The Basildon Local Plan was approved by the Full Council on October 18, by 23 votes to 15. It has 2 more stages to go before final adoption, which the Council hopes will be in Q3 2019. For Billericay the Plan involves
- Around 2,800 new homes on 12 sites
- Almost all on Green Belt land
- Very limited enhancement of transport and social infrastructure
- No meaningful commitment to substantial numbers of new homes that will be genuinely affordable for the younger generation.
In addition it is now proposed that the cricket club will relocate to a site on the north of London Road.
We believe this plan will be disastrous for the quality of life in Billericay, for existing and new residents -- overdeveloping it, overcrowding it, and stretching its services and amenities to breaking point, maybe beyond breaking point.
Basildon Council has an obligation to plan to build houses but not so many, and it could have mitigated the effect on Billericay by claiming the Green Belt as a constraint, likewise the lack of infrastructure enhancement. National planning rules allow this. But instead the Council has allocated housing to Billericay without regard to the sustainability of this development in an already crowded town, with a largely antiquated road system, and more commuters than the trains can comfortably cope with.
NO JOBS, OVERCROWDED RAILWAYS AND A POORLY THOUGHT THROUGH "RELIEF" ROAD
No new jobs are planned for Billericay, so a large proportion of new residents will be commuters – we are being used to accommodate London overspill. We fear for the impact on train travel, especially with so much other building happening all down the line to Southend. The only significant road ‘improvement’ is the so called relief road in the south west, which will dump traffic onto the London Road with no analysis of what happens to it next. We can foresee traffic gridlock in the rush hours at various pressure points around the town, an analysis which does appear to be supported by the evidence, and not just in the areas directly affected by the new building.
FRITHWOOD STILL THREATENED!
Ancient Frith Wood is still under threat, with one developer trying hard to drive a road through it. Basildon Council has not given it any special protection. In contrast it has recently formally protected part of Langdon Hills from development (which we fully support). Residents of Frithwood Lane will be blighted by a road widening scheme, the details of which are unknown.
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