Rayleigh Town Council Planning Committee

Last night’s planning committee meeting was a full evening with numerous big applications being discussed.

• We saw the resubmitted Timber Grove application in West Rayleigh for “Demolition of existing care home and all other buildings, erection of 83 dwellings comprising 5no. two bed houses, 25no. three bed houses, 16no. four bed houses, 3no. five bed houses, 19no. one bed flats (including 4no. ‘FOG’ units) and 15no. two bed flats, construction of replacement part single and part two storey 13 bedroom care home, associated parking and landscaping, stopping-up of existing access, and improvement of existing access onto London Road.”
• Next on the agenda was an application for the change of use from Suttons carpet and furniture store to a fine dining and drinking establishment
• 41 town centre flats on the Eastwood Road, behind M&S

What did strike me as odd was the lack of public interest…. we had 2 delightful older ladies come along to make representation on one of the applications and one member of RTC that was attending as a member of the public –  that was it, no other members of public! 120 new dwelling tabled for development in Rayleigh that nearly 20% of the West Rayleigh development and not a soul to make representation….. I’m curious to know, have the developers finally beaten the people of Rayleigh into submission or has the public become so disillusioned with the decision-making process that it’s almost a foregone conclusion that in as little as 10 years from now Rayleigh could become another concrete jungle?

I really thought (or hoped) the lack of turnout at the recent local plan consultation wasn’t a sign of things to come and tried in my own mind at least to put it down to a result of poor publicity and bad timings or maybe it’s true that the people of Rayleigh have just given up on the future of their town?