Q56d. Are there areas that require protecting from development?

All existing Green Belt areas should be kept free of development.

All areas with trees, wildlife and open space require cast iron protection from development. The Council needs to stand up for the rights of the residents of Rayleigh.

The areas of land which land owners have put forward for development are expanding the town more and more. The road network cannot support what we already have and as such the borders of the town need protecting. I totally support development of brownfield sites but no more green belt to be released for housing

Proposed development site CFS053 - this is a key area keeping the Rayleigh urbanisation separate from becoming part of Hockley. You have already developed a site at Bullwood Hall which is only a stone's throw from site CFS053 which would mean Hockley and Rayleigh have effectively merged. Hockley High Road is already a very busy road and the additional traffic from the proposed 123 properties would cause traffic mayhem. The Opus Consultation paper already highlights "infrastructure challenges" and this development would add to those challenges. Please consider sites that have easy access to A127/ A130 and not thru Rayleigh.

The proposed locations have a significant adverse impact on open spaces, green belt land and agricultural land. Additionally Rayleigh lacks the infrastructure (roads and public transportation) to support the increase in houses and cars.

Hockley Woods, Blounts Wood, Betts Wood, Marylands Wood in fact all the medieval ancient woodlands that at present exist. The water frontages and the hill tops.
These are ancient landscapes are must remain as nature reserves or amenity woodlands.
The hill tops and river frontages make Rochford unique and desirable.

All green belt areas should not be built on, we must protect our countryside for our future generations.

All green belt areas should be protected for our future generations to enjoy the countryside

All greenbelt should be protected for our future generations to enjoy the countryside

The site CFS105 is a site of geological interest providing unique deposits of Bagshot sand and that the sand on Hambro Hill is especially fine grained. In addition in the NW corner of the site there is a former tip that has been covered in tarmac. Any development of the site threatens a dangerous spilling out into the surrounding area and automatically makes it unsuitable for development. There is also not insufficient road access out onto Hambro Hill.
The site is currently horse paddocks and investment has been made to make this successful. I include a geological report
http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/Geology+Site+Account/s/Hambro+Hill+Sand+Pits/o/Hambro+Hill+Sand+Pits

I feel that the land behind Nelson Road and at the end of Wellington Road should be protected and should not be built on. I am a resident of Nelson Gardens and have to use Nelson road and the Hockley road to access my home. The roads have continued to become more and more busy and congested over recent years and can not cope with the heavy traffic . Also the land behind Nelson road is an area of special character and the area has a wildlife habitat for several species including slow worms. Do not build on the land.

Yes, we need to protect the green spaces which have been proposed CFS027, CFS053 and the others in the local area around Bull Lane, Napier Road and Albert Road. These are well enjoyed green space areas by the public and by wildlife. There are little green spaces to come by so these areas need protecting from being developed on. These areas are not close to Rayleigh Town Centre nor the train station so should not be considered for development. Any development would considerably damage the look of the area which is currently flourishing green spaces

CFS134 & CFS037. Development at the scale proposed on these sites would devastate local residents and atmosphere that is currently present. These woods and green spaces have been a beautiful addition to the local area and a significant reason why we moved to Eastwood Rise. There is no potential for infrastructure that would support the traffic it would generate, both pedestrian and vehicular; The site back onto ancient woodland and is accessed by narrow lanes. I hope that you reconsider development to this site as it has become such a place of enjoyment for those nearby.

CFS059 - this site is not suitable for development. It is home to a large variety of wildlife such as foxes, birds, badgers and bats. The road already has extremely limited parking and becomes very narrow at the end of the road, near site CFS059. The significant increase in additional traffic, along with the road having no pavements, would make this a thoughtless and irresponsible development. Young children regularly play on this quiet no through road and enjoy seeing the local wildlife. If this development went ahead it would severely impact every resident along the road and also properties behind the plot on Gravel Road, who will not be consulted due to this area belonging to Southend Council.

Furthermore, the road is a private road with no public right of way.

Areas either side and around London Road should be protected as the area is already over developed with the new housing on the old EON estate and now the land that will join up with Rawreth Lane and there are constant traffic jams at peaks times with just that.
No more should be built in this area

Col07 is part of an ancient historical site known as Rayleigh Castle Outer Bailey + 900 years old.
Read ECC Rayleigh Historic Town Project Assessment Report dated1999 report & your own 2007 conservation policy document. Historic England are aware of your proposal

The Mill site should not be used for housing and should only be developed for sympathetic community use in keeping with its important
historic relevance.

Figure 44 shows a simple approach just expand housing and the rest will sort it self out. Areas of green belt, field with currently produce mush need crops, wildlife all totally pushed to one side. You state "affordable housing" I question if any of the council have seen the prices asked for for the current building? first time buyers are priced out of the market, don't take my word for this go and check
Little in-depth planing

Sites CFS027,CFS029, CFS053,CFS098 -- are eating into green space on the boundaries of Rayleigh and diminishing its separation from the the Eastwood and Hockley area. Any link between the Hockley road , wellington road and Albert /Napier road will just encourage a rat run on an already congested traffic route. People already seek ways to avoid going thru the congestion of Rayleigh by using all the back roads to avoid queueing. Really need an alternative way for traffic not to come thru Rayleigh to get to the main A routes.

These sites (minimum) as outlined by Place Services 1993. Updated 2017.
*New England Wood (Woodland Trust) R10 (TQ832909): HC1 Ancient Woodland. SC18 Invertebrates listed as Species of Principal Importance in England
*Brandy Hole Marsh Extension R7 (TQ830953)
*Bett's Wood Hockley R11 (TQ834928): HC1 Ancient Woodland. • HC2 Lowland Mixed Deciduous Woodland on Non-ancient sites. • SC18 Invertebrates listed as Species of Principal Importance in England
*Magnolia Nature Reserve R24 (TQ861925): HC2 – Lowland Mixed Deciduous Woodland on Non-ancient Sites
• HC9 – Lowland Meadows. • HC28 – Small-component Mosaics. • SC1 – Vascular Plants. • SC15 – Great Crested Newts

CFS053 should not be developed on we will never be carbon neutral with keep concreting over everything and building houses. Its good for mental health to have open spaces and fresh air, we have seen from COVID how important open spaces and fresh air are. There is already gridlock in Rayleigh with too much pollution, by building more houses we will never improve climate change or carbon neutral or effective living.

You need to be considering the environemnt & climate change. Green belt/ green areas need to be protected not built upon
The number of houses & areas you are suggetsing is too many & we would need significnat infrastrcuture to support

Mill Hall, Civic Hall Rayleigh. These are potential centres for community unity which we are lacking in Rayleigh

All of the remaining fields along Rawreth lane and London Road need protection. This is a highly valued Greenbelt area which provides a buffer between Rayleigh and local towns. It’s home to a range of wildlife and offer vital flood planes against the tidal river Crouch and from surface water flooding. The risk of flooding will only increase with climate change. Rayleigh sense of identity is about being a town in the countryside not a town with Los Angeles style urban sprawl. Please don’t destroy our remaining countryside it’s the worst legacy any politician can leave to the next generation.

Land by Wellington Road as this would not retain the physical separation between towns. The agricultural land would be lost with climate change and wildlife impact. The drainage is poor, having already had thousands of pounds of damage done to our garden following water flooding off Nelson Road. Run off and drainage will only be worse with housing on the land. Nelson Road is also becoming a rat run road so increasing housing by Napier and Wellington Road will only make this worse. Hockley Road traffic is also horrendous so the additional houses will also put an extra strain.

Too much development in West Rayleigh over the last 20 years, the area can't take any more

Greenfield sites should be maintained especially those that separate Rayleigh from Hockley

This site should be left available for local residents to use as an open space to enjoy.

We moved here in 1982,because the view, we purchased the extra ground to the ditch.
We are concerned with the development of houses being built on green belt land, and lack of infrastructure of roads.
The loss of the animals like badgers ,frogs etc our roads are very congested now.

am writing to put on record my comments concerning the proposal to include area CFS 027 for housing in Rochford Districts building plan for 2020/2040.

This area forms part of the Roche conservation zone- an area of historic interest due in part to its ancient hedgerow boundaries. This field parcel is surrounded on four sides by ancient hedgerow and many beautiful old oak trees. A considerable time ago, it was bought and sold in plots by an individual who saw it as a business investment, with little regard to its intrinsic value within the beautiful valley east of Rayleigh.

To develop this for housing would begin to seriously erode this unique area and would break into a natural boundary which should remain undeveloped.

This field parcel borders a public footpath, used and enjoyed by a huge number of local residents. It is one of few places left where people feel they are in a wild, open environment, as well as continuing to provide a wonderful place to escape to for much needed peace and time with nature; something that is being increasingly recognised as vital for wellbeing.

As the resident farmer of the adjoining land, I am investing heavily in improving the area further for people and wildlife. I have applied for The Countryside Stewardship scheme to include 50% of the farmland I own within The Roche Conservation Zone. I am also applying for a Woodland creation grant to plant 9 acres of woodland, some of which will have public access, and will partly replace an area of woodland which was taken out in the 1950’s (Splash Wood). As a result of our CSS 2017/2022 we now have Tawny and Barn Owls back hunting in this area, among many other invaluable returns of previously native wildlife.

I am doing this because I feel the great need to cherish and preserve this area for people and its wildlife which is becoming increasingly threatened, marginalised, and is ultimately, disappearing.

From a logistical aspect, due to the field parcel being sold off in individual plots, it would make future development very uncoordinated as regards to planning permission for each separate house design, in addition to the access to main services on the site.

The ongoing problem of traffic gridlock on the east side of Rayleigh is a huge concern to its residents. Hockley Road to the North is massively overwhelmed with traffic, as is Eastwood road to the South. If access is via Bull Lane, Webster’s Way is already incredibly busy.

There are going to be objections to new housing wherever it goes; we all want our own area to remain unchanged, but people need houses to live in and I fully appreciate that local government has to allocate areas for housing in-line with central government targets.
However, the proposal of this site in particular is an illogical and unnatural intrusion into the Green Belt beyond the built up area of Rayleigh.

With the above considered, I would respectfully suggest that CFS 027 is unsuitable and undesirable for new housing development.