Tag Archives: Bergholt Road

Potholes and re-surfacing

One of the biggest issues we are asked about is the state of our roads and those potholes.

Therefore after much reporting and chasing by your local and county councillors we have finally had Bergholt Road resurfaced. We are happy to chase and challenge Essex Highways on your behalf to get improvements carried out and in the last year we have had success with Mill Road, Bergolt Road, Junction 28 and numerous potholes repaired. Please keep reporting and we will keep chasing up for you.

 

Mile End Locality budgets

Each Councillor gets £2,000 to spend in their area.

We have invested in the following:

  • New trees for Mile End to be planted in our open spaces
  • Sports equipment for local Primary schools
  • Bulb planting in two locations in Mile End
  • Sports equipment for children’s holiday camps at First Site
  • A bench on Mill Road by the gym equipment
  • Contribution to the “Community First Responders”
  • Contribution to homeless charities Beacon House and Colchester Night Shelter
  • Sports kit for a football club

David King said “This is a great investment in many worthwhile causes either in our local community or in organisations that help support Mile End residents.”

 

Highways updates for Mile End

All of the pot holes on Turner Road, Mill Road and Northern Approach Road have been reported to Essex County Council for repair.

Bergholt Road is finally set to be resurfaced by Essex County Council in the 2018/19 financial year.

Most of Bakers Lane & all of Spring Lane has now been resurfaced.

UK Power Networks have been chased about the lack of functional lighting on the zebra crossing at the entrance to Bergholt Road.

Mill Road traffic calming design is being costed by Essex County Council & we hope they will shortly publish their proposed design.

Turner Road is set for major resurfacing & stabilization works due to the identified subsidence found by a leaky water main.

Bus lane cameras are also now working on Nayland Road and North Station Road bus lanes so fines will be issued.

David King, Phil Coleman, Martin Goss, Dominic Graham and Anne Turrell

Mile End Team

Reporting crime in Mile End

Colchester’s new Chief Inspector Shaun Kane will be introducing new initiatives to stamp out low-level crime.

When asked by Cllr Coleman at a recent Scrutiny meeting about the non emergency number 101 he made it clear that ALL crimes should be reported.

All reported crimes are recorded and whilst police resources are limited these reports will create a picture of what action is needed in areas of the borough. He made it clear that it was his priority to make communities safe and will be deploying officers where they are needed based on community feedback.

Please report all crimes such as AntiSocial Behaviour, dangerous parking, theft etc on 101.

MIle End roads update!

Mill Road from the Northern Approach Road junction to Myland School end is being resurfaced in August.

Turner Road will be getting partial resurfacing later this year to deal with the continually sinking road.

Spring Lane and part of Bakers Lane is going to be resurfaced later this year.

We are still pushing for resurfacing to occur on Bergholt Road, Three Crowns Road and Kingswood Road (off Turner Road).

Bakers Lane housing proposals

Gladman developments have decided to start consulting the public locally on their aspiration to develop 110 homes on two plots of land off Bakers Lane. Although this site is on the Mile End border in Braiswick it would definitely affect Mile End residents. It is definitely worth feeding back to Gladmans on their housing plan apsirations for Bakers Lane. You can feedback here www.your-views.co.uk/braiswick

 If you want an idea of what to write here is what Cllr Martin Goss submitted:

“The land which has been put forward was submitted during the call for sites by Colchester Council under the next version of the Local Plan. The land was not considered suitable for the next Local Plan and therefore the land was not allocated for housing in the Preferred Options. Incidentally I am Chair of the Local Plan so can speak with experience and conviction from being on the Committee since 2008.

As you will be aware proposals should be determined in accordance with the development plan in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 along with the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF). The site is not allocated in the adopted Local Plan which governs the future development of Colchester. Colchester also has an adequate housing supply for the next 5 years.

Colchester is moving away from piecemeal development which has a cumulative effect on existing communities as a result of increased pressure on infrastructure such as roads, rail, NHS facilties, schools and community centres which your development would not be able to mitigate with the level of housing proposed as section 106 funding would be somewhat limited. To claim that your development could bring major improvements to the local community is both myth and fantasy.

Bakers Lane is already unsuitable for the levels of traffic carried on it daily with it not being a main road on the Essex road network. The road cannot be dualled or upgraded due to the railway line and surrounding public footpaths so the impact cannot be negated when traffic increases by several hundred cars from your proposed development.

Bergholt Road which would be the main route for traffic from this development to traverse North Station is also heavily congested and in the latest developments where 1600 homes are being built between Bergholt Road and Mile End Road no futher traffic access was permitted onto Bergholt Road as Essex County Council already consider this to be at capacity. North Station is also a major area of congestion in Colchester and again would be unsuitable for any further traffic generated by your development.

The listed Lexden dyke also appears to have been dishonestly undersold in your brochure as this area comes with major and merited protection which seems to have been glibly brushed aside with very little mention of the importance of this area.

The only benefit you seem to be trying to sell is some landscaping and a play area. This part of Colchester is already adequately served by play areas with the Bergholt Road play area recently being upgraded at a cost of £80k along with the recently built New Braiswick Park area which is featured on your plan. These play areas already have ample capacity and therefore new ones are not a requirement of the existing local community.

The only people your proposals would aid would be residents of the 110 houses you want to build!

In summary your proposals are premature, desingenuous, inappropriate, opportunist and without foundation or need.

North Colchester is set to take a further 3000 homes over the next 10 to 15 years so any arguments you proposed about housing supply cannot be proven or warranted.

You’ve also overlooked the fact that in 2016 Myland & Braiswick residents overwhelming voted in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan which has now been adopted as part of the Development Plan which carries significant weight in planning terms. Your development fails to identify any need or compliance with the document. Earlier this month the Government issued a Written Statement to Parliament which spells this out clearly. It represents an important policy change and reinforces the role that adopted Neighbourhood Plans, as part of the statutory development plan, can play in decision-making ie that where a planning application conflicts with a neighbourhood plan that has been brought into force, planning permission should not normally be granted.

In summary, there is a gamut of local and planning evidence to see off this proposal.”

Tufnell Way planning appeal dismissed

The Planning Inspector has dismissed the planning appeal for the development of flats at the entrance to Tufnell Way off Bergholt Road.

The planning inspector agreed with many of the points we had raised about this development and has therefore dismissed the appeal. There are now no further grounds to move forwards on the rejected application and a new scheme would need to be submitted via a brand new planning application.

We are very pleased that the application has been dismissed on appeal.

Anne Turrell, Dominic Graham, Phil Coleman & Martin Goss

Tufnell Way Appeal Decision

Highways update

Roads update

County Councillor Anne Turrell has escalated the disgraceful state of Bergholt Road (which potentially will get some resurfacing in 2017/18), Turner Road (which currently has structural issues Essex County Council are trying to address), Kingswood Road and Mill Road. Bakers Lane is also due to be resurfaced this year.

If you have any road condition concerns, please let us know.

Overgrown bushes

A reminder that bushes and vegetation must be kept cut back to the boundary of your property. There are quite a number of areas where pavements are blocked by overgrown trees and bushes which get reported to Essex County Council (ECC).

ECC if forced to cut back private vegetation can charge costs back to the house owner.

If there are any other issues we can assist with, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Anne Turrell, Phil Coleman, Dominic Graham & Martin Goss

Mile End Team

Mile End Highway updates

Turner Road sinking
As you may have seen Turner Road is sinking in places and each time road repairs are undertaken by Essex County Council (ECC) they simply fail. Following our complaints ECC have now agreed to undertake an investigation to find the cause of the issues and implement a long term solution. We will update you once we have further details.
Bakers Lane & Bergholt Road
Essex County Council have confirmed that Bakers Lane will undergo some partial resurfacing this financial year (2016/17) and we are awaiting to see if Bergholt Road has made it to the list.
Mile End Road cycle lane
You may have noticed work starting on the £750,000 Mile End Road cycle lane  by Essex County Council. To be clear, we have objected to this project when we first found out about it and have supported a formal complaint made by the Colchester Cycling campaigners as they don’t support the project either.
We have asked ECC to replace all trees which have been removed and also suggested places where further trees should be put in along Mile End Road. The pinch point at the bottom of Mile End Road is also not yet resolved and we are pushing for ECC to share the designs for this area.
Martin Goss, Dominic Graham, Phil Coleman & Anne Turrell

Propelair Way/Bergholt Road station cycle path repairs

After over a year of the team consistently chasing Essex County Council whom at one stage even denied owning the cycle path, it has finally been repaired. The cycle path was subsiding and in a poor state of repair.
We of course continue to chase the poor state of Bergholt Road, along with Turner Road, Mill Road and Kingswood Road which need urgent and long lasting repairs.

If there are any other issues you wish to raise with us, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Regards

Martin Goss, Dominic Graham, Phil Coleman & Anne Turrell