Planning Application at Land East of Plantation Road

Boreham Parish Council are pleased to advise that planning application at Land East of Plantation, Boreham, ref. 15/01873/OUT has been withdrawn,

However, the appeal for the original planning application (ref. 14/01552/OUT) for the same site is, at this time, still going ahead.

Boreham Parish Council have strongly objected to this planning application.

The Parish Council OBJECTS to this Planning Application for the following reasons:
a) The countryside should be protected.
b) The development is outside the Defined Settlement Boundary of the Village.
c) Boreham does not need nor can it accommodate another 145 houses, there is already a site identified within the village.
d) Chelmsford has a sound plan for housing supply through to 2021 which has been fully consulted upon and is being delivered.
e) Infrastructure of doctors and schooling is already at capacity, and there is no room for expansion. School children from 4 to 11 years old will have to be bussed out of the village for their education.
f) Access to the development from Plantation Road is at one of its narrowest points and its proximity to Church Road.
g) Local road capacity and including Boreham Interchange is inadequate, particularly as the building starts soon for the 3,600 houses at Beaulieu Park.
h) Contrary to the Boreham Village Design Statement which was adopted by Chelmsford City Council.
i) Valuable public views and sense of place would be lost.
‘ As recognised in the VDS, the views from footpaths contribute to the sense of place and intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside, and the setting of listed buildings.
‘ Views from the footpath to the eastern side of the development; walking south you look over the site into the village and the tower of the grade 1 listed Church. The tower is clearly seen with its belfry louvers, castellation and red tiled roof and very often the flag flying. The church bells can be clearly heard, the footpath is slightly higher than the church. This view would be lost behind new houses.
‘ Looking south and east from the footpath there are long views, currently these are experienced as being in the middle of fields as the houses on Plantation Road are a long way off with a wide stretch of farmland between the path and houses. This sense of the long views experienced from being in the middle of fields would be lost.
‘ Walking north from about halfway along the path you get views of the Grade 2 listed Cock Pub.
‘ From Culverts Chase walking west toward the village you experience Old Hall Farm house, the Old Hall 17th century barn and Shottesbrook each Grade 2 listed as the closest buildings with the bulk of the village set well back at Plantation Road, the setting and how these buildings are experienced could change for the worse as they would appear to be dwarfed by the much nearer and larger development, and their significance lost.
‘ From Church Road moving east toward the southern tip of the site, wide views over agricultural land east toward Maldon and south to Danbury ridge open as you approach and round the corner, depending on the treatment of this part of the site these could be lost.
j) This is Best and Most Versatile Grade 2 & 3a agricultural land with the added benefit of irrigation, and should be protected for future generations.
Agricultural Land Classification. In NPPF and NPPG Grades 1; 2 & 3a are described as the Best and Most Versatile (BMV) land which has some protection. A 1977 map shows it was then considered grade 2. Gladman’s own land assessment based on 2014 soil samples states the soils are Grade 3a & Grade 2, with the 3a dominating the 2 (which we understand to mean that because some land is only 3a that limits the uses, as different parts of the field cannot be farmed separately). That the farm has irrigation and ample water supplies increases the agricultural versatility of the land