'Save Green Belt' from the East of England Regional Assembly

And Rochford District Council has amended the figure to be between 2600 & 3300 because some have already been added since 2001.

Here is the Story

Daily Mail - 6 November 2004 - Quango says Yes to 500,000 homes - ONE of the unelected regional bodies yesterday flexed its muscles by approving John Prescott's plans to build almost half a million homes across eastern counties. The decision by the East of England Regional Assembly - which is in fact a quango appointed under Mr Prescott's 'guidance'- outraged rural campaigners.

The EERA is launching a Public Consultation on the 8^th December 2004. The document is called RSS14 and the consultation will be called "The East of England Plan"

Click Here so your details can be added to the EERA contacts database so that they can keep you informed about these matters and you can give your view.

Say "NO" to the imposition of these additional houses on the Green Belt of Rochford

This your chance to say "No" to the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA). Jubilant 'No' campaigners were celebrating on Friday, 5 November, after North East voters rejected an elected regional assembly by a margin of three-to-one. The EERA is not even "elected" but it is deciding what is going to happen in Rochford District.

Say "NO" to a Relief Road for Southend which goes through Rochford District

This is your chance to say "No" to the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA). Jubilant 'No' campaigners were celebrating on Friday, 5 November, after North East voters rejected an elected regional assembly by a margin of three-to-one. The EERA is not even "elected" but it is deciding what is going to happen in Rochford District.

The EERA consultation has now begun and closes on 16 March. We have a chance to object to a Southend Relief Road running through Rochford District. The response form is at http://eera.web-labs.co.uk/eerapublicconsultation/downloadform/replyform.doc You can fill it in in Microsoft Word and e-mail it to the EERA. The e-mail address is on the form. We can stop this. PLEASE FORWARD THIS BY E_MAIL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIONS and ask them to do the same.

Rochford District Council called for abolition of Regional Assembly at The Policy & Finance Committee at its meeting on 11 November 2004. John Mason had the great pleasure of Voting For the Motion under a Recorded Vote.

That, given the result of the Regional Assembly Referendum in the NE of England last Friday, this Council write to the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, demanding that he completely reviews the role and function of the "so called" Regional Assemblies that currently exist. We also demand that the East of England Regional Assembly be dismantled and that the strategic planning powers and responsibilities be devolved back to County, Unitary and District and Borough Councils in a form agreeable to County, Unitary and District and Borough Councils. This Council further calls upon the Deputy Prime Minister to re-appraise the work of the Regional Development Agencies and ensure that they work at an appropriately local level and that they are accountable to local councils.

And Say "NO" to any Southend Relief Road through Rochford's Green Belt because it would only be needed to give access to 6,000 new houses in Southend's new building site at the New Ranges in Shoebury

Here are the proposals for housing put forward by objectors to the Rochford District Council Replacement Local Plan.

Say "NO" to 4600 houses on Rochford's Green Belt by writing or e-mailing the EERA and please add your name to our Petition here.

If you want to be active in helping to "Save Our Green Belt" in Rochford District then you don't have to join a group that digs tunnels or live in tree houses. There are other active ways to do this and there is a new political party just for Rochford District that is campaigning to save Rochford District from the Southend Relief Road. It is run by John Mason. Go to http://hawkwell.info/wwwrdr or http://rochford.cjb.net and read about the wider views of Rochford District Residents.

Development in Green Belt is a particular concern to residents of Rochford District.

This issue crops up all the time whether it be an individual property, a small or large development of housing, industrial units, mobile telephone masts or even the monstrous threat of a Rochford By Pass to Southend. Many, many people feel passionately about the issue by writing to the local papers, individual councillors or even forming Action Groups as in the case of Golden Cross Road and Etheldore Avenue.

It has caused us to think again about how people can simply signify to as many local councillors as possible that they object to this proposal and the many others that crop up all the time.

We are raising a new drive to raise public awareness yet still further and give everybody a simple opportunity to show how they feel about these issues we are asking all those people who support our campaign to "Save Green Belt" to tie a Green Ribbon to the aerials of their cars or display a Green Ribbon on their homes etc., A huge response is hoped for in particularly the Rochford District. If anybody is worried about the loss of certain trees or open space then why not festoon the trees and green space with Green Ribbons as well?

This may seem to some as a whacky idea but how else can we collectively demonstrate how strongly we feel about this in a simple way and over a sustained period of time as specific campaigns, focus groups and protests come and go?

ESSEX County Council and the Eastern Regional Assembly met in Southend on Friday to do battle over the county's most fraught issue, the government's plan to impose 123,000 new houses onto Essex soil. Essex, in alliance with other county councils in a similar quandary, wants to cut this number to a realistic figure. The East of England Assembly dismissed their pleas out of hand. By a striking coincidence of timing, the Southend meeting coincided with results of the referendum on a regional assembly for the north-east of England. The vote to throw out such an assembly, 78 per cent against, 22 per cent in favour, can fairly be described as overwhelming. Northumberland and Durham voters got the chance to make their feelings clear. We in Essex should be so lucky. The Eastern Assembly has simply been imposed on us. It masquerades as a democratic body but in reality it is a dictatorship that has never known a vote in its life. It has arrived to dominate politics in the county with little public announcement and no mandate whatever. The North-East has given us a welcome precedent. Any decisions by the Eastern Assembly should be scorned and rejected out of hand by the people of Essex.

BATTLE lines were today being drawn to stop Rochford's green belt being churned up for Southend's proposed outer relief road.

Registered political party, Rochford District Residents, has launched a campaign dedicated to protecting the swathes of land which could be destroyed if the bypass goes ahead. The East of England Regional Assembly is considering building the bypass by 2011 and the most likely route would be through the Rochford district. Residents' spokesman John Mason has now launched a website which implores people to sign a petition saying "yes" to a relief road - but through parts of Soufhend rather than Rochford.

Mr Mason said: "We want to raise the profile of this issue. "If the relief road went through Rochford it would carve a swathe right through some of the most important parts of the district's green belt. "Our route would not involve digging up any green belt land which has to be a preferred option. We would urge anyone who believes in protecting wildlife and open spaces to support this campaign."

MP Sir Teddy Taylor thought campaigners may be able to come to a compromise if it was guaranteed no shops or housing would be built either side of the ring road. He said: "The way things are looking it looks like the ring road will come, but not for a while and I accept the views of people not wanting a ring road in Rochford. There might be the possibility of people agreeing to it if we give the assurance that there will be no building on either side of it." He added: "It could be done if we guaranteed it would not be the beginning of the end of the green belt." No matter where it is put, Sir Teddy thought a new ring road was "absolutely vital" to help ease the "desperately serious" traffic problems in and around Southend.

Comment " It is hard to believe that there would be no ribbon development if the Southend Relief Road were to go through Rochford. Where else would you site the 4600 houses that have been passed by unelected Quango EERA"

A QUANGO is pressing ahead with an extra 123,400 homes in Essex despite a last-minute appeal by county councillors to slash that number by thousands. The East of England Regional Assembly, made up of representatives of councils in the east of England, rejected the plea to reduce the number of new homes in Essex by 13,000. The scheme will go out to public consultation next month with Essex expected to take an extra 123,400 homes over the next 17 years.

Rodney Bass, county council cabinet member for transport, appealed to all assembly members to support his appeal to reduce the number of new homes in the county. He said: "The number of new homes being proposed in the county will produce an intolerable strain on our infrastructure, which needs a great deal of attention in many parts of the county. "The question which you have to consider is whether or not you believe what the Government says in terms of infrastructure."

Deputy leader of Essex County Council, Peter Martin, said the process of working out the number of new homes had been rushed. Mr Martin pledged the council would continue to fight its case throughout the public consultation period. He said: "We will accept our fair share of new housing in Essex, but the numbers being proposed are just too high."

Essex County Council's plea was supported by most district councils in the county, but did not win unanimous support, even locally.

Southend representative on the regional assembly, Anna Waite, said: "I believe this is a balanced plan. We need affordable housing in Southend and we have major pockets of deprivation. If we fight the proposals, I do not think we will be able to obtain everything we need."

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Say "NO" to a Relief Road for Southend which goes through Rochford District