Herongate and Ingrave Issue 17 HUGE DEVELOPMENTS ON THE HORIZON FOR LOCAL REGIONS BRENTWOOD LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (LDP) – CONSULTATION 2016 Following a debate to provide a new consultation on the LDP a meeting was held at Brentwood Town Hall in January. See page 2 for more details. Lower Thames Crossing Consultation Proposed new river crossing – consultation is now open. See page 3 for details. Now you can have your say! WE NEED ACTION NOW – MAKE YOUR VIEWS COUNT! 1 www.herongateandingravepc.org.uk BRENTWOOD LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN CONSULTATION 2016 As Chair of Herongate & Ingrave Parish Council, I attended a recent debate at the Town Hall to hear about the Local Development Plan 2016 (LDP). These are the relevant points taken from the agenda. Extracts taken from BBC, Agenda item 13 – 27/1/2016 Brentwood Borough Council (BBC) is required by law to produce a new Local Development Plan. Consultations have previously been conducted in 2013 and 2015 and have been considered as part of the plan making process. The Draft Local Plan has been prepared and public consultation is required. A six-week consultation is proposed to commence from Wednesday 10 February 2016 to end on Wednesday 23 March 2016. The Draft Plan has been produced within the context of multiple spatial options for how and where new development can be most sustainably located. The proposed spatial strategy has taken into account the Borough’s character (which includes the various villages set amongst countryside, surrounding market town and its suburban areas) and infrastructure links (transport corridors around A12 and A127. BBC have identified four areas, whilst considering their development needs: Rural North, A12 Corridor, Rural South and the A127 Corridor. The Borough have suggested there is a need to build 362 new homes per year for 20 years, significantly more than when the now abolished East of England Plan target for Brentwood Borough (175 new homes per year). The Borough are required to have the Local Development Plan completed by March 2017. At the debate it was stated clearly that failure to complete will result in the Government’s Building Inspectorate imposing locations for new homes without consulting the residents. Your views are important; having a say will shape where you live and the future of Brentwood as a whole. For that reason you NEED to register. Without registering you will not be kept up to date. Please register your interest by sending an email to [email protected] For those residents who have already registered with BBC for previous consultations Brentwood Borough Council will be providing information directly. If you wish to know more about the Draft Local Plan email: [email protected] BBC will also be providing information via their own website: http://www.brentwood.gov.uk/ Also in libraries, local newspapers and drop in centres (dates to be confirmed) Also follow our posts on our website: www.herongateandingravepc.org.uk Herongate and Ingrave Parish Council Facebook. By Cllr. Alan Kingsford, Chair, Herongate & Ingrave Parish Council. Lower Thames Crossing Consultation (Extracts from Highways website - https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/lower-thames-crossing-route-options) Overview Highways England is consulting on proposals for a new road crossing of the River Thames connecting Kent and Essex. A new crossing is needed to reduce congestion at the existing Dartford crossing and unlock economic growth, supporting the development of new homes and jobs in the region. There are important choices to be made and your views on the proposals presented here will inform the decision later this year on the route and crossing location. Please take the time to read the supporting material or attend an event (see links below)** and provide us with your comments using our questionnaire. Background For over 50 years, the Dartford Crossing has provided the only road crossing of the Thames east of London. Congestion and closure of the existing crossing occurs frequently and this, together with a lack of alternative transport links, creates significant disruption and pollution. The introduction of electronic payments has recently improved traffic flow and journey times but does not address the need for increased capacity, already at 50 million vehicles a year. A new crossing would not only benefit the region but the whole of the UK, providing better journeys, enabling growth and building for the future. 2 www.herongateandingravepc.org.uk Lower Thames Crossing Consultation A new crossing Following a series of studies and a public consultation in 2013, the Government commissioned Highways England, the operator of the country’s motorways and major roads, to consider options at two locations. These are shown on the map shown here - at the site of the current crossing, Location A, or a new crossing location further east, known as Location C. At both locations we have developed engineering solutions and assessed them taking into account the significant growth and development plans for the region. At Location C, three potential route options have been identified north of the river in Essex and two south of the river in Kent. The purpose of this consultation …We are proposing a scheme which, in our view, best matches the objectives and balances the needs of road users, the community, the environment and business. Through this consultation we are inviting you to provide your views and comments on our proposals. Your views will be taken into consideration before a final decision is made by the Government later this year. Consultation closes on 24 March 2016. We have developed three routes north of the river and two routes south of the river which meet the scheme objectives and on which we are seeking your views. Have your say This consultation is your opportunity to comment on our proposals. We will take your views into account as we finalise our recommendation to the Department for Transport. To have your say about our proposal please fill in our consultation questionnaire*** The questionnaire highlights the specific areas on which we are seeking you feedback, however you also have the opportunity to comment on any aspect of the proposals. Consultation is taking place between 26 January and 24 March 2016 11:45pm. Join us at one of our events** View the proposals** We have organised Public Information Events where members of our team will be on hand to answer your questions. All of the consultation documents will be available to view at those events. What happens next? Your responses to this consultation will be analysed and incorporated into our final recommendation to the Department for Transport. We are expecting Government to make an announcement later this year to confirm the route, location and type of crossing. Important Website addresses: *Full Contents Lower Thames Crossing Website: https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/cip/lower-thames- crossing-consultation **Consultation events: https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/cip/lower-thames-crossing-consultation/ user_uploads/lower-thames-crossing-consultation-public-information-events.pdf ***Online Survey: https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/cip/lower-thames-crossing 3 www.herongateandingravepc.org.uk OFSTED SAY “GOOD” TO INGRAVE PLAYGROUP Ingrave Playgroup is an Ofsted registered preschool. We are passionate about play as young children learn We provide childcare for 2, 3 and 4, year old children. by playing. We always have a wide range of suitable We have places available throughout the week and 2, hands-on preschool activities freely available for 3 and 4 year old funding is available. The preschool is children: sand, water, painting, puzzles and games located in St Nicholas Church Hall and is open construction dressing up and a home corner etc. This Monday to Friday during term time. My name is ensures all areas of learning are well supported and Stephanie Collins and I am an Early Years children develop independence and self-esteem as Professional. I have owned and managed the they choose what to play. The preschool’s securely playgroup for the last 14 years. We recently had our fenced outside area leads directly on from the hall. Ofsted inspection and were delighted to receive a We go outside every day so children benefit from fresh “Good”. I would like to share some of the inspector’s air and physical exercise. They love to play in the large comments with you and tell you a little about the sand pit, ride the bikes and feed the guinea pig. preschool. “Staff work hard to transform the room into a “The provider is passionate about providing the best stimulating welcoming environment for all outcomes for every child”. (Ofsted, 2015). children” (Ofsted, 2015) Ofsted praised us for the excellent relationships we My team of experienced practitioners are well build with children and their parents. The first few qualified so they understand how children develop years of a child’s life is so important, as early and learn. This means they are able to plan individual development underpins future learning. I feel very activities to support children’s next steps in learning privileged that we are able to play a small in this. At and effectively move them on. Children’s safety is Ingrave playgroup we take lots of care to learn about taken very seriously and all staff have the proper children and families before they start so that we checks and relevant training including afeguarding know how to make them feel happy, settled and and first aid. secure. “Staff are kind caring and very nurturing. They know “Children are happy and secure. Staff build excellent the children extremely well and ensure they support relationships with them all” (Ofsted, 2015) their individual care and learning needs This relationship starts when families first visit the effectively” (Ofsted, 2015) preschool, meet their key person and we make a If you would like to know more about home visit.