PUBLIC MEETING on 24th OCTThe meeting will be held in the Dame Elizabeth Hall in the William de Ferrers School on the Thursday 24th October. It starts at 7.30 (doors open at 7). Seats will be available on a 'first come, first served' basis.
You can raise whatever topics you like so long as they are relevant to the Town's infrastructure - be they related to public transport, the state of the roads, parking, health and healthcare, education, policing, etc.
The objective is to get a better understanding of what concerns residents and to try to come up with constructive ideas for making improvements.
TO BOOK A SEAT in advance send an email to woodham.infrastructure.group@gmail.com - putting 'MEETING' in the subject line and your name(s) in the body (text box) of the email. If you want to add your phone number or date of birth (in case others have the same name) that's up to you.
FURTHER INFO (the story so far) - https://shorturl.at/l5cos (or https://mega.nz/folder/AmkGiDJb#Uc0jJOLUILG1NN3SISSbGw). Alternatively scan the QR code.
The only thing necessary to ensure bad things happen in SWF is for good folks to do nothing!
SAD NEWSAlan Brunning, the driving force behind the Infrastructure Group, who worked tirelessly for the benefit of the residents of South Woodham, died recently.
He will be greatly missed!
Our sympathy goes out to his wife, Jennifer, and his family
PREVIOUS ACTIONJust picked up a CCC advert in Friday's (7 June 24) Focus, page 8. It relates to CCC's Local Plan with preferred options consultation and refers to the Land North of South Woodham Ferrers. Proposes 1220 new homes plus a variety of ancillary development. States consultation runs from 8 May to 19 June. Typical CCC - one month of the consultation period is already lost when the advert is published. Effectively it leaves just 12 days to read and consider all the documents (numerous and complex), then prepare and submit any comments.
Suggest (a) respond ASAP and (b) complain about inadequate time to respond in detail.
Many thanks.ONLINE MEETING TO DISCUSS THE NEW SWF HOUSING DEVELOPMENTThere has been a call for a meeting to discuss the ins and outs of the new development. We thought we'd dip a toe in the water with an initial online meeting on Monday 21st August.
It's being broadcast between 7.30pm and 8.30pm on Facebook (the link is https://tinyurl.com/Woodham-Infrastucture-Group - the typo isn't ours, by the way) and there will be a recording made available afterwards to ameliorate the bitter disappointment felt by those unable to watch the live broadcast.
We are not contesting the housing development itself - just the woefully inadequate plans for infrastructure.
You are welcome to send questions in advance to woodham.infrastructure.group@gmail.com so that we get a feel for the aspects that are of most interest to you.
The Woodham Infrastructure Group.
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UPDATE: So far the SWF new development proposal has, as expected, followed the pattern dictated by Essex County Council (which stands to make £millions) and Chelmsford City Council. What next? Does Woodham wave the white flag as it has in the past and give everyone the impression it's a soft target, or do we put up a fight?
Judicial Review was mentioned by the Town Council in the scathing criticism of the road transport plan in its excellent Response to Stage 2 of the Disaster-plan.
We think this is worth following up given Bob Massey's view that it will be tantamount to "throwing residents under the bus" if suitable infrastructure improvements aren't made - but the objective must be clear. There would be no point in challenging the housing development itself, even if this battle hadn't already been lost. Housing is needed, although green-field sites should be the last resort rather than the first - as is the case in this area.
What is worth fighting for, however, is significant improvement in the ludicrous, unworkable, cheapskate suggestions for infrastructure. We already have the expert reports needed thanks to your generosity. All that is needed now is a barristers opinion on the likelihood of success.
We've made a start on funding this but, as we're not there yet, we are, therefore, re-opening our old crowd-funding site to raise the balance. The link is https://tinyurl.com/5n9xyndb and the QR code is below.
We are entirely dependent on your generosity. Without it, nothing will happen and Woodham will have to live with the consequences for decades to come.
We will also be holding a 'virtual (online) meeting' soon (on Monday 21st - see details above) to see what further steps you want taken and to assess the appetite for a possible real live meeting at a later date. Please send suggestions in advance to woodham.infrastructure.group@gmail.com. Suggestions received so far include petitioning parliament and organising demonstrations (with placards & banners) in SWF re the threatened loss of car parking space and/or in Chelmsford re the impending infrastructure crisis. We'll have a better feel for what is wanted/needed and the likely level of support for this sort of further action after taking soundings.
As ever, thank you for your support.
The Woodham Infrastructure Group.'Click-on' link:
This is the link for the 're-opened' Just Giving crowdfunding site.