Much has happened since the residents of St Osyth were made aware of the plans for development to the priory which included190 houses behind Mill Street with road access via the cross roads, luxury homes within the Priory Parkland and 50 holiday chalets off Colchester Road. SOS held its first tentative meeting in February of this year. In March we held a public meeting which saw the village hall filled to its capacity, people were queuing at the doors and cars were queuing back as far as the crossroads. It was obvious that the residents of St Osyth were outraged at the proposals that had been put forward for possible enabling development

Nearly six months down the line we are still waiting for an application to be submitted. The Editorial Team of the Parish Magazine have very kindly offered to allow us this insert so we are taking the opportunity to give an update on events. The SOS Group has an official constitution and our aims and objectives are as stated above.

Phyll Hendy the local History recorder has made a submission to the Government Office for the East of England (GO-EAST) advising them of the proposals for enabling development. GO-EAST have accepted this submission and opened a file and appointed an officer. SOS have written a supporting letter to the submission as have a number of other village organisations. GO-EAST will not comment or act until there is a formal application and TDC decide what course to follow.

Enquiries regarding the propriety of 4 TDC Members attending a pre-application meeting have failed to elicit any explanation whatsoever. In the course of the correspondence the legal Dept. and the Head of Planning sent documentation which makes it clear ALL relevant members should have been present, not just 4 members. Rest assured that the public perception of such conduct has been registered with TDC legal services. Whether we will need to proceed further is under consideration – and will be reviewed against future procedural matters.
Widespread concern at the work being carried out in the Park and also the newly acquired Semex site has been taken up at both ECC and TDC level. The main concern being the indiscriminate undermining of the ecology/ environment, after considerable delay work at the Settlement Ponds has been halted, but only after wildlife habitats were destroyed, including that of water voles. Work around the gravel-pit lakes has been deemed permissible. We have been advised an officer at ECC made an Executive decision, sometime between 2004 – 7, to agree a restoration scheme. THIS DID NOT COME INTO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. There is a map showing restoration areas but other supporting documentation has not been made available by ECC. It is therefore difficult to establish the degree of compliance and ECC appear unwilling to take any enforcement action. An aerial photographic record has been opened and will continue, for future use. The latest flight was scheduled for 25th June.

A number of people reported to SOS that NEW roads were being constructed within the Park. This was taken up with TDC. The response was that the upgrade of roads comes within permitted development rights because they are for agricultural purposes. There does not appear to be any increase in agricultural use within the parkland that could warrant the building of these new roads and the fact that they are positioned in areas where some of the luxury properties would be built has been noted. This is being pursued with TDC at the time of writing.

At SOS we are preparing for the planning application to go in and believe this could be late August early September. Once this happens we will be seeking to mobilise the village quickly.

KEEP DISPLAYING YOUR SOS POSTERS