Road Junction Needs To Be Improved Before Work Starts (Saffron Walden Constituency Liberal Democrats)

Saffron Walden Constituency Liberal Democrats <info@saffronwaldenlibdems.org.uk>

Road Junction Needs To Be Improved Before Work Starts

July 30, 2007 12:37 AM

Lib Dem Councillors Emily Gower and Clive Smith at the Hoblongs junction in Great Dunmow

Local Liberal Democrat Councillors have called for action to improve the road junction at Hoblongs in Great Dunmow.

Local Liberal Democrat Councillors have called for action to improve the road junction at Hoblongs and action to compensate residents living nearby before a planning application can be given the go-ahead.

Essex County Council's planning application for a Waste Management Resource Centre at Hoblongs on the edge of Great Dunmow was considered by Uttlesford's Development Control Committee last Wednesday (25th July). The committee was only able to comment on the application as it will be determined by Essex County Council.

Speaking at the Development Control Committee meeting Dunmow Lib Dem Cllr Emily Gower said:

"This is a larger development than the original plan for a civic amenity site and recycling centre. The inclusion of a waste transfer station will vastly increase its impact on the surrounding area, particularly the houses at the front of the site."

"The local residents who live at the front of this site will have their lives severely blighted by the development. If you are to go ahead with the Hoblongs site, then we urge you to adequately compensate the residents of these houses. It is clear that the properties will now be significantly devalued in comparison with the value they would have had without the development, and we believe that Essex County Council should make it possible for them to sell and move away from the site, as they wish to do, without losing out financially."

"It is also imperative that the design of the new road junction layout needs to be determined before the application can proceed. The situation at the junction is already a problem, and the level of further traffic congestion that would arise from the development of the Waste Management Resource Centre would be intolerable. The road layout at the junction is so crucial I believe that it needs to be part of the planning application that is considered. It should not just be a condition of the application that the junction is improved. No work should be allowed to commence on the site until the improvements to the junction have been agreed, and indeed implemented."

"The facility being proposed is one that is vitally needed by the local community, but it does need to be planned properly. I do not believe that the current application effectively tackles the issues that need to be addressed."