A campaigner's plans to put the brakes on thousands of homes coming to Rochford has failed.

The High Court has rejected a challenge by Linda Kendall, of the Rayleigh Action Group, who was seeking to quash one of Rochford District Council’s key planning documents.

Senior councillors have hailed the news as 'excellent news' for Rochford residents.

The challenge was against “the Site Allocations Plan document”, which guides long-term development and is one of the documents against which planning applications are determined.

It allocates land for a range of uses, including housing and employment development; as well as allocating amenity land so that it is protected from development. It is required to conform to the Rochford Core Strategy, and includes the allocation of specific sites for development in the general locations previously identified through the Core Strategy in 2011.

A member of the public launched a legal challenge against the adoption of the Allocations Plan earlier this year; claiming consultation on the Plan and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (a background document that accompanies the plan) was inadequate.

The Claim considered whether consultation on the Allocations Plan had met the requirements set out in both the Government’s regulations, and the Council’s own Statement of Community Involvement (the Council’s own policy which commits it to going beyond the national consultation requirements). In his judgement, the Honourable Justice Lindblom said: “In my view, in the light of the evidence before the court, the Council did not breach any of the requirements of section 19(3) and regulation 18 when preparing and adopting the Allocations Plan. It complied with them all. The inspector’s conclusions to that effect were not only reasonable; they were also, I believe, right.”

The Council received nearly 9,000 responses over the two stages of the consultation on the Allocations Plan, in addition to the responses made to the Rochford Core Strategy (a separate plan that came before the Allocations Plan, and to which the Allocations Plan is required to conform). Consultation events on the Rochford Core Strategy and Allocations Plan included public meetings; public exhibitions (manned and unmanned); school workshops; newsletters; leafleting; and mailshots, as well as extensive use of our online consultation system.

The judgment means that the Allocations Plan remains in place in full and will continue to be used to manage development proposals coming forward in the District.

Rochford District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, Councillor Ian Ward, said: “This is excellent news for all the District’s residents. I appreciate that some people are opposed to any further development of our District, but removing the Allocations Plan would not have taken away the requirement for the District to ensure that land is available for homes and employment.

“With the Core Strategy and Allocations Plan in place, we can ensure that there is significant local control over the type and location of development; and we, in conjunction with the statutory authorities for Education, Transportation, Health, Water and Drainage will be able to ensure that the appropriate infrastructure is provided in conjunction with these new developments. This is – as I am sure everybody can agree – preferable to a building “free for all” across the District.”

Rochford District Council’s Deputy Leader, Councillor Keith Hudson, added: “It is regrettable that this Council has been forced to defend a legal action which has cost us so much time and tax payers’ money. We now need to all work together to ensure that the District of Rochford is provided with the best possible new housing, employment opportunities and fine parks and open spaces complemented by the appropriate infrastructure. This will ensure a future full of prosperity and surety of which we can all be proud. “

 

For the full story, plus reaction from Ms Kendall, see Monday's Echo