the chase at times suffered flooding which normally run from the fields if this area is built over they’ll be more surface water which new drainage infrastructure would not be able to cope with

Rayleigh is over-developed as it is. No infrastructure to support housing we have now, no Doctor or NHS dentist availability. Too much green space being built on. Wildlife is pushed out. Air quality is reduced. Roads are gridlocked at busy times & far worse if issues on A127. One-way system is traffic-heavy & will be worse once further homes are occupied/built. Only leisure facility big enough (& popular with residents) is ear-marked for demolition. Quality of life & mental health is low in Rayleigh, further crowding will make this worse. Missing - green spaces

I do not agree with the many houses being built, its almost overcrowded in Rayleigh as it is.More housing is not the way forward.

Your ideas for housing are not good - we don't have sufficient infrastructure for what's being suggested - schools, doctors, roads etc
We're trying to stop global warming but you want to build on greenbelt land or green spaces

With Rayleigh already holding 38.7% of overall population of Rochford council, how can it be logical to continue to over develop Rayleigh even more. Other smaller areas in the council catchment should be taking their fair share and ideas such as developing "garden villages" from scratch need to be explored whereby future proof infrastructure can be put in place rather than making Rayleigh increasingly unpleasant place to live / sit stuck in yet another traffic jam. The ranking of the proposed developments of the smaller villages are low due to infrastructure issue, so how about actually sorting the infrastructure in these smaller villages so you can use the land available. Chicken and egg!!! The need for access to bus / stations to commute to London is less relevant due to the increase in working from home.

Whilst want Rayleigh to remain of strategic importance, the system is already overloaded. Whether it be the services, medical, educational, drainage or roads. There is no indication of improvements.

Rayleigh has far too many houses at present! The current road system is often grid locked! it is almost impossible to get a DR appointment. Please do not build more houses here especially on green field areas. Why not build fewer houses in the many out lying villages say Canewdon, Fambridge, Rettendon etc rather than thousands of houses in an already over populated town like Rayleigh.

I object to houses being built on the land at the end of Wellington road (CFS053). This will have a detrimental effect on the residence, the environment and the infrastructure around Rayleigh.
Around the surrounding areas there has been a lot of new build housing developments being built and the infrastructure is imploding under the weight of traffic flow, which was not great to start with but also on schools and Doctors within their area. You cannot move for traffic that goes between Rayleigh and Hockley and at various times during the day is at a standstill. Also getting a doctors appointment at the moment is near impossible now let alone when yet another 345 houses are built .
The environmental tragedy upon using yet another section of green belt land to build houses on for profit in the devise of needing more housing is unbelievable, would you let me build 1 house on green belt land let alone over 300 , the answer to that would be NO , of course it would and I would not be surprised but yet you want us to be ok with you building that vast amount of housing on beautiful green belt land, which I have to say during lock down has been a haven to walk around.
There is so much wild life on that land including owls and bats and probably a wild variety of insects all contributing to the Ecco of the area.
I would never agree to this proposal it is mad and irresponsible and only being proposed for greedy profit and not for the residents you are put in office to support.
If you really want to support the residents of Rayleigh then turn it into parkland but of course that doesn’t make you money does it .
Do you not care about the traffic along the Hockley and Rayleigh road and the environmental disaster that has on our health. Have you ever tried to get a doctors appointment, well I can tell you they are like gold dust.
Are you going to make more schools, hospitals, doctors surgeries and roads for all these new houses that are being built as we speak let alone for the proposed ones. If the answers to that is no then please think again about this new housing development. If you cared about your residents then please do not let greed take over and help the residents of Hockley, Rochford and Rayleigh to enjoy living here in an environment that doesn’t become a concrete jungle .

*overcrowded
*No school places
*Traffic
* Noise and pollution

Housing proposal will have a negative impact on green belt and agricultural land. Existing infrastructure can't handle more traffic.

Housing proposal will have a negative impact on green belt and agricultural land. Existing infrastructure can't handle more traffic.

Rayleigh is already over populated, the support and road infrastructure are already insufficient for the residents and businesses within the town. This development on green belt land would further compound this.

Rayleigh is already congested with far too many houses and too much traffic. It is impossible to book a doctor's appointment already.

The strategy fails to make full use of land that can be taken out of the greenbelt with little impact upon the aims and functions of the greenbelt. Site CFS044 (in whole or in part) represents a natural rounding off of the greenbelt and is ideal for elderly persons and general housing.

As a resident of Rayleigh since childhood right through to now raising my own family. I feel lucky enough to be able to have access to local amenities as well as green space. Unlike other surrounding towns, eg. Southern, Basildon etc Rayleigh still maintains a perfect balance of both and is not too over developed. The easy walking access to green areas especially with the other and younger generations is priceless which was especially during the last 18 months. I would like to see I improvements made the the town centre eg. Growing number of empty shops or lack of variety of shops rather than building more houses.

I do not see how can Rayleigh be a "green and pleasant place" (see your vision statement) when your proposal allows for the construction of hundreds of new houses on Green Belt land. The current infrastructure is poor and cannot cope with the existing population level, eg it can take 30 minutes to get out of Rayleigh; air quality is badly affected by existing traffic levels; the GP surgeries are struggling, making it extremely difficult to get an appointment; schools are over-subscribed (some of the present years at the Fitzwimarc School had a 13 form entry).

Yes

There is no mention of sustainability. There is also no mention of being an inclusive society. I'd like to see these themes reflecting in the vision of Rayleigh.