Hello again, I write as the weather turns and we orientate ourselves towards the fast approaching festive season. On the theme of nativity and fear of not being left in a stable, the need for good quality affordable housing is as relevant now as it was 2,000 years ago.
I’ll start from where I left off in my last viewpoint with the alarming decision by the Salvation Army to put forward their land at Hadleigh, which borders Leigh-on-Sea, for options consultation in the Castle Point emerging local plan. To clarify, this is a process whereby landowners put forward their land for appraisal by the local authority, it is not yet determined whether this land will be acceptable for development.
Nevertheless, the fight is on to protect this area of outstanding natural beauty adjacent to the historic monument of Hadleigh Castle, a SSSi, and the beautiful natural landscape that surrounds its majestic setting. Myself and Stuart last week met members of the Save Hadleigh Farm to listen to the key concerns. Such is residents outrage, an 8,000 signature petition of objection was delivered to Castle Point Offices on Friday morning.
The Greenbelt act was implemented for the purpose of stopping urban conurbations from expanding and merging into each other. This is an important factor in keeping openness and a strong sense of place, I strongly believe Hadliegh Farm is sacrosanct and should be protected from what is a completely illogical decision from the SA American HQ to put the land forward for consultation.
Aside from the ancient monument and SSSi, the other stupidity of such a proposal, if it were considered by Castle Point, is that the land is a long way from train stations and public transport hubs, creating more car dependency that will invariably be travelling to the main trunk roads of the A13 and A130. Most of our roads are already at 98% capacity, It would be more logical to develop Land to the West of Castle Point closest to the trunk roads that serve it. This should be Castle Points priority in creating more sustainable transport solutions and acknowledging the need for multi-modal options.
Another important quality in urban design and town planning is the spaces between buildings – The space between Hadleigh and Leigh along the London Road affords an important vista across the landscape to the Thames estuary, giving people a sense of human scale and orientation in the landscape – we all marvel at it and it should remain protected.
Of course, the pen is mightier than the sword, and legislation is mightier than campaigning alone. One way of protecting land from developers is under the localism act whereby residents can form Neighbourhood Planning groups under national planning policy framework (NPPF). ‘Neighbourhood Plans’ can be put forward and, once approved, would be Integrated within local planning policy that ultimately gives residents control over their neighbourhood and how it is developed. Setting one up would be an essential first step. It is also worth mentioning the important publication of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, LNRS, published by Essex County Council of which Hadleigh farm would be essential for Nature and biodiversity recovery.
Of course, we have the same problem in Southend of the increasing population and demand for housing putting pressure on green and inappropriate sites.
Previously I wrote about the council’s decision to drawdown £12 million to built 30 council houses on the questionable location of the former cattery site. Not satisfied with the answers provided, I asked to see the monitoring equipment for noise and air pollution, yet to be seen. Notwithstanding this, reading an article on the 700,000 empty homes in England I made an enquiry into how many empty homes there are in Southend. The answer was around 1,700 and we have a dedicated officer to bring those properties back to market. Our empty homes officer should be commended as this year alone she has thus-far brought 40 to market. My point is that councils should be buying up these empty houses to help address a pressing need for affordable housing in the city. They should also be thinking very carefully where they choose to build, as once developed, land is gone forever. The Green Party maintain building the right houses in the right location, for Southend that has to be higher density around the major transport hubs.
Two weeks ago we approved the long anticipated 557 flats development of Alexander house, a high quality design by reputable architects and adjacent to major bus and train transport hubs. I was asked onto BBC Essex last week as there was much ado about the 0.5 car park space allocation per flat, which would have been zero had it been in central Chelmsford or London. Yet here in Southend, one of the most high density populated areas in Europe with no less than eight mainline London train stations compared to Chelmsford‘s of just one, people are concerned that more parking wasn’t approved. It doesn’t take a mathematician to work out that we can’t keep building hundreds of flats in a concentrated area each with a parking space – Southend, as any other city, doesn’t have the road capacity.
