A plan for over 1,100 new homes on greenbelt land in a south Essex town is “bleak indeed”, according to some local residents. Basildon Council gave developers the green light to build 250 homes on greenbelt land off Laindon Road in Billericay at a packed meeting on January 8. A large number of residents thought to be around 100 people, turned up to “desperately urge” the council to throw out the controversial plans.
The plans include more than £1.3m investment in infrastructure as well as half of the homes, 125 being affordable. Richard Moore, Tory councillor for Burstead, told the committee various proposed developments could see more than 1,100 homes built in Billericay and raised concerns about the Government’s plans for more house building.
He said: “The committee needs to be mindful of the cumulative effect of the application together with other applications in Billericay already approved, such as Kennel Lane, Southend Road, Maitland Lodge, together with pending applications in London Road and Mountnessing Road, which will result in a total of some 1,100 plus new homes being built on what was greenbelt in Billericay over the next few years.
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“We have in the report 14 pages about the greenbelt, which concluded that our valuable greenbelt, which has been green belt for many, many years, is no grey belt and as if by magic, it changed overnight. Well, of course, it is not magic. It is this Government’s view that greenbelt, particularly in the southeast of the country, has, in fact, little value when your objective is to build and build. The outlook for Billericay as a historic town surrounded by greenbelt is bleak indeed.”
The meeting had a packed public gallery, which burst into loud applause at various points during the hearing. A number of residents spoke during the meeting and raised various concerns, including loss of greenbelt and infrastructure. One worried woman told the meeting: “I have serious concerns about the safety both during any construction phase and on completion, very specifically the section at Laindon Road end, where it is being proposed to run in parallel to and be bisected by the estate road. Where the path is crossed by the road appears to be a point where a number of hazards are likely to exist. At that point, the road has two bends and a slope between two levels of development; however, I see no details of the safe crossing point being established in the officers’ report.
“The loss of the open and rural aspect of the footpath will be hugely detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the community, a right of way through a housing estate is not comparable, the proposed development will compromise the useability of the path and remove its current amenity.”
Resident Greg McManus said: “As a local resident, I wish to highlight key objections to this planning application. These 250 homes would be alongside the unique and ancient woodland, which clearly would result in a large increase in population and foot traffic, causing irreparable damage. The council along with us residents carry a responsibility in protecting this ancient woodland for future generations, these proposed dwellings would cause a significant increase on now proposed even narrower single lane Laindon Road, impacting hugely on residents and hundreds of school children attending the two nearby schools with greater potential of injury and possible death. The dramatic increase in congestion and increased pollution in Laindon Road, also at Sun Corner and surrounding roads, would inappropriately impact our local health and our access to facilities and local businesses as there are no dual carriageways.
“There is not sufficient infrastructure in Billericay to support this large increase in population. Developers are clearly focused on Billericay to obtain higher purchase prices for homes with no requirement to pay for additional infrastructure – this can’t be right, particularly given the logical large rise in local demand for schooling, sports and medical facilities. This proposed location west of London Road is not an appropriate location, so long with other rate-paying residents in Billericay, I desperately urge this planning meeting to reject or at least defer the decision on the developer’s plans.”