Why the new Doddinghurst GP surgery is a bad idea

Here are some of the reasons why local residents feel that the new GP surgery will be bad news for people who live in Doddinghurst and Hook End:

1. The whole point of designating land as Green Belt is so as it does not get built on. The Green Belt is meant to be sacrosanct and should not be allowed to be destroyed in this way.
   
   
2. The plans show that the vehicle entrance will be opposite the footpath that runs down the side of Wayside Aquatics. That means it is too close to the crossroads at Deal Tree Corner. If people coming from the Hook End direction have to wait too long to turn right into the new surgery then they will create a queue of traffic which will stretch back to the crossroads, and cause safety issues at that junction.
   
   
3. Also, the assumed 20% increase in the number in journeys to/from the surgery will mean there is going to be more traffic going through the crossroads in one direction or another. There are often near-misses at this junction and any increase in the number of cars going through the crossroads is going to be bad for road safety in the area. The local road network already struggles to support the number of vehicles using it at peak times. Any increase, no matter how small, in the number of vehicles coming to the area will have a detrimental impact on road safety and an unacceptable loss of amenity.
   
   
4. It says in the application that the bus stop that is currently opposite Wayside Aquatics will be moved. But where will it be moved to? If it ends up being closer to the crossroads that would make the junction even more dangerous. If the bus stop is moved closer to Kelvedon Hatch, then people will find themselves getting on/off the bus in or close to the stretch of road that has a 60mph speed limit.
   
   
5. The transport statement submitted as part of the application shows that at present 32% of people visiting the surgery come from Doddinghurst. At the moment these people get to the surgery by coming up Outings Lane and do not have to go through the crossroads at Deal Tree Corner. But if the surgery moves to the new location, all these patients from Doddinghurst will now have to make a left turn from Outings Lane into Blackmore Road - hence there will be more traffic using the already busy and dangerous crossroads.
   
   
6. The new surgery would offer additional services which are not currently provided. These extra services will lead to more people driving to/from the surgery. This will put extra strain on the local road network and so will have a detrimental impact on highway safety and create more disturbance for local residents.
   
   
7. There might not be sufficient parking spaces at peak times, especially if additional medical services are going to be offered or extra GPs join the practice. At the current surgery, people park in the road or on the pavement in Outings Lane if all spaces are full. If the car park at the new surgery were to gets full up, then people will park along Blackmore Road. That will be far more dangerous than the current situation because traffic on Blackmore Road is much faster than on Outings Lane and there is more of it.
   
   
8. Having additional services at the surgery could result in more delivery vehicles using the nearby roads, and hence more disturbance for residents.
   
   
9. The new pedestrian crossing would lead to extra queues of traffic along Blackmore Road which would mean more pollution and disturbance for local residents and would make the crossroads more dangerous if the queues started to stretch back too far towards Hook End.