November 3rd, 2009 |
Rayleigh Town Centre Is Next
We had the following message from onlinefocus regular ST1 today:
Did anyone see this item in the Echo, relating to development ideas for Rayleigh town centre? Is this some kind of formal request for suggestions, and if so, how do they intend communicating it with the residents?
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/4708040.What_ideas_have_you_got_for_town_centre_/
The answer is yes, we saw it.
What’s happening is that, just like Hockley and Rochford, the District Council will be carrying out a consultation on how to improve Rayleigh Town Centre soon. We will be wriying more when it appears on the council website, possibly in a few days time.
We very much hope that our readers will respond to the consultation when it starts- the document is quite long but pretty thoughtful ,and is worth looking at.
The Town Centre study in Hockley has caused a great deal of strife – we hope Rayleigh’s one goes more smoothly because:
By the way, this study was at Chris Black’s suggestion – the Council originally planned to do studies for Hockley and Rochford only. But Chris didn’t think Rayleigh should be ignored for the next 10 years, there were government funds available to pay for the consultants, and Terry Cutmore the Conservative leader readily agreed.
And the article in the Echo refers to ideas from the Chamber of Trade – not the council consultants.
Ron Oatham
Trevor Parrett
Bruce Smart
Chris Stanley
Pam Waldie
Elena Black
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
This is the official master document for planning policy in our district! To download it, click here
November 4th, 2009 at 08:11
Chris, you have made some interesting comparisons with Hockley. Another one is the way RDC have approached these action plans.
From your description, it seems Rayleigh has been given a number of fundamental options, in a similar way to Rochford, whereas Hockley has only ever been given 6 masterplans ranging from 60-90% redevelopment of the village centre. Such choice!
Why has Hockley been treated so very differently to Rayleigh and Rochford? May be RDC have learnt lessons and Hockley should go back to stage one?
The Core Strategy and HAAP also mispresent the situation. The CS says “The Retail & Leisure Study indicates Hockley has great potential”. The study actually says “Hockley does not lend itself to classification as a ’town centre’ ” and “we recommend that focus be maintained on developing Hockley’s
existing strengths, rather than retail expansion”
Hockley certainly needs revitalisation and we hope RDC will recognise the two separate polls rejecting their proposals with 95% majorities. Hockley would like to be treated the same as Rayleigh and Rochford and given the chance to find appropriate solutions. Good luck to Rayleigh with your Action Plan.
November 5th, 2009 at 09:11
Who will be consulted? Will members of the Town Council be or members of the public. We hold out breath in anticipation.
November 6th, 2009 at 07:11
Bruce, it will be open to the public…..
November 6th, 2009 at 02:11
It’s on the council website now”