Colchester City Council Preferred Options Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation 2025

Our client objects to the draft allocation for approximately 25 dwellings at land at St Ives Road on the basis that Peldon is significantly smaller and less sustainable than Layer de la Haye, with very limited existing services and facilities. Paragraph 4.193 of CCC’s Sustainability Appraisal (February 2025) acknowledges that Peldon has no school or local shops. As a result Policy PP49 is likely to increase dependence on the private car and contribute towards unsustainable patterns of development.

This is contrary to the objectives set out in paragraph 11(a) and 110 of the NPPF, which expect local plans to promote sustainable patterns of development and significant development to be focussed on locations which are or can be made sustainable, through limiting the need to travel and offering a genuine choice of transport modes.

In summary our client requests that the draft allocation at land at St Ives Road, Peldon, is removed from the emerging Local Plan and replaced with more sustainable alternatives, including their land adjacent to Nightingale Corner at The Folley, Layer de la Haye. Doing so will ensure that the emerging Local Plan passes the ‘justified’ test of soundness (i.e. it comprises an appropriate strategy taking into account the reasonable alternatives) at paragraph 36 of the NPPF.