Brentwood Gazette photograph protesters at proposed Doddinghurst surgery site

At least twenty residents from Doddinghurst and Hook End gathered at Deal Tree Corner yesterday when the Brentwood Gazette's photographer came along to take some photos of the field where developers want to build the new Doddinghurst surgery.

Faced with some tricky lighting conditions caused by the position of the afternoon sun, the plucky photographer, Alex, risked life and limb tand stood in the road on the approach to the crossroads in order to take some photos of placard-waving residents angry at the proposed destruction of the local Green Belt.

So having been the front page story in this week's Brentwood Weekly News, it now looks hopeful that the problems the proposed new Doddinghurst surgery would cause will be covered in next week's Brentwood Gazette as well.

Anger at Doc's Green Belt plan

That's the headline on the front page of this week's Brentwood Weekly News that has just come through my letterbox.

The front page of this week's edition is dominated by the story about Dr Nigel Butler's plans to build a two storey surgery on the 1.4 acre piece of Green Belt land at Deal Tree corner in Doddinghurst, despite the serious concerns from local residents about the traffic and parking problems that will be caused by the extra patients the new surgery plans to attract.

The piece goes on to report how the extra services are being provided with a view to making more money for the surgery and highlights the fact that the lack of car parking would lead to cars spilling out onto Blackmore Road which is already a busy and dangerous road.

The article ends with a comment from Doddinghurst councillor, Keith Parker. Only a few days ago he said that only two people were against the proposed new surgery and, when asked, failed to give a commitment that he would seek to have the application referred to the Planning Committee if planning officers approved it.

The good news is that, thanks presumably to pressure from those he was elected to represent, Cllr Parker is now reported in the Weekly News as saying that the application should be discussed by the Planning Committee given that it is "such a big issue for the local community".

You can read the full story here.

What the Green Belt regulations say about the new Doddinghurst surgery

One of my neighbours has just come round with a copy of a document called Planning Policy Guidance 2 (PPG2).

This exciting sounding read details the purpose of the Green Belt and explains how land ends up being designated as Green Belt and what safeguards are in place to stop Green Belt land being built upon.

There are a couple of things in PPG2 which are particularly relevant to our fight to try to stop the Doddinghurst GPs building a new surgery/medical centre in the Green Belt.

Firstly, one of the objectives of the Green Belt is "to retain land in agricultural, forestry and related uses". So in our case, the Green Belt exists to ensure that the field at Deal Tree Corner remains as farmland.

The document goes on to say that the construction of new buildings (such as the proposed Doddinghurst surgery) in the Green Belt is inappropriate unless it is for any of the following:

• essential facilities for outdoor sport (e.g. small changing rooms)
• cemeteries
• limited extension/alteration of existing dwellings
• limited infilling
• limited social housing
• limited infilling/redevelopment of a major existing developed site

Nowhere does the list mention a two-storey GP surgery with associated car park as being an appropriate development for Green Belt land.

That's good to see and hopefully is something that our local councillors will have in mind when the time comes for them to decide on this planning application.

Spreading the word about the Doddinghurst surgery plans

There is now an easier way to tell your friends about this site. Instead of having to remember a long complicated address, you can now just go to:

www.savedoddinghurst.co.uk

and it will bring you straight to this blog.

And if you want to get directly to the online petition, or give other people an easy way to find it, that's now got its own easy to remember web address too:

www.doddinghurstsurgery.com

So now there's no excuse not to tell your friends and colleagues and get them supporting our campaign too!

Woman accused of being selfish for wanting to protect the Green Belt

One of my neighbours has just emailed me to say she has had a phone conversation with a member of the Planning Committee about the planning application for a new GP surgery.

She says that he accused her of "being selfish" by objecting to the proposals.

He also said that the car park will probably be extended in the future. So does that mean that eventually they'll end up tarmacing over all or most of the rest of the field?

And finally he told my neighbour that she should be pleased that the surgery is going to be built and the fact that it will overshadow her house is not a reason to object.

If this is true, then it's quite worrying.

Spotted at our end of Doddinghurst - a ward councillor

I've had two unexpected visitors today who've called round about the proposed new Doddinghurst GP surgery.

The first was a reporter from the Brentwood Gazette who had heard about the campaign to stop the destruction of the Green Belt and the influx of hundreds of extra cars to an already busy village.

We had a good chat about the drawbacks of the scheme and how it will cause queues of traffic that will stretch back and block the driveways along Blackmore Road and make the Deal Tree Corner crossroads more hazardous than they already are. He was also very interested to know about the responses we had had so far from our local councillors.

He is hoping to come back later in the week to take some photographs.

My second visitor was Roger McCheyne, one of our local councillors and the chairman of the Planning Committee on Brentwood Council. Having finally heard that there might be some objections to the new surgery he had come to take a look at the site.

He seemed to take note of what I was saying about the traffic problems and the queues that would be caused.

But it was a bit worrying to note that Roger no idea that there was a new zebra crossing being proposed as part of the development. Hopefully if the case ends up coming before the committee that he chairs he'll find time to have a proper read of all the documents - like those of us who will have to live next door to the surgery have already done.

Even the GP says cars will park in the road

Just had a phone call from one of my neighbours who went for an appointment at the current GP surgery.

He lives immediately opposite the site of the proposed new medical centre and so at the end of his appointment he got chatting to the GP about the plans.

My neighbour raised the issue of the new surgery not having enough parking spaces for all the extra patients that would be drawn there by the additional services they want to offer. And he mentioned the concerns of residents about what will happen if the car park gets full and patients park along that busy stretch of Blackmore Road.

Apparently the GP said that he had no doubt that people would end up parking on the road.

This is someone who is supposed to be looking after people's health and yet he wants to build a surgery that he knows will lead to people parking on a busy road with poor visibility in a way that is bound to cause accidents and injury.

Very strange......

Tipps Cross councillor knows residents' opinions without even talking to them

I spoke to another councillor today, this time one from the Tipps Cross ward that starts just a few yards down the road from where the proposed new Doddinghurst GP surgery would be.

She also claimed that no-one was against the development. She said she had knocked on doors during the election campaign and no-one had mentioned the planning application. Maybe that's because the notices about the application were only delivered on the day of the election??

She said she wasn't going to give an opinion on the matter one way or the other because she didn't go to that GP herself and the proposed development was not in her ward. This despite the fact that it will affect plenty of residents who live in her ward.

Despite not giving an opinion, there was no doubt that she was strongly in favour of the plans and was not keen to listen to anyone who disagreed with her.

She said the plans were unlikely to go through in their current format and said that at a later stage (after the surgery is built) they'd probably look to add additional underground car parking. I'm no construction expert but if you're going to build an underground car park, isn't it easier to do that before you build everything else rather than afterwards?

Her final statement (which I found so shocking that I got her to repeat it a couple of times) was that if the new surgery is not built then the doctors will shut the existing surgery and we'll be left with no surgery at all. did she have any evidence of this when asked? No.

So a fine example of a councillor spreading rumours rather than relying on facts to make her decisions.

A conversation with my local councillor

Today I made a second trip to the Town Hall to drop off more letters from local residents who oppose the new GP surgery development.

Following that I had a long phone conversation with one of the Borough councillors for our ward.

He made it quite clear that he does not think that the Green Belt is a good enough reason to turn down the application for a new surgery - even though it will attract more patients and bring more traffic to the area.

He said that if the Council's planning officers refuse the application he would ask for it to be brought before the Planning Committee for review. But he couldn't give me any assurance that he'd do the same thing if the officers were to approve it.

He claims he has had "hundreds" of people asking him when the new surgery will be built and he told me I was the only person who objected to the plans. I suggested that in that case he might want to do what I had been doing and go and actually knock on doors and talk to the people who elected him.

He then tried telling me he had done that during the recent election campaign and had not come across a single objector. Of course we know why that is - the only contact people at our end of the village had from him during the election was when one of his helpers put a leaflet through the door saying he had tried to call and talk to us but we were out. I was actually at home at the time and saw the said leaflet being delivered.

He also told me that the busy crossroads next to the proposed site were not busy and dangerous at all - at least not compared to junctions in London. Talk about comparing apples with oranges!

Mind you, this is a man who says he was all in favour of plans a couple of years ago to turn a house on that junction into a dental surgery. That application was thrown out on the grounds that the roads couldn't cope with the extra traffic and that was for a surgery with only about seven car parking spaces, rather than the 41 proposed for the new GP surgery.

I'm off now to email the councillor copies of all the residents' letters I've got so as he can see it's not just me!

My letter to the Council

Here is the text of the letter I have written to the Council setting out why I think the proposed new GP surgery is a bad idea for our village:

Dear Ms Mathews,

Re: Application BRW/281/2010 – Replacement GP Healthcare Surgery, Deal Tree Corner, Blackmore Road, Doddinghurst, Brentwood

Having studied the plans and supporting documents for the above planning application, and discussed the proposals with the Practice Manager at the existing surgery, and having taken note of the relevant points covered by the Brentwood Replacement Local Plan, I wish to raise a number of concerns regarding the proposed development. References in square brackets refer to policies in the Local Plan which I feel would be contravened by particular aspects of the proposed development.

1. The development is in the Green Belt and therefore, as per policy GB1 of the Local Plan, the proposed change of use should not be permitted. I am not convinced that the circumstances of this application are exceptional/special enough to justify ignoring the green belt rules.
2. The development would contravene GB2 by harming the openness of the Green Belt. The Green Belt is there for a reason – to stop the urbanisation of rural areas – and it needs to be protected and maintained.
3. Section 8.5.5 of the Local Plan states that the Borough is already adequately provided with GP services and that the only area where there is a clear need for additional GP services is in Warley.
4. The proposed development would see a large part of an existing arable field replaced by a large building and a car park. This represents an unacceptable detrimental impact on the visual amenity of the site and on the character and appearance of the surrounding area [see CP1 (i) of the Local Plan].
5. The size and scale of the new building will dwarf the nearby properties and, as such, is not compatible with its location and the surrounding developments [CP1 (iii)].
6. The new development, coupled with the additional traffic it would bring to the immediate area, would also give rise to an unacceptable detrimental impact on the general amenity of the occupiers of the nearby properties (in particular those directly opposite the development) by way of overlooking, lack of privacy, and general disturbance [CP1 (ii)].
7. The noise in the proposed car park of traffic movement, car doors slamming, conversations taking place, car alarms going off, etc would have an unacceptable detrimental impact on the general amenity of the occupiers of the nearby properties (those directly opposite and adjacent to the development) by way of general disturbance [CP1 (ii)].
8. It is stated in the application that the bus stop that is currently opposite Wayside Aquatics will be moved. But no mention is made of where the bus stop will be moved to. If it ends up being closer to the crossroads that would make the junction 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 is subject to a 60mph speed limit.
9. The plans show that the vehicle entrance will be opposite the footpath that runs down the side of Wayside Aquatics. That means it is only a few car lengths from the crossroads at Deal Tree Corner. If people are driving from the Hook End direction and are waiting for a gap in the oncoming traffic to allow them to turn right into the new surgery then they will end up forming a queue of traffic which will stretch back to the crossroads, and hence have a negative impact on safety at the junction. [CP1 (iv) and (v)]
10. 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 arrive at 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 people 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 crossroads. This will have a detrimental impact on highway safety[(CP1 (v)].
11. Similarly the anticipated 20% increase in the number in journeys to/from the surgery that the transport statement refers to will also mean more traffic going through the crossroads in one direction or another. Despite what is claimed in 3.5.4 of the Transport Statement that accompanies this application, visibility at this crossroads is not good from all directions and therefore any increase in the number of vehicles using the junction will be detrimental to highway safety [CP1 (v)].
12. It has been stated in the application, and confirmed by the Practice Manager, that the new surgery would offer additional services which are not currently provided (e.g. phlebotomy clinics). Extra services will lead to more people using the surgery. For example, people who currently travel to Brentwood Community Hospital or Queens Hospital for blood tests may now decide to come to Doddinghurst instead. This will put extra strain on the local road network and have a detrimental impact on highway safety [CP1 (v)] and create additional disturbance for local residents [CP1 (ii)].
13. The Transport Statement (3.8.8) acknowledges that provision of sufficient parking is essential. However, I am concerned that the proposed 38 spaces will not be sufficient [CP1 (iv)] at peak times – especially if additional medical services are now to be offered at the surgery. The problem will be even worse if extra GPs/nurses join the practice. At the current surgery, when there are not enough car parking spaces available, people choose to park in the road or on the pavement nearby in Outings Lane. If the car park at the proposed new surgery were to become full, then people would no doubt do the same thing and would park along Blackmore Road. That will be far more dangerous than the current situation because traffic on Blackmore Road is considerably faster moving than it is on Outings Lane and there is a greater volume of traffic on Blackmore Road than there is on Outings Lane. Again, this would represent a detrimental impact on highway safety [CP1 (v)].
14. I am not aware of any proposals to attempt to reduce the number of people travelling to the surgery by car as referred to in policy T1 of the Local Plan. In fact, the increase in the number of parking spaces from the current 11 to the proposed 38 may encourage people who currently walk to the surgery under sufferance to drive instead – because they will believe it will now be easier to park when they get there.
15. Section 4.3.1 of the Transport Statement says that the proposals for the development support the policies of the Local Plan to encourage sustainable travel and reduce the need to travel. The justification that is given for this is the fact that the new surgery would have bicycle parking spaces. I very much doubt that we will see an increase in the number of people cycling to the surgery. Further, I do not see how the proposals will reduce the need to travel. If anything, the provision of additional services referred to earlier will result in more travel to/from the surgery.
16. Having additional services at the surgery could result in more delivery vehicles using the nearby roads, and hence greater general disturbance and noise/air pollution for residents [CP1 (ii) and (vii)].
17. At both Deal Tree Farm (next door to the proposed surgery) and at Ashwells Lodge (opposite the proposed surgery and adjacent to the proposed pedestrian crossing) there are at least four guard dogs – Alsatians and Rottweilers. It is already the case that if a pedestrian walks anywhere near the boundary of either of these two properties, the dogs bark very loudly and vociferously. The increase in pedestrian traffic which the new surgery would cause would mean these two sets of dogs would be barking almost non-stop during the hours the surgery was open. This would cause an unacceptable detrimental impact on the environment and amenity by virtue of the resultant noise pollution [CP1 (vii)].
18. The provision of the new pedestrian crossing would lead to extra queues of traffic along Blackmore Road and extra acceleration/deceleration of vehicles, which would have an unacceptable detrimental impact on the general amenity of the occupiers of the nearby properties by way of general disturbance and pollution from vehicle fumes [CP1 (ii) and (vii)].
19. By causing queues back towards the Deal Tree corner crossroads, the pedestrian crossing would have a negative impact on highway safety [CP1 (v)].
20. The lighting at the crossing (both the Belisha beacons and any “white” lighting provided to illuminate the crossing at night) would have an unacceptable detrimental impact on the general amenity of the occupiers of the bungalows and cottages immediately adjacent to the crossing by way of general disturbance [CP1 (ii)].
21. The crossing would have a detrimental impact on the visual amenity, character and appearance of the surrounding area [CP1 (i)].
22. Under policy LT12 in the Local Plan it states that changes of use to healthcare use will be permitted only where the property is located somewhere which is accessible by public transport, walking and cycling. The proposed development is not served by any cycle routes and many of the local roads are not particularly safe for cyclists to use. Similarly, many of the nearby roads have no pavements and so the property cannot be said to be easily accessible on foot. Apart from a very limited bus service there are no public transport links at all.

Whilst I can see that there are some benefits to be gained from having a new surgery, I do not feel that the proposed site is suitable and I feel that the application overlooks a number of pertinent issues.

I would therefore be grateful if the above observations, especially those regarding the destruction of the Green Belt and the traffic problems that would be caused by (a) the location of the vehicle access road and (b) the plans to offer additional services, could please be taken into account by those responsible for deciding whether or not to approve this application.

I've been going through the planning application for the new GP surgery and looking at the Brentwood Replacement Local Plan which sets out lots of different planning policies for the Borough.

It turns out that if the new surgery is built in the proposed location it will be at odds with all sorts of different planning policies. I've put together a detailed letter of objection and sent it to the Council. If you have the time and inclination you can read it here. Feel free to take bits of it and reword to create your own letter.

Local residents oppose new GP surgery for Doddinghurst

This weekend I've been put knocking on doors in Doddinghurst and further afield in Hook End, asking people whether they are in favour of the new GP surgery.

Of the 30 or so houses I visited, only one person said they were 100% in favour of the plans to get rid of the existing green field site and replace it with a new medical centre that will dwarf the surrounding buildings and bring extra traffic to our already busy roads and lanes.

Everyone else I spoke to was against the proposed development for various reasons.

Lots of people have said they'd be happy to either sign a standard letter to the Council or send in their own letter objecting to the plans. This is fantastic news and hopefully will mean that this proposal doesn't just get nodded through by those elected Councillors who have been charged with safeguarding our Green Belt.

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.

Plans for new GP surgery published

We've received a letter telling us that, following years of rumours and speculation, the local GP has put in a planning application to build a new surgery around the corner from their existing location.

The proposed development will involve concreting over a large section of the field at Deal Tree Corner and replacing it with an imposing two storey building and a car park.

They also plan to add a zebra crossing and a new vehicle access road.

Full details of the plans can be found by going to the Brentwood Council website and searching for application number BRW/281/2010.