🏡Castle Point Borough Council has published a draft of the Castle Point Plan.
At a meeting on the 23 July, Castle Point Borough Council members will decide whether to approve the Plan for an eight-week public consultation. The Castle Point Plan will replace the outdated 1998 Local Plan and sets out the vision for the Borough and where development should take place from April 2026 to March 2043.
In response to the unveiling of the draft, Rebecca said:
"I am pleased that Castle Point have finally released their draft local plan, although a lot of the content leaves me concerned.
"It is good to see that none of the Green Belt sites that local residents clearly treasure are included in the plan for housing development. Now the Council really must spare no expense in putting a strong and fully evidenced case together, to defend it falling short of the Labour Government’s housing target by 45%. As ludicrous as that housing target is, unless a watertight case is presented by the Council against it, the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is likely to intervene and we will see all the potential Green Belt site allocations given to developers anyway. That is the worst of all worlds.
"I am particularly worried that it appears the Council have not included a viable supply of brownfield housing sites for the first five years of the plan. That would be the best legal weapon to finally see off the speculative development on Green Belt that has been plaguing Castle Point for years. That needs to be looked at again as a matter of urgency.
"I am also very concerned that the Council are planning for over 3,300 new homes on Canvey Island alone. The island’s road network simply won’t be able to take it. The Council should never have abandoned work on my Canvey West Access Taskforce (the third road) three years ago as we could have actually seen a third road delivered in the timeframe of this plan, rather than a vague promise of another transport feasibility study.
"Putting together a local plan isn’t easy or the Council would have had one in place years ago, but I have never been shy of speaking out against plans I don’t think are right for our Borough either. I have deep concerns that if you scratch below the surface this draft plan doesn’t do enough to defend our Green Belt in the face of the Labour Government’s housing targets and it puts far too much pressure on our local infrastructure, particularly on Canvey. I hope the Council will revise the plan with this in mind and that all local residents will make their views known to their local councillors."
To read Rebecca's full position on the Local Plan, follow the link: www.rebeccaharris.org/new-draft-local-plan-2023-2043
