Colchester City Council Preferred Options Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation 2025

Mersea Island Society comments on the Colchester City Council Regulation 18 Consultation - Preferred Options Local Plan 2025
A Statement Outlining Concerns and Objections
Introduction
The Society was formed to preserve, safeguard and promote the characteristics of Mersea Island for the benefit of all, to arrange open discussion whenever it appears necessary to obtain a consensus of public opinion and to provide opportunities to gain factual knowledge from lectures, visits and discussion of this great island.

Mersea Island Society Committee wishes to formally express its opposition to the current draft Local Plan for Colchester. This statement outlines the principal concerns and objections that the Committee has identified, highlighting the potential impact on Mersea Island and its residents.
Key Concerns
1. Pressure on Local Infrastructure
2. Environmental Impact
3. Overdevelopment and Community Character
4. Lack of Meaningful Consultation
Summary of Objections
• Inadequate consideration of infrastructure limitations.
• Insufficient measures to protect the environment and manage flood risk.
• Overambitious housing targets that threaten the community’s character.
• Poor consultation and lack of engagement with Mersea residents and stakeholders.
Conclusion
In light of these concerns, Mersea Island Society urges Colchester City Council to reconsider the draft Local Plan. The Society requests a thorough review of the proposals as they relate to Mersea Island, with genuine engagement with the local community, robust environmental protections, and a realistic approach to infrastructure capacity. The Society remains committed to working constructively with all stakeholders to achieve a sustainable future for Mersea Island and the wider Colchester area.
The Society is concerned that the consultation process has not been sufficiently inclusive or transparent. There appears to be a lack of engagement with the specific needs and circumstances of Mersea Island.
The draft Local Plan proposes a level of housing growth that the Society believes is disproportionate to the size and character of Mersea Island. Such development risks altering the identity of the community, placing a strain on local services and undermining the qualities that make Mersea a desirable place to live and visit.
Mersea Island is a unique and fragile environment, home to diverse wildlife and protected habitats. The Society is deeply concerned that the scale and nature of the proposed developments threaten local biodiversity and undermine environmental protections. There is a risk of increased flooding and erosion, and the plan does not provide sufficient safeguards for the island’s distinctive landscape and ecology.
The Society is not opposed to very limited growth and for priority for housing to be given to local particularly young people but an additional 300 houses on top of the 200+ from the last local plan is unstainable.
The proposed development sites in the draft Local Plan would place significant additional pressure on the island’s already limited infrastructure. Concerns include the capacity of local roads, particularly the Strood causeway, as well as water supply, drainage, and waste management systems. The Society believes that these issues have not been adequately addressed within the plan nor the considerable pressure that arise from occupation of caravans. Neighbourhood Plan (2021) indicates there are 1,905 static caravans and lodges.

The Society will comment on specific texts in the Consultative Document. These to include comments on the evidence lacking in the consultation documents about the capacity for growth of West Mersea; provision of medical care and the aging population on the island; adequacy of the local Water Treatment Centre; our island position and flooding on the Strood severely affecting entry to and from the island; threats to environment resulting from overdevelopment; the site allocation on Dawes Lane; bus links and transport connectivity; ongoing consideration to SMR’s being located at the former nuclear power station at Bradwell, and the huge gap in money available for infrastructure improvements.
The Society urges that these comments be considered when further consideration is given. Mersea in many ways is unique and its future needs safeguarding,
Mersea Island Society Committee January 2026

The Society says that wholly insufficient attention has been given to Mersea being an island.

Place Policies PP23

If despite these objections to the proposal, an allocation is made, the footways from the site provision needs to be made for safe access.
This development’s open space which should be the north of the developed area and should be left within the Coastal Belt Protection designated area so that no further development of site may occur at a later date. It is wholly unacceptable that no improvements have been made to the junction of Dawes Lane with East Road since a new development in 2023.

BRADWELL
NPPF Policy 162 &172, 178

Attention is drawn to Govt. policy announced in June 2024. As stated, there will be a “New era for nuclear power as Rolls-Royce SMR selected as preferred bidder to build country’s first small modular reactors.” Attention drawn to the possible inclusion of the previous nuclear plant at Bradwell being a site for an SMR. Nearby Maldon District Council has an existing policy to encourage further nuclear development on the site stating, “The Council will strongly support the principle of the development of a new nuclear power station at Bradwell-on-Sea.” There is concern that at present there is no evacuation policy in existence and the decommissioned plant has already a substantial storage of spent fuel with inherent safety risks lasting over 100 years. Therefore in addition substantial issues would arise from an SMR at Bradwell. An SMR would be less than 2 miles across the sea from West Mersea.

Distance from city centre, natural constraints such as a causeway (the Strood), lack of public transport, distant secondary schools and hospital location, shows flaws in settlement hierarchy approach for West Mersea. It is some 10 miles (15km) from the centre of Colchester and severely impacted as only tidal road for access. Sole hospital and main railway station to London and Norwich is a further 1.5 miles (3km) to the North of Colchester. Travel from West Mersea to the A12 is upwards of 45 minutes. Spatial Strategy should in the Society view be determined by transport connectivity and major infrastructure provision.

The health assessment provides no forecast data for the West Mersea Surgery. Current medical provision is insufficient, with the doctor-to-patient ratio at approximately 1 full-time doctor per 2,800 patients, significantly above the national standard of 1:1,800, and patient lists are closed. There is no reference to the increasingly aged population in West Mersea and to providing more doctors. Significant issues arise from the causeway and limited public transport for access to care. The major hospital in the area is in North Colchester some 12 miles distant.

Environment and the Green Network and Waterways ST2
Considerable concern that there is wholly insufficient protection of water quality, estuarine habitats and the coastal environment. There appears to be no account of the implications of the considerable number of houses being built (200+) currently plus proposed (300) totalling over 500+and the considerable number of caravans present on the island.

Active and Sustainable Travel Policy PC2

There is no data provided concerning the Strood. Last Local Plan indicated some 7,500 vehicles coming on to the island between 0700 hours and 1900 hours. It is requested that there should be a traffic survey before any decisions are taken on housing allocation. We draw attention to Lidar Display map from Environment Agency. Seek that more work is undertaken to examine the extent of global warming and the impact upon Mersea. The bus service is unreliable when high tides impact and data relied upon by the City Council is inaccurate.

Enhancement of and Provision for Community Facilities Policy CS2
Noted there is a deficit of some £811,438,036 in Infrastructure funding. This equates to adding some £40,000 to each dwelling built in way of an infrastructure levy via CIL or Section 106. There is considerable concern therefore that infrastructure improvements required will not be forthcoming from the Local Plan.

Submitted by Marica Frost, Chair of Mersea Island Society. All other comments on the Portal from her are on behalf of the Mersea Island Society.

Mersea Island Society comments on the Colchester City Council Regulation 18 Consultation - Preferred Options Local Plan 2025

A Statement Outlining Concerns and Objections
Introduction

The Society was formed to preserve, safeguard and promote the characteristics of Mersea Island for the benefit of all, to arrange open discussion whenever it appears necessary to obtain a consensus of public opinion and to provide opportunities to gain factual knowledge from lectures, visits and discussion of this great island.

Mersea Island Society Committee wishes to formally express its opposition to the current draft Local Plan for Colchester. This statement outlines the principal concerns and objections that the Committee has identified, highlighting the potential impact on Mersea Island and its residents.
Key Concerns
1. Pressure on Local Infrastructure
2. Environmental Impact
3. Overdevelopment and Community Character
4. Lack of Meaningful Consultation

Summary of Objections
• Inadequate consideration of infrastructure limitations.
• Insufficient measures to protect the environment and manage flood risk.
• Overambitious housing targets that threaten the community’s character.
• Poor consultation and lack of engagement with Mersea residents and stakeholders.

Conclusion
In light of these concerns, Mersea Island Society urges Colchester City Council to reconsider the draft Local Plan. The Society requests a thorough review of the proposals as they relate to Mersea Island, with genuine engagement with the local community, robust environmental protections, and a realistic approach to infrastructure capacity. The Society remains committed to working constructively with all stakeholders to achieve a sustainable future for Mersea Island and the wider Colchester area.
The Society is concerned that the consultation process has not been sufficiently inclusive or transparent. There appears to be a lack of engagement with the specific needs and circumstances of Mersea Island.
The draft Local Plan proposes a level of housing growth that the Society believes is disproportionate to the size and character of Mersea Island. Such development risks altering the identity of the community, placing a strain on local services and undermining the qualities that make Mersea a desirable place to live and visit.
Mersea Island is a unique and fragile environment, home to diverse wildlife and protected habitats. The Society is deeply concerned that the scale and nature of the proposed developments threaten local biodiversity and undermine environmental protections. There is a risk of increased flooding and erosion, and the plan does not provide sufficient safeguards for the island’s distinctive landscape and ecology.
The Society is not opposed to very limited growth and for priority for housing to be given to local particularly young people but an additional 300 houses on top of the 200+ from the last local plan is unstainable.
The proposed development sites in the draft Local Plan would place significant additional pressure on the island’s already limited infrastructure. Concerns include the capacity of local roads, particularly the Strood causeway, as well as water supply, drainage, and waste management systems. The Society believes that these issues have not been adequately addressed within the plan nor the considerable pressure that arise from occupation of caravans. Neighbourhood Plan (2021) indicates there are 1,905 static caravans and lodges.

The Society will comment on specific texts in the Consultative Document. These to include comments on the evidence lacking in the consultation documents about the capacity for growth of West Mersea; provision of medical care and the aging population on the island; adequacy of the local Water Treatment Centre; our island position and flooding on the Strood severely affecting entry to and from the island; threats to environment resulting from overdevelopment; the site allocation on Dawes Lane; bus links and transport connectivity; ongoing consideration to SMR’s being located at the former nuclear power station at Bradwell, and the huge gap in money available for infrastructure improvements.

The Society urges that these comments be considered when further consideration is given. Mersea in many ways is unique and its future needs safeguarding,

Mersea Island Society Committee January 2026

The Society says that wholly insufficient attention has been given to Mersea being an island.