Wickford North - Barn Hall

At the planning meeting on Tuesday 12th February at Bromfords School, the council rejected the proposal. The developers appealed, and the hearing was held over four days from 24th to 27th June in Basildon.

The main arguments put forward by the developers at the 4 day hearing were that Basildon Council were in breach of their obligations in reference to planning regulations, and showed a serious failure to address these problems. The Council's advocate admitted this was the case.

The decision was announced on 17th October. The planning Inspector recommended that the appeal be rejected, but this was over-ruled by the Secretary of State, and planning permission has been granted! (Planning Inspectorate website APP/V1505/A/08/2063131)

Now that the appeal has gone against the Council, will the Leader do the honourable thing and resign? We doubt it!

The latest news is that the Council are appealing against the decision, and this will be heard in the High Court sometime in 2009.

Wickford Action Group view

Beauty spot fight is lost 20 October 2008
Barn Hall fate in balance 2 July 2008
Resident's concern for town's green lung 26 June 2008
Use Land for housing targets, inquiry told 25 June 2008
Can people power prevail in the battle of Barn Hall? 24 June 2008
Setback for green belt campaigners 17 January 2008
We will get masterplan AND Barn Hall homes 22 February 2008
200 homes plan thrown out - for now 14 February 2008

The proposal is to build up to 200 houses on the southern part of the plot, at the top end of Station Avenue, and an outline planning application was submitted on 26 June 2007, 07/00801/OUT. There are 75 accompanying documents on the council website, but of the 46 page main document, 20 pages are 'too large for the website' and have to be personally viewed at the council offices. Responses had to be submitted by 31 August 2007, and many many objections were submitted, but apparently to no avail now that the council have been bypassed!

The 75 documents are comprehensive, and the developer has clearly put in a lot of effort in order to maximize his chances of success - there is a lot at stake here, not just the 200 homes on two fields, but also the potential of 1,500 homes on the rest of the site, which they already own. We in the Wickford Action Group are very much opposed to the development, and will be studying the documents to see how best to submit our objections.

See also Echo article 28 June 2007

History of the development
The developer's agent, Andrew Martin Associates, put the proposals to local residents at three meetings in December 2006, to ask for feedback.

On 10th January 2007 a public meeting was arranged by Basildon Council at Barn Hall Community Centre, where more than 300 residents turned up to discuss the plans, and hear about the campaign organised by Peter Boynes. A report of the meeting was in the Southend Echo. A further meeting, also organised by Basildon Council, was held on 13th August, and was attended by about 200 people, see Echo report

Basildon and Wickford councillors explained that they are very much against the proposals, and this viewpoint was unanimous. However, they explained that if the proposal is rejected, it would go to appeal, where the Secretary of State for Local Government would make the final decision. If this went in favour of the development, it would almost certainly be followed by plans for up to 1,300 more homes on the site. So the campaign group emphasised the need for all residents to register their objections.

The big question is why did Basildon Council fail to get the Local Development Plan implemented, which every other authority, including Chelmsford, managed to do. This would have designated the land as green belt and this would not have been an issue. It is all very well the Council supporting the protest committee now, but we need adequate answers about the local plan, and not the embarrassing waffle from councillors which we heard at the meeting.

Description of the initial proposal
Gleeson and GladeDale jointly bought the land prior to 1998 as agricultural land from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, speculating that that it would sooner or later be designated as building land.

In due course, the 1998 Local Plan designated the land for development after 2001. However, the revised Draft Local Plan of 2005 put this land back into Green Belt. Due to an oversight by either central government's Planning Inspectorate or the local planning department, this revised Local Plan was not ratified, and the land will remain as designated for development until at least 2011.


North Wickford showing Barn Hall	Proposal for the initial development

as it looks now

Basildon District Council and Chelmsford Borough Council are firmly opposed to the development (Chelmsford are responsible for Runwell, which borders on the plot), which would have a significant impact on the area if implemented. Click the picture left, which shows the site from the end of Clovelley Gardens, the second field can be seen in the distance.

The exhibition and the literature on the Andrew Martin website, emphasizes that whilst this is just a proposal looking for ideas and feedback, the implication is that it is just a matter of time before this land is developed. One of the documents is titled 'The Masterplan', but this part of Wickford is outside of the Wickford Masterplan, and it seems the aim is to mislead us into thinking it is included in the 'agreed' council plans, which it most certainly is NOT.

The Likely Outcome:

When an application is made, it will undoubtedly be turned down by the council.
It will then go to appeal, where again objections can be submitted, and then a decision will be made by the Secretary of State for Local Government.
If the appeal is granted, the developer will then have to pay back to the government part of the profit that the land has accrued since it was purchased, a further incentive for the government to approve.

The Wickford Action Group view:
There were many objections raised at the initial exhibition in December 2006, and at the two public meetings, many from people living on the edge of the development. Whilst this is quite understandable, the objections from our group are based on the following:

This development offers no improvement to the existing facilities. The roads are already over-congested at peak times, and any new housing can only make it worse. The representatives at the exhibition did not seem to be aware of any problems, and indeed their 'Traffic Analysis' indicates no problems! Doctors and dentists are already hard to find, but no extra health care facilities are included in the proposal.
We agree with the Wickford North Green Action Group that building on this 'green lung' would be a sad loss of open space in Wickford.
The 200 home development is the 'thin end of the wedge', and if approved would almost certainly be followed up by a massive 1,500 plot.
The council's buzzword is 'sustainability', but how this development fits within this description is beyond our comprehension.

Now that we have had the Planning Appeal (24 to 27 June 2008), it has become clear that Basildon Council have been thoroughly incompetent in their handling of planning regulations in the last ten years, in particular

Failure to introduce a Local Development Framework and timetable
Failure to meet housing targets
S106 agreements not fit for purpose
Mismanagement in the supply of affordable housing
Wrong mix of accommodation types (eg mostly flats in Wickford)
Mishandling of the status of the land at Barn Hall, special reserve or green belt
Poor interpretation and implementation of government planning rules

Our hope is that the government inspector’s recommendations will not be influenced by the council’s gross incompetency, and will base his decision on what to our mind is the key issue:

The residents of the town don’t want this development,
and the council don’t want it.

If you feel that Wickford is already over-developed and oppose additional housing development, then please click Have your say to add your comments to this website. You can view other people's views by clicking on Comments

Site last updated: December 25, 2008