Essex County Council A120 cash – hidden agenda of massive development along road corridor ?

12 December 2014

Essex County Council has today announced it is offering £5 million for the A120, to include working up plans to dual the road. 

 

Green Councillors have long supported making the A120 a safer and more effective road, but doing it using the “online with bypasses” option to ensure that local transport problems are also tackled – including improved public transport and dealing with the notoriously dangerous junctions at Galleys Corner, Marks Farm and the Colne Road junction on the Coggeshall bypass. 

 

But the ECC announcement today fails to mention that work on the A120 is increasingly being linked to massive development along the road corridor. The Haven Gateway Group, which hosted the event today at which the £5 million announcement was made, is promoting the A120 as a Growth Corridor for up to 51,500 houses, business parks and a doubling of activity at Stansted Airport (1). Proposals have already been made by the private consortium of local landowners Gateway 120 to build over 10,000 houses between Marks Tey and Braintree, again, linked to the development of the road.  

 

Cllr. James Abbott, Green Group Leader on Essex County Council said

 

“ We support making the A120 safer and more effective. Communities along the existing road such as at Bradwell suffer high levels of noise, air pollution, vibration and there is the constant fear of yet more crashes. 

 

However the agendas of landowners, developers, lobby groups and the councils involved appear to be merging together, with senior Conservative figures working towards turning the A120 into a Growth Corridor, which will massively increase road traffic in the area, especially as there is no East-West rail line. If this happens we could end up with local towns even more congested than they are today. Peak time congestion in Braintree, Witham and Colchester will get worse with such high levels of proposed growth. 

 

It is also a recurring feature of Essex County Council’s approach on these matters that they fail to consult. Those of us who represent wards along the A120 were not told about this announcement today. Cllr. Bass, the Cabinet Member for Highways who made the announcement has already made his mind up (2) that there should be an off-line A120 through open countryside well to the South of the existing road, pre-empting consultation on route options.

 

It is vital that the right solutions for the A120 are found – this is a once in a generation opportunity. It is also vital that plans for our local communities are sustainable and properly consulted on.”

 

Notes

 

 (1)

 

http://www.a120.co.uk/evidence_base.htm

 

 (2)

 

Cllr. Bass said today on BBC Essex radio, and previously at public meetings, that his “personal” option is an off-line route between the Braintree bypass and Kelvedon North. This passes entirely through open countryside well to the South of the existing road.

 

 

 

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