The District Council are carrying out a consultation here.
If you are going to comment- You might like to consider that at the moment the District Council has a deliberate policy of having a lower amount of sports pitches in Rayleigh and Hockley than recommended by England . (See here). Now would be a very good time to demand that the council changes this.
To continue with our recent avian theme, an onlinefocus reader took this picture of a bird in a Rayleigh back garden this morning. Can anyone identify the species? Suggestions we’ve had so far are juvenile starling and juvenile Green Woodpecker….
One Rayleigh resident has told us he’s had six different species of bird nesting in his garden this year- chaffinch, hedge sparrow, house sparrow, robin, wren and blackbird.
Can anyone equal this or do even better?
We’ve had the following email from SE Essex Organic Gardeners:
SE Essex Organic Gardeners are running a series of organic gardening seminars in the community across SE Essex, which are being led by Robert Wiseman.
This project has been funded by a Grassroots Grant from the Office of the Third Sector, which is managed by Essex Community Foundation. Our next seminar is as follows and is sponsored by Rochford Housing. I hope very much that we shall see some of you there as sadly at the Benfleet seminar earlier this month Castle Point was not represented.
DATE AND TIME Saturday 25 July, 1.30pm
DETAILS OF EVENT
Our seminar is designed to encourage the “growing of your own food” both on an allotment, in your own garden and even on the patio using the principles of organic gardening.
VENUE Greensward Academy, Main Hall, Greensward Lane, Hockley SS5 5HG
ADMISSION PRICE
Everybody is welcome at these seminars, for which there will be a nominal charge of £2.00, with many concessions. Children under the age of 16 are also free if they are with their parents. Please book early to avoid disappointment.
EVENT CONTACT DETAILS
Robert Wiseman
07941 078135
robert.wiseman@talk21.comhttp://www.gardencoursesessex.org.uk
For those interested in local wildlife, the website of the South East Essex RSPB is worth a look. They have for example, details of upcoming events, the latest bird reports sent in (today’s report includes grasshopper warblers and little stints) and details on the best places to see birds.
The District Council are giving people the chance to comment on how they manage local woodlands.
Now, Rochford DC manages five local woodlands – Hockley, Kingley, Betts,Grove and New England. Hockley Woods is the largest and pretty well known. In contrast Kingley Wood is almost a secret – lots of Rayleigh people don’t even know it exists. (It is tucked away near the A127).
© Copyright terry joyce and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
The questionnaire takes about 2 minutes to complete. What’r more, if you complete it you have the chance to win one of ten copies of Oliver Rackham’s “The Woods of South East Essex”, the classic book for any local nature lover.
There are four planning applications on the schedule for next week’s planning meeting. You can download the officer’s reports here.
The first is for adding extensions and converting no. 3 Station Avenue, Rayleigh into two flats – this is recommended for approval by the officers but called into the meeting by Cllr Chris Lumley.
The second is at Lords Golf Club, Hullbridge – “RETROSPECTIVE APPLICATION TO CONSTRUCT EARTH BUND 1.5M HIGH TO PART OF DRIVING RANGE AND CONSTRUCT 5M HIGH POLE AND NETTING TO RAISED BUND TOP”. It is recommended for approval by officers. There’s a lot of information on this and to get a full picture you really need to look at the report. But here are some extracts:
Six letters have been received in response to the neighbour notification and which in the main make the following comments and objections:-
o Noise and disturbance.
o Overdevelopment.
o Insufficient drainage.
o Object on the basis that the applicants have received an enforcement
notice to stop the transfer of soil, etc. to this site. o Lorries had to carry this soil along Rawreth Lane and hence the notice. o Was previously refused and should not be allowed to continue. o Why is an application of this nature being considered? o Have no confidence in the owner building what is applied for. o The 1.5m high bund created acts as a dam for any excess water from
adjoining areas and affecting properties in Wellington Avenue.
o The bund should be removed without delay before flooding occurs as the water will not be able to run freely across the site as it always has done in the past.
o Very angry that the applicant appears to do what he chooses with or without the Council’s consent.
o Two previous applications rejected.
o Spoil containing items such as old cable and rubbish brought to the site by lorry during the day and on Saturdays. This was then topped off with top soil. o None of the safety measures were put in place for users of the footpath and thus reducing costs.
o Considerable noise and vibration.
o Concern for contaminants that may pollute the water course and adjoining fishery. o The work has been done in the full knowledge that permission did not exist and even ignored the service of notices.
o Applicants appear to hold the Council’s authority in contempt and have demonstrated they cannot be trusted to comply with planning conditions to any consent that is granted.
o It would seem that the risks of punitive fines are outweighed by the income derived from accepting lorry loads of landfill onto their site.
o If retrospective planning permission is granted it would imply that if permission is declined it is still possible to proceed and worry about regularising consent at a latter stage.
MATERIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS
2.14 The current application is substantially different in scale to the previously refused applications:-
o The current application relates only to the driving range area of some 0.875ha as opposed to parts of all three elements of the site as a whole in the previous application which related to some 21.5ha.
o The bunding and raised earth areas in this current application are substantially smaller in height compared to the 5m average height of the practice range works in the previous application.
o The bund formed in the current application involves only mounding to the “U” shaped area rather than transformation of landform to the whole practice range area as in the case of the previous application.
o The previous applications extended the landform to the inside of the ditch bank top around the site. The current application provides the toe to the bund 20m – 45m to the boundary of gardens in Wellington Avenue. Similarly, the toe of the bund would be between 25m – 47m from the bank top to the ditch alongside Hullbridge Road
CONCLUSION
2.33 The proposal seeks consent for development to provide a bunded land form to contain the practice range area immediately to the north of the driving range building. Also proposed to the bund top is the provision of a 5m high catch fence. The proposal is retrospective and the surface recently seeded. The area contained within the bund remains grassed and available for play.
2.34 The bund works undertaken are modest in scale to a height ranging between 1.34m – 1.79m and would be located a good distance from the site boundaries and set against the backdrop of the club building envelope and the two golf courses on the greater site beyond.
2.35 The proposal would not conflict with Green Belt or leisure policies contained within the Council’s adopted Local Plan (2006) or give rise to pollution or amenity concerns that can be substantiated.
2.36 Subject to no adverse comments being received from the Essex County Council’s Head of Environmental Planning concerning minerals and waste, the recommendation is to approve the application.
RECOMMENDATION
2.37 Subject to no adverse comments being received from the Essex County Council’s Head of Environmental Planning concerning minerals and waste, it is proposed that the Committee RESOLVES to APPROVE the application, subject to the following conditions:-
1 SC4B – Time limits standard
2 No floodlights or other means of artificial illumination shall be provided/installed to the fence post/columns and/or operated, whether or not in association with the use of the site permitted.
3 Any of the trees adjoining the bund area at the approximate positions of section A-A and section D-D as shown on the approved plan Drawing No. LR01-100 and dying before 21 January 2014 shall be replaced by such species as shall be submitted to the Local Planning in writing. The replacement planting shall be carried out in accordance with such details as may be agreed by the Local Planning Authority within the first planting season (October to February inclusive) following agreement of such details.
The third application is just about unique- creating a massive coastal nature reserve: There is no recommendation yet – the officers report is still being completed:
TITLE:
09/000010/CPO THE IMPORTATION BY SEA OF 7.5 MILLION CUBIC
METRES OF HIGH QUALITY RECOVERED INERT MATERIAL TO ACHIEVE, BY PHASED EXTRACTION AND LANDRAISING, A CHANGE OF USE FROM AGRICULTURAL LAND TO 677 HECTARES OF COASTAL NATURE RESERVE
PRINCIPALLY COMPRISING MUDFLATS, SALTMARSH, COASTAL LAGOONS, BRACKISH MARSH, COASTAL GRAZING MARSH, DRIER GRASS CAPABLE OF DEVELOPING NEW SALTMARSH AS SEA LEVELS RISE, TOGETHER WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF 5 BIRD HIDES, CAR PARK AND ASSOCIATED OFF SHORE UNLOADING
FACILITY, CONVEYOR AND PIPELINE, MATERIAL HANDLING AREA, SEA WALL ENGINEERING WORKS AND MODIFICATION TO FOOTPATH NUMBER 21, TO BE COMPLETED BY 2019.
LAND AT NORTH END OF WALLASEA ISLAND ROCHFORD
APPLICANT: ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS
Finally, the fourth application is for a shop and six flats at 74-78 West Street, Rochford – recommended for approval.
Tonight’s District Council meeting is a sort of end-of-season match – after this , the next scheduled meeting is at the end of August.
The most important topics are likely to be :
“Eco-Towns” - there are no “Eco-Towns” planned for this area, but there’s a motion from Cllrs Cutmore and Hudson about them:
‘Rochford District Council is opposed to the concept of eco-towns, as proposed by central Government, which are not supported by Council core strategies and relevant housing needs studies. The eco-town concept as presented by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is flawed both technically and democratically. It is outside of the existing regional planning framework and is a policy imposition by central Government not subject to local accountability.
There is nothing inherent in the concept that could deliver a greener future as compared with ensuring that the proposed 126,000 Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) dwellings for Essex deliver sustainable living. Any sustainable proposal must be underpinned by local job and infrastructure funding to fundamentally support the concept.’
(if you want to read some background info on eco-towns, try this Times article here.)
Big Increases in allowances for the council cabinet. We know that some Conservative Councillors are unhappy about this. Will the Tory leadership quietly drop the idea tonight?
Recycling - Chris Black asked the council last week whether there would be an extra item on the agenda about this.
Whatever happens, a bit of discussion on the start of the new recycling scheme is bound to happen, sometime during the evening.
All 5 planning applications that came to the District Council tonight were refused:
- Wind Turbine in Hockley – refused mainly on visual amenity grounds
- Golf Course Rebuilding in Hullbridge Road – refused almost unanimously. Cllr Lesley Butcher from Hullbridge moved the refusal. Officers proposed leaving out the reason regarding residents amenity – Chris Black insisted it went back in again.
- Flats in Weir Gardens, Rayleigh - refused
- Asda application for earlier delivery hours, Rawreth Lane – refused without the need for a debate.
- Makro application for wider opening hours, Rawreth Lane - refused without the need for a debate.
Incidentally, it was good to see Rawreth and Hullbridge Parish Councillors sitting in the public gallery keeping an eye on things!
Wild Woods Day is on June 7th in Hockley Woods:
Free Fun for all the family!
Saturday 7 June, 12 midday to 4pm
Hockley WoodsLots of fun and exciting activities will be available on the day including:
* Max from Cans
* Rochford District Council Recycling Team
* Environmentally Themed Magic Shows
* Sparky The Robot
* Wood Turning
* Health Walks
* Games
There’s more information on the District Council website.
The District Council’s Review Committee is the one committee that’s chaired by a Lib Dem, namely June Lumley. However the majority of members are Conservatives.
They’ve just produced a report on global warming, and the implications for Rochford District.
Here’s the introduction:
3.1 Over the last few years the subject of Climate Change has come to the fore and received a lot of publicity and interest.
3.2 There is a growing body of scientific evidence that the world’s climate is changing as a result of the increased level of greenhouse gases which can be linked to mans activities. This increase will impact directly on the Rochford District in that our weather patterns will change leading to warmer and wetter conditions.
3.3 Some key facts and figures are:-
• At 380 parts per million (ppm), today’s atmospheric carbon dioxide level is higher than at any time in at least the past 420,000 years.
• Only increased greenhouse gas emissions can explain the upward trend in temperature over the past 150 years.
• In less than 200 years, human activity has increased the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases by some 50%.
• It is already too late to stop any further atmospheric warming, due to the inertia of the climate system; even if greenhouse gas emissions were reduced to pre-industrial levels within the next 100 years, average temperatures would not stabilise for several centuries, sea levels would continue to rise due to thermal expansion and melting ice for several millennia.
• The average proportion of the global population harmed by climate-related disasters each year has nearly doubled since 1975, reaching nearly 4% or 255 million people in 2001. The World Health Organisation estimate, based on current trends, that between 6%-8% of population will be directly affected by 2030.3.4 The Government has signed up to the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement on climate change. This commits the United Kingdom to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 12.5% from the 1990 level by 2012. In the longer term, the Government has accepted that far more significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions will be required, and the need to cut emissions by at least 60% by the middle of this century is now required.
3.5 The Climate Change & Sustainable Energy Act 2006 places a duty on the Secretary of State to assist Local Authorities in promoting sustainable communities and to invite Local Authorities to make proposals in that regard. ….
Here’s the recommendations:
Recommendation No 1 It is recommended to the Executive Board that the Council develops a Sustainable Energy (Climate Change) Strategy by September 2008, in order that resource implications can be considered by the Council as part of the 2009/10 budget process.
Recommendation No 2 It is recommended to the Executive Board that detailed action plans are developed to ensure that the Sustainable Energy strategy is delivered. If practicable, this should also be developed by September 2008, in order that resource implications can be considered by the Council as part of the 2009/10 budget process.
Recommendation No 3 It is recommended to the Executive Board that the Council becomes a signatory to the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change, at the earliest opportunity (see Appendix B).
Recommendation No 4 The planning system helps define local authorities’ place shaping role and is centred on sustainable development. As such, it offers one of the largest opportunities for local authorities to influence energy use and hence carbon dioxide emissions arising from new developments. National planning policy in England and Wales has an increasing focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation and this has a direct influence on expectations for local planning policy and practice. Officers took the opportunity to include specific sustainability targets, developed as a result of this review, in the ‘Vision to Reality’ report that was considered by Council 19 February 2008. The Council will be formally reviewing its Corporate Plan in June and needs to address issues such as:-
• The new legislation shortly to be introduced that will impose carbon reduction targets on local authorities;
• The emerging LAA 2 identifies climate change as a regional priority;
• The new statutory targets for recycling from 2010 onwards. It is recommended to the Executive Board that the following specific targets are established in the Corporate Plan:-‘Over the next five years, we will ………. Work on reducing the Council’s own carbon dioxide emissions by 30% (based upon 2005 baseline). Achieve a recycling target of 50% within the 5-year period. Through the Council’s Local Development Framework, ensure that the future deveopment of the District up to 2021 is panned and carried out in a sustainable fashion. By 2017 ………. Implement an Adaptng to Cmate Change Acton Pan for acton, monitoring and revew. Work on reducing the Council’s own carbon dioxide emissions by 60% Secure a recclin rate of 60% per ear’Recommendation No 5 Effective action will include the development of appropriate partnerships. These can increase the resources available for initiatives, provide expertise and offer routes to reach and persuade the right people to take action. A large proportion of the public considers climate change to be an important issue and they are likely to respond well to further engagement. There may be opportunities to develop a community wide policy as part of the LAA. It is recommended to the Executive Board that the Council engages with LAA partners to reduce the carbon footprint of smaller domestic, business and public sector activities.
Recommendation No 6 Engagement with the business sector was less successful, but needs to be addressed. For example, the new EU and Government targets on waste now focus on municipal as opposed to just household waste. It is recommended to the Executive Board that further action be taken to encourage recycling in respect of the business sector.Recommendation No 7 The Carbon Trust have undertaken a survey of the main Council offices and identified significant savings that could be made subject to certain actions being implemented at a small cost to the Authority. It is recommended to the Executive Board that officers explore the implementation of the action plan produced by the Carbon Trust.
The Central Area Committee of Rochford District Council met at Greensward College on Wednesday night. There was some interesting stuff; hopefully this post will give a flavour of the meeting….
The venue was spacious, and the sound system worked well. About 18 members of the public turned up. The only disappointment was that only 7 District Councillors from Hockley, Hullbridge and Hawkwell turned up, out of a possible 13 or 14.
The first question from the floor was from Marlene Curtis from the British Horse Society. She asked if there had been any progress on creating a route for horses on the western side of Clements Hall . The answer was that no scheme had been drawn up in detail yet; there was an opportunity for the BHS to get involved.
There was then a report from Acting Chief Inspector Andy Parkman on “Crime and Disorder in Hawkwell , Hockley and Hullbridge”. A police researcher has recently left and had not yet been replaced, so there was not as much data available as usual, but he had the following figures for the whole district:
There was then quite a long debate about Hawkwell Parish Council’s plans for a teen shelter. Hawkwell District Councillor Heather Glynn was quite critical of the District Council in apparently not making it clearer about whether it needed planning permission.
There was then a very interesting comment from a member of Rochford District Youth Council (Lucy?) who said that she lived in Hockley and worked in the chip shop and that there were no more young people on the streets in Hockley now that the Bowling Alley had opened.
Patrick Mckenna, the council’s environment and woodlands officer, then gave a presentation on the Cherry Orchard Country Park. There were a lot of good things happening here – 20,000 trees had already been planted to create 6 different woodland areas and there was a 330m long lake. The council was now looking to extend the park both eastwards and westwards – by compulsory purchase order if necessary. The council had already gone out to consultation on what improvements it should carry out first and had had 1500-1600 responses, 81 per cent of which were from over 45s. 62 per cent wanted a car park, 58 per cent wanted toilets. There were going to be further consultations to try to broaden the age rangs of respondents and Hullbridge District Councillor Lesley Butcher said that the Rochford District Youth Council should be consulted.
The maintenance costs of the park are apparenently very low – Mr Mckenna said the cost was about £4000 per year – “the key is to work with nature, not against it”.
Finally there was discussion about the problems of lorries going down Watery Land and Beeches Road. This is actually an odd thing to be discussing at the Central Area Committee as both roads are in Rawreth. The committee decided to ask the cabinet to put some pressure on County Highways to do something, and to make it a specific agenda item for next time when County Highways were due to attend. From the audience Chris Black asked if Alistir Matthews could be invited to attend, as he was the Chairman of Rawreth Parish Council….
We are Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners in Rochford District.
We want to improve local decision-making and we see onlineFOCUS as a good way of keep residents informed and involved.
Please click here to email us .
Ron Oatham
Trevor Parrett
Bruce Smart
Chris Stanley
Pam Waldie
Elena Black
If you want information on a particular planning application, you can find it on the District Council website here.
If you want to know what new planning applications have been submitted this week, click here.
If you want to report a problem, you can email Lib Dems councillors by clicking here.
There's also an independent website called FixMyStreet. It's very good for reporting minor street problems like holes in the road, grafitti or failed streetlights. You can find FixMyStreet here.
Rochford District Council carries out grass cutting on behalf of the County Council.
If you see a grass verge that badly needs cutting, you can report it
here.
This is the official master document for planning policy in our district! To download it, click here
click here. (2.5mb)
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