Newsletter 14th June

Newsletter 21st June

A recent flyer distributed by UKIP in the Nethermayne Ward addresses the development of Dry Street Pastures. The leaflet is arrogant, totally misleading and reflects a failure to grasp the facts of the case.

The outline planning permission was granted by a Conservative majority but cannot be challenged or revoked by any political group. The only challenge can come from a court of law with a judgement that the decision was unsound. No political party can overturn the decision and to suggest they can is misleading.

The challenge to the scrutiny committee by Linda Allport – Hodge was actually about St Martin’s Square and the change of use. Given that the application for the process had been incorrectly completed by UKIP the chair of the meeting had no choice but to declare there was no case to answer.

It is deeply insulting for the local community and particularly for the GAG2011 committee to read in the leaflet, and I quote ‘You see, its (sic) all well and good being very vocal against any proposal but it takes guts, determination and sheer hard work to go head to head with the Tories’

Well, let me tell you Stephen Hodge that some people in our community have worked for 25 years to save this piece of land from previous development plans. Many others have given their time and energy since 2010 to challenge the latest bid to develop Dry Street Pastures. The community are more than vocal, we are a force to be reckoned with and we will continue to challenge the development plans through the proper channels.

http://www3.basildon.gov.uk/Website2/newsroom.nsf/PRRECENT/F35441F976F1712580257DC60056FCCC?OpenDocument

The Green Action Group GAG2011 have campaigned against the Nethermayne development, and the interdependent plans to build a new college in the town and relocate the market, since the plans were first made public. Despite considerable opposition from the community the three plans have all been passed by Basildon Council either in full or as outline planning permission. GAG have long argued that the housing development on a scheduled local wildlife site (LoWS) is unsustainable and will be damaging to the community, and that the economic and educational gains of the new college have been overstated.

We are extremely surprised to see the agenda of the cabinet meeting for Thursday 8th January which sets out a plan by Basildon Council to acquire properties that have legal rights that may prevent the new college being built in the current market place area. Put another way, the council are proposing to use compulsory purchase powers, and unspecified amounts of public money, to remove the possibility of legal action by property owners who will lose light and access to their premises if the new college is built. Surely Basildon Council must have been aware of this at an earlier stage or are they just making it up as they go along? This, by Basildon Council’s own admission, is a risky financial transaction. In a time of extensive public cuts it appears to be an act of desperation by planning officers, supported by a few councillors and the chief executive. The majority of councillors have already made their feelings clear and do not support any part of the development but they do not get a vote on this outrageous plan to risk public money.

We ask that members of the cabinet seriously consider the views of the local community on the Nethermayne development, new college and market relocation and the perception of such speculative public spending. Readers may like to email their views to the two party leaders who are members of the cabinet, Phil Turner and Linda Allport-Hodge.

Yours Faithfully,

Miriam Heppell
GA2011 Secretary

http://www.billericay-today.co.uk/news.cfm?id=14714&headline=Dry%20Street%20campaigners%20take%20fight%20to%20Europe

It was interesting that Basildon Council chose to send their legal team and their barrister to the hearing (and the earlier cancelled hearing). They were not invited but were entitled to be present but not allowed to speak unless the judge allowed them to do so. Neither were they entitled to their costs. Over the last few weeks they have repeatedly contacted our solicitor and she has been forced by legal protocol to reply and send them papers AT OUR COST! Clearly they were worried and rightly so.

Although we have been refused our judicial review, the fact remains that Basildon Council in failing to inform and consult fully with the public and our elected councillors are in breach of the European Commission Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. Information was withheld from us even after Freedom of Information requests. Local wildlife groups were not consulted despite Natural England saying they should be. Officers of the council chose not to pass on local wildlife groups serious concerns to members of the Development Control and Traffic Management Committee who are our elected representatives and had to vote on the plan. Other information known to officers was only presented as a redacted report to the public and elected councillors. Some information is still not in the public domain. Some information now differs to that which was presented at the planning meeting.

We are looking at the possibility of taking our case to the European Court. When we have sufficient information on costs, timescale and potential outcome we will call a public meeting to discuss the course of action we should take with supporters. In the meantime if you have any comments you can email them to gag2011 on the form below.

Thank you for your support. It has really kept us going through the tough times and we are determined to get justice for the people of Basildon.

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_news/11517495.__7k_Dry_Street_fight_fund_raised_in_week/?ref=arc

Over 100 GAG2011 supporters packed into Lee Chapel South Community Hall on 2nd February to hear details of GAG2011’s legal challenge to the development on DryStreet Pastures and Nethermayne. Chair Dermot Kavanagh thanked everyone for attending. He also thanked the fundraising team for raising £3,000 since September and the legal team for their endevours. Miriam Heppell the secretary then went on to make a presentation about the planning time scale, the process of judicial review, our case and how people can help with the campaign. Geoff Williams, Danny Lovey and Rod Cole then took questions from the floor. Supporters were very generous with their donations pledging financial support and our bucket collection raised £460.