Sign here to stop Marks Tey new town

We need a plan to force the Councils to listen to local residents. They are not in office to pass down missives from on high, they are there to represent the views of the local electorate, in Braintree, Coggleshall or Marks Tey. And if they don't listen, time to throw them out at the first opportunity. The requirement for 800+ homes a year in Braintree is nonsense, unsustainable. The Essex Planning Officers Association (EPOA) document forecasts a 22% growth in households but only a 12% growth in local employment, so there must be a massive increase in the number of commuters - on already over crowded roads and rail services. The EPOA also indicates that much of the growth is due to migration from London, if the boroughs were building enough homes rather then exporting their problem to Braintree and other districts, then there would not be the unsustainable demand in Braintree. There are enough brown-field sites to cope with growth in housing for local people - building more affordable homes. Developers offer all sorts of incentives such as schools, surgeries, offices, bus stops to encourage planning approval. These are bribes, with no clear rationale for provision. The Acorn development of 1500+ houses, proposed between Braintree and Rayne, is a classic example of muddled thinking, damaging the Flitch Way and the countryside that the community wishes to protect. Braintree lacks sufficient GPs, building another surgery as in the Acorn proposal isn't going to solve that problem. Adding a pharmacy is not going to create a viable business with 1500 homes, unless the development is just phase 1 of another 'garden city' in the area. And the offer of bus stops within the development just shows how out-of-touch developers are - look at the mess that is being made with the changes to First Essex's Braintree bus network supposedly due to lack of profit on established routes. I could go on. We need to take action NOW

This are cannot take such a large development, as the roads, amenities, cannot take that amount of cars and people. Please think again.

horrendous people don't realize what damages they are doing to our green beautiful land,

No thought has gone into this plan. If implemented, this will just kill the village and countryside setting. We would have lived in towns if that's what we wanted, but now we will be forced to live in one. It is just not a infrastructure question - improved infrastructure would also mean widened road, more traffic, so basically more noise & air pollution, concrete and less of greenery. Btw, who are these 50,000 people? Where are they going to come from? Where are they currently living? I can't believe that we are talking about an organic natural population growth here.

I totally support the comments already made regarding the lack of vital infrastructure - there is already barely enough daily parking at the station, insufficient general parking especially in Coggeshall, but most important I emphasise, once again, that no development should be considered until the appalling situation daily on the A120 and the A12 especially northbound, has been dealt with.

I object for all the reasons stated in the petition document

The Local roads in this area cannot cope with the existing traffic , therefore a new town of this magnitude would create total chaos.

Colchester is already a nightmare with congestion, we don't need this the country side is being lost crime well increase due to lack of employment.Then we have the issue of immergrants,would a mosque be included I say a big No No.

this area cannot support this size of increase in homes and all that means. the a 120 is choc-a-block now, more cars on it would be ludicrous.

The key concern here is the infrastructure in place. As it is there are a lack of school places for children, health services are at breaking point and the traffic in and around the area is terrible. The new Tolgate Shopping Village once complete will attract a huge amount of traffic which will clog up our roads even more so than they are already are. The new housing developments around the Tolgate area are also not helping, not only with the roads but are also pushing local amenities to breaking point. Public transport will not cope - in particular Marks Tey station which already has a severe lack of parking and is just too small to cope with the current demand. Should the council's not be looking to make the infrastructure fit for the houses and population already existing before even thinking about building more houses? Aside from this, people living in Marks Tey and the surrounding areas like it here. It is quieter than Colchester Town and there is a real community feel. These changes will simply engulf our villages and take away the positives of living in the quieter areas outside of the town.

NOT ONLY WOULD ROAD & RAIL NETWORKS BE OVERLOADED BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR DECREPIT SEWAGE SYSTEMS & FLOOD RISK POTENTIAL DUE TO MORE CONCRETE & LOSS OF FARM LAND??

I object to these houses being built because the infrastructure is not there to accommodate families and traffic that these new homes will attract

I am opposed to the addition of so many new homes to the area. It will change the whole dynamic of the area in which we chose to live and the infastructure cannot take so many extra people.

NO, NO, NO, Infrastructure must come first .The existing Roads, Railway, Schools, Hospital cannot cope with the existing population.

The roads around the Coggeshall, Marks Tey, Copford and Stanway areas are choked enough as it is. The A120 can not cope with the current volume of traffic, and any increase which will result from overdevelopment will make a dire situation so much worse.

I am completely opposed to a development of this size. Some of the problems regarding the A120 would not have arisen had the Coggeshall bypass been built on the other side of the old road, as was one of the options, I can only guess why, because financially it would have made sense and avoided the necessity of a dual carriageway. I admit to be very affected by the proposed building, especially regarding Markshall Estate and the new school.

Irresponsible!

Infrastructure must come first, new A120 dual carriageway, A12 to be widened to at least 3 lanes each way, 4 where necessary, multi-level car park to be constructed at Marks Tey Railway station, new schools, infants/primary & secondary, new primary healthcare facility, business & retail precincts. Once these are in place then build some houses but probably not 20,000. Any houses built must be cutting edge design,use modern materials, ie not generally brick. They must be all affordable & a mixture of for sale & for rent. They must be energy efficient & have green technology included in all houses. District size schemes should be used where possible. A development scheme of this size should be handled by the county council or a specific body set up like the London Docklands Development Corporation. Borough & Distinct councils do not have the skills to handle this size of scheme.

Such a beautiful place. Do not ruin it, Please

please don't ruin our countryside. This project is not substainable