Save North Stifford Village

Clockhouse Lane, Guardian Avenue, Elvin Drive, Birchfield Avenue, and Harrington Crescent all have existing traffic concerns.

These roads suffer from congestion, inadequate speed limit zoning, some low and no curbs, inadequate traffic calming, insufficient parking, inadequate road width, and inappropriate use of private roads.

A near 100% increase in traffic from residents, in addition to visitors, commercial interests (care home visitors, workers, and deliveries), and local traffic using 'new access' routes would make the area regularly impassible.

New access would intensify the use of existing accesses onto the B186.

There is no pedestrian crossing at the roadabout of B186 and A1306 to link the site with the other walking paths to the local supermarket and onto the train station and Lakeside.

Parking on the local roads is already difficult and with little provision for additional parking for the new proposed houses and care home for residents and visitors will make the situation much worse.

Local bus services are limited and have just been reduced further with the withdrawal of services for the number 11 and 374 bus routes.

Local c2c train station single plaform is overcrowded at Chafford Hundred station at peak times.

The development offers no considerable benefits to the environment, residents, or health.

Removal of trees and grassed areas on this Green Belt Land, will reduce CO² absorbed.

A near 100% increase in estate size will increase levels of CO², CO, and refrigerants in the local air.

Local air quality is already poor, with elevated levels of particulates carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide from A13, M25 & Pilgrims Lane.

Tree removal and a near 100% increase in estate size will lead to increases in noise pollution from local roads and intensified traffic flow.

The High Road already sees elevated traffic with many of the historic buildings of note harmed by heightened traffic flow.

Removal of Green Belt grassland will have a detrimental impact on local wildlife.

Among their numbers are several protected species: Badgers, Adders, Slow worms, Stag beetles, and Garden Tiger Moths.

Other species that make their home here: Bats, Merlins, Sparrowhawks, Buzzards, Bush crickets, Glow worms, Green Woodpeckers, Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, and Breeding fox populations.

The Garden Tiger Moth in particular has seen an 89% decline in the UK in recent years. It is now a protected species under the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).

Access to primary health care, including dentists, is currently at a premium in Grays, Chafford Hundred, and Thurrock. Adding a further 97 residences and a care home will place additional strain on an already stretched resource.

Primary and Secondary school admission places are at a premium for residents already in North Stifford. Adding a further 97 residences places further strain on these resources.

Essex Police are stretched and have existing issues with anti-social behavior in the village. The Police are currenntly struggling to provide high-visibility patrolling and response times are not optimal.

Council Waste Management services are not being provided at consistent levels. For months garden waste was not collected. Bins are often collected late. Expansions in housing will place a further strain on these stretched resources.

A large 3-story care home that is designed like the civic hall is not in keeping with the local area and will require a car park + commercial deliveries which will intensify existing road use.

Adding nearly 100 homes to an already densely populated area, will increase the likelihood of anti-social behavior.

There are also concerns with the association of park area playgrounds and their link with crime as crime generators.

The SUDs drainage pond provides an area of open water, which may present safety issues for unsupervised children.

Placement of a care home for elderly and vulnerable persons next to Pilgrims Lane and the A13 may present serious safety considerations for disorientated residents inadvertently unsupervised.

There has been a lack of engagement from the developer and the residents have instead been working as a community to collate their feedback

A flyer was distributed to a selection of residents. Not every villager was made aware of the planning application or the intention to develop the village lands.

The developer's website only received 214 views whereas the resident's website has received over 300 views and counting after a few days

The developer only received 57 responses to their consultation whereas the resident's petition has received over 230 signatures and counting after a week.

There has been no clear admission as to what future developments are intended.