Getting Real

Getting Real – Countryside Starts Local Campaign

Horses on Pilgrims Hatch side of A12

Local residents knew it was getting real when, just before mid-April they received postal invitations from Countryside’s project team to a ‘consultation’. This was to give residents an opportunity to view draft plans for the R16  plot(s) from the Local Development Plan.  This took place on 17th April in the Brentwood Town FC Clubhouse. It afforded those attending an opportunity to ask searching questions of the several, quite senior, project team members attending.

What We (Think We) Learnt

The proposal includes:

Horses Field

Countryside Proposal for the Horses Field
Countryside Proposal for the Badger Sett on the Horses Field
  • 182 homes on the Horses Field
  • Retention of the majority of the hedgerows on the Horses Field (but probably the ‘lawnification’ of the rest of the land).
  • A protected location for the “artificial” badger sett that will be close to the A12 rather than in the middle of the field near the ditch where their “real” sett is located (see right).
  • Three-storey apartment blocks located near the A12 would be the only sound barrier protecting the rest of the site.  These will have a high level of sound suppression built in with A12 facing windows not being able to be opened.  Main living spaces would be facing into the development site.
  • A significant proportion of the ‘affordable housing’ would be located in these blocks.
  • A large ‘Attenuation Basin’ in the area adjacent to Doddinghurst Road and existing Elizabeth Road properties.  These are designed to cope with excess rainfall which might otherwise find its way  into the sewers with the risk of sewage escaping into the built environment.  In principle this is a good thing but they come with their own problems if not well maintained as has happened in this estate.

Wet Woodland

Countryside Proposal for the Wet Woodland
  • Retained as a green space with some ‘improvement’ including a pathway meandering around it.
  • It is their intention to thin out many of the trees creating ‘open space glades’ where “existing grassland & vegetation (will be) improved or removed & then area sown with diverse seed mix to encourage butterflies, bees & insects”.
  • The surrounding grey areas will retain the existing “dense vegetation”.
  • Existing badger setts to be left intact but protected with a low ‘fence’ (denoted by the two ‘islands’ of grey in the plan above).

Biodiversity Net Gain

  • To be provided within R16 (probably mostly the woodland) and, apparently, protected for up to 30 years.
  • Asked about populations of insects such as Bees on the Horse Field there appeared to be little awareness (solitary bees, likely to be present there, are among the most efficient pollinators and loss of the habitat could be problematic for local farmers).

Traffic

  • The Traffic Planner present was asked about what surveys had been taken.  Apparently their plans are based on a single survey undertaken in December 2022 at peak traffic times.  This is fine in principle but

Pedestrian & Cycle Connections

  • Words, but no obvious plan, to suggest provision of new pedestrian and cycle connections, inclusive of pushchairs, wheelchairs and mobility scooters.  The intention for this seems to be for them to lead to Doddinghurst Road but another option might be through Windsor Road to Ongar Road.

Event Banners

You can view the Event Banners from which some of the above images were drawn, in PDF form here.

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