Before 2010 ends bulldozers will be churning up the two meadows on the north-western boundary of Wickford, bordered by Jubilee Drive, Station Avenue, Clovelly Gardens and Guernsey Gardens. A beautiful landscape extending down from Downham Church right into the heart of our town, along centuries old paths and mediaeval lanes, with its ancient hedgerows, glorious flowers and abundant wildlife will be lost - for ever!

Gleeson Homes Ltd and Gladedale Ltd have now firmed up their detailed building plans for this peaceful and natural ‘oasis’ and submitted them to the Basildon Council for approval. Local residents have one last opportunity to ‘have their say’ and to try to influence the plans before the bulldozers arrive.


152 new houses and flats will completely change north-western Wickford and many lovely views

Wickford North Green Action Group (WNGAG) have been working ‘behind the scenes’ to ensure what is built is the most suitable development for this part of Wickford and its residents. We are pleased that Gleeson and Gladedale have listened to what we had to say. Their plans are now very different from their first ones in 2006. This is how they’re now shaping up:

• 152 dwellings, 146 of which are (either 3 or 4 bedroom) houses and 6 (2 bedroom) flats;
• 35% of the 152 dwellings are affordable housing, tied to the East of England plan;
• Building starts in November 2010 at the northern end of the two fields and lasts till December 2013;
• Vehicle access from Station Avenue via a right fork just past the Silver Way junction (with the northern end of Station Avenue remaining a cul-de-sac with the existing footpath as access to the new estate);
• No access from the end of Jubilee Drive, where the existing pond will be cleaned up and fenced off;
• Trees covered by Protection Orders and most hedges retained and protected by fencing during building. Hedges will be trimmed back to a width of 3.5 metres, plus a buffer corridor of 2.5 metres, then the fence;
• Reptiles will be moved to a safe area within an adjacent field - beginning on 14 June 2010;
• An archaeological survey will take place in the autumn of 2010. WNGAG has been invited to participate.
  

View the plans in detail, the conditions imposed on them AND submit comments to the Council

You can see the detailed building plans and the conditions imposed on this development by visiting the planning department of Basildon Council or on their website by following the link on our Take Action page.

These are some of the concerns which have already been voiced to WNGAG:

• Will the planned drainage and sewerage systems cope?
• What’s being done to the Jubilee Drive pumping station (with its long history of problems before refurbishment in 2009)?
• Will the gap being made through the hedge to enable access to the pumping station (and then re-planted with shrubs) subsequently provide an easy, unauthorised access to Jubilee Drive and shouldn’t a new fence be erected there?
• Are the proposed wooden benches a good idea as (sadly) they’ll soon attract anti-social behaviour along the lines of what happened at the High Street end of Station Avenue with the (now removed) bench and the new bus shelter?
• Should there be parking restrictions, even for just an hour a day, to deter commuters?
• Are the garage doors wide enough to facilitate modern cars?

We urge North Wickford residents to continue to check Basildon Council website for future applications regarding this or other developments

WNGAG’s work as an Action Group has now reached its natural conclusion. We have been privileged to lead the community in Wickford North in their opposition to this development. We won the first ‘battle’ in 2008 when Basildon Council rejected the initial application; we won the second ‘battle’ in 2008 when the Planning Inspector agreed that Barn Hall should not be built on; but we then lost the ‘war’ later that year when the (then) Government stepped in and the (then) Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears, over-ruled that decision and dictated that this green land should be sacrificed to meet building targets. Secretaries of State come and go; Governments come and go; targets come and go; and in 2010 we now have a Government promising that local councils and communities will have greater freedom (from central interference) and the power to decide where new homes will, and will not be, built. But, sadly, this has come too late for Barn Hall. These two fields will certainly be built on between late 2010 and 2013. We sincerely hope that they will be the only two fields that are built on and that the remainder of the glorious countryside at Barn Hall will survive for the enjoyment of future residents of North Wickford.

Save in exceptional circumstances, WNGAG is unlikely to be updating this website or distributing its Leaflets again. Our advice to residents is, therefore, to ‘keep an eye’ on Basildon Council’s website to check if and when more applications are made in respect of this or future developments. Residents in Jubilee Drive, Silver Way, Station Avenue, Clovelly Gardens and Guernsey Gardens are directly affected by the building work on these two fields up to 2013. But, if there are subsequent planning applications for the wider site owned by the same developers, residents in many more streets in North Wickford will be affected. Do, please, speak up and object if anything concerns you. Follow the guidance and link on our Take Action page.