Tag Archives: Braiswick

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

Fords Lane playground refurbishment consultation

Fords Lane Playground Consultation

Colchester residents are being encouraged to take part in a consultation to help choose the design for a new playground facility to be installed off Fords Lane in Mile End.

We are carrying out the refurbishment of the children’s playground and want local residents to choose the final design.

The existing playground will be replaced with new challenging play equipment which provides an exciting play experience for the local community along with new safety surface and seating.

We are now asking local residents to vote for which design they like best from a shortlist of four different companies.

Please visit www.colchester.gov.uk/fordslane to vote.

The project is funded by Section 106 money (contributions requested from major developers towards community facilities).  The consultation will close on Monday 19 September 2016.

The results will be announced during October 2016

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

Waste survey for Colchester

Colchester Council is currently running a consultation to look at potential improvements you may wish to see made to the current waste and recycling collections across Colchester. In order to respond to the survey online please use the link below:

www.colchester.gov.uk/recyclingsurvey

Dominic Graham said “I urge all residents to visit the website and take part in this survey, to ensure we can help shape the future service to be even more effective”.

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

Mile End Community Funding – How you voted on the £4000

Mile End Community Funding

Over 400 people voted on how they wanted us to spend the £4000 community funding in Mile end. The money was split on 3 projects based on how you voted.

1. £2000 will be spent on new tree planting in Mile End.
2. £1500 will be spent on new playground equipment which will be used on the Mile End Playing fields area off Fords Lane.
3. £500 was awarded for new sports equipment for Queen Boudica School and Braiswick Academy School. Each school received £250.

Myland School didn’t manage to reply by the deadline, so we have offered them a contribution from our own pockets if they can come up with what Sports equipment they wish to purchase.

Martin Goss, Dominic Graham, Phil Coleman & Anne Turrell

Mile End Road cycle lane update

We have been working hard on your behalf to raise all of the concerns directly to Essex County Council about the cycle lane. The latest design proposes the lane will only be down the west side of the road (odd numbers) rather than split as per the previous design.

The latest proposals from Essex County Council can be seen below in 4 PDF documents below:

PDF1  PDF2  PDF3  PDF4

Work to remove trees will begin on 2nd March on the east side of the road (even numbers) and these trees will be replaced later in the year.

Work on the cycle lane will begin on 7th March and residents may be directly affected by the works. Some driveway access may become blocked or parking inaccessible. Essex County Council have assured us they will write to residents directly.

We must be clear that we are not in support of this cycle lane whatsoever, have never requested it and believe the funding could be better spend on other cycling projects in our area. However, Government have given the £750k of funding to Essex County Council for this specific project and therefore they must spend it only on this project.

If you have any queries or concerns regarding this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards

Martin Goss       Dominic Graham             Phil Coleman          Anne Turrell

Vote how to spend £4000 in Mile End

Thanks for the feedback on the project ideas for the £4k community funding that Martin and Dominic have to spend on projects in Mile End. The ideas have all been suggested by Mile End residents. The vote is now open online for people to choose the winning project.

Please click on the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/W2FR3R6

Martin Goss, Dominic Graham, Phil Coleman & Anne Turrell