Defenders of Rochford District Petition for Pushback on housing numbers (7200) by Rochford District Council to Save Green Belt

RDC Council Leader, Simon Wootton, is asked to write to local MP's and Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State on housing numbers to challenge the Rochford District's housing targets (known as the Objectively Assessed Need, or OAN), and press for an 'Infrastructure First' approach to housing delivery from The Government.

Challenges are already being made by Councils in both Southend and Basildon and it will be advantageous for RDC to also do so to work together on the same shared issues on the "peninsula" directly with The Government.

The latest Rochford District Council's Public Consultation on its New Local Plan asks residents to give feedback on the Council's ideas about Spatial Options but it omits the most important capacity data on Infrastructure making the choices made by residents far from "Infrastructure First" and more like "Infrastructure Last". The Council's Delivery Plan for its New Local Plan shows that the next Public Consultation in 2022 showing where The Council proposes to actually build under Preferred Options will have been made without any prior input on choices from residents taking into account infrastructure capacity; doctors, other health care, public transport, schools, population growth, highway congestion, pollution, climate change data, water, sewerage etc.,

RDC Council Leader, Simon Wootton, is also asked by this Petition to withdraw the present Public Consultation until this data can be provided to residents.

Rochford District Council has recently REFUSED a Planning Application in Rochford questioning highway congestion assessments on SER8 a site approved for development in the Old LocaL Plan.

Infrastructure was apparently NOT Put First in the Old Local Plan.

It may happen again if RDC Council Leader, Simon Wootton, does not listen to residents and act in accordance with their wishes under this Petition.

Defenders of Rochford District