Last night’s meeting was about a planning application on some Green Belt land north of Hall Road , Rochford. It was an outline application for 600 homes, a new primary school and some new public open space.
The public gallery was full of concerned Rochford residents, with some unable to get in. (They could listen upstairs).Incidentally, the public were impreccably behaved. they were concerned about lots of things, including the loss of greeen fields, increased traffic, and a change in the character of the area.
The key factor in the discussions was that last month the District Council approved the new core strategy, which included 600 new homes in West Rochford! Every Conservative councillor present at the December meeting voted for the strategy. It’s fairly easy to vote for a strategy when the public gallery is virtually empty. It’s not so comfortable when the public gallery is packed with people bitterly unhappy about part of that strategy. The one resident who was allowed to speak, a gentleman from Hall Road, pitched his argument to councillors very well, not acting like a NIMBY but criticising the application in terms of planning policies.
Because the application was simply an outline for the 600 homes / school/ open space, there weren’t any details to discuss, or details that could be used to frame a reason for refusal. All that was really left was three questions.:
The ward councillors were in a difficullt position. Cllr Mrs Lucas-Gill began by admitting that she had voted for the core strategy, but only to stop other predatory developers from swooping on sites. She argued with some passion against the application, especially about the highways impact. Mrs Lucas-Gill then moved refusal on the grounds of “Unsustainability”. She was supported on this by her fellow ward councillors Keith Gordon and James Cottis. Cllr Cottis said that residents shoudl write to complain to the government, and made some comments about the Tory Secretary of State, Eric Pickles.
Mrs Lucas Gill got some support from Hullbridge Green Councillor Michael Hoy, who was probably the councillor who looked most at ease last night – having been elected on a mandate from Hullbridge residents to oppose the core strategy , having opposed the core strategy in the council chamber , he had nothing to be embarrassed about.
However the Rochford Councillors didn’t much support from elsewhere. Chris Black said that it was too late to oppose it on the grounds of sustainability – the time for that was earlier. Though he thought there might be some scope fore refusal on the grounds of prematurity.
In the end the scheme was passed, with only 4 Tories, the Greens and the Rochford Residents Association Councillors voting against. The Tories voted overwhelmingly in favour, Lib Dems either voted in favour of abstained.
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PS When these sites went out for consultation in 2010, the number of objections from the public were roughly as follows:
Land North of London Road, Rayleigh – 196
West Rochford – 16
West Hockley – 481
South West Hullbridge 867
It hasn’t changed the outcome (the District Coucnil has pressed on everywhere despite objections) But why the big difference in the number of responses?
To answer your question, I believe the local residents were not as well prepared as other areas which had residents associations or independent councillors. But it made no difference as all were ignored. No doubt we will see conservative councillors voting against proposals in THEIR area as more plans come forward.
From the officers report, it also looks as if RDC secured funding for road improvements in Southend, but nothing for Rochford district. Another sign of things to come? Presumably our roads are OK?
Its also worth noting that RDC have sneaked out the long overdue summary of April 2010 DPD consultation. Another whitewash, so not sure why they delayed.
Democracy it isn’t.
The turn for embarassment of Green Party Cllrs Michael and Diane Hoy will likely come when the bevy of large developers now understood to be lining up large (and I strongly suspect irrefutable) planning applications for major housing developments wherever they please in Castle Point D.C. in unlimited numbers, green belt or no, due to that authority’s Members failure to approve a Core Strategy.
Had other Members in RDC followed the populist but hugely misguided approach demonstrated by the Green Cllrs Hoy and voted against our RDC Core Strategy and the protection it now offers, that same fate could well have befallen our own District and affected very large numbers of our residents, to the tune of perhaps tens of thousands of new homes being permitted. For information, that would compare with approximately 34000 currently existing and just 250 more required to be permitted each year over the course of the approved RDC Core Strategy.
Could the fear of new homes around the District displayed by the hugely disproportionate number of responses to the RDC Core Strategy eminating from Hullbridge possibly be explained by the Cllrs Hoy failure to mention the downside of their policy of not supporting an approved Core Strategy?
Finally, may I also add my appreciation of the impeccable behaviour of the public that attended, and assure them and all other RDC residents that, when detailed applications arrive for any major developments, I am certain RDC Members of all persuasions will as always rigorously examine those applications to ensure the high design standards we expect in RDC are maintained or exceeded.