Colchester City Council Preferred Options Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation 2025

Should it found necessary to put 300 further dwellings at West Mersea
From WMNP
Policy WM 6 - Housing Mix
In all housing developments of ten or more homes, there shall be an emphasis on providing a higher proportion of one and two bedroomed houses and bungalows within the scheme, unless it can be demonstrated that the particular circumstances relating to the tenure of the housing dictate otherwise or where such provision is demonstrated to not be in accordance with the latest available housing needs information for the Plan Area.

Alms Houses for local people on the housing list should be provided if any new development takes place.

Also see CS5 – Tourism, Leisure, Arts and Culture (Oyster Impact Focus)
“Policy EN1: Nature Conservation Designated Sites – Development proposals that have adverse effects on the integrity of habitats, designated sites, or Sites of Special Scientific Interest, either alone or in combination, will not be supported.”
Oysters as a Critical Economic and Cultural Resource:
i) Native oyster beds in the MCZ are central to local livelihoods, aquaculture tourism, and heritage activities.
ii) Any additional nutrient, chemical, or bacterial pollution from WRC effluent, CSO events, or cumulative housing discharges would degrade oyster beds.
iii) Such degradation would be catastrophic, halting recovery efforts, threatening oystermen’s livelihoods, and undermining aquaculture- based tourism, including oyster festivals, seafood experiences, and heritage tourism.
Tourism and Recreational Impacts:
i) Degraded estuarine and coastal water quality would reduce the attractiveness of bathing waters, beaches, and recreational activities, harming local tourism revenue.
ii) Visitors are deterred by pollution events, bacterial spikes, or visibly degraded coastal environments, which directly impacts hotels, restaurants, and leisure providers.
iii) The harbour area protection for leisure and commercial boating is vital to the local economy
Cumulative Impacts:
i) Existing and proposed housing (~600 dwellings) increase effluent load, with direct implications for oyster beds, estuarine ecology, and tourism.
ii) CSOs and WRC discharges exacerbate risks, particularly during storm events.
Policy Implications:
i) To comply with CS5, development must protect tourism assets: oyster beds, bathing waters, coastal recreation, and cultural heritage.
ii) Required measures include:
1. Full cumulative assessment of wastewater and CSO impacts.
2. Infrastructure upgrades at the WRC before development occupation.
3. Mitigation measures to prevent degradation of oyster beds, estuarine habitats, and recreational water quality.
Conclusion:
i) The downgrading or loss of oyster beds would be catastrophic for both Mersea Island and Colchester’s economy, tourism, and cultural heritage.
ii) Tourism and aquaculture must be explicitly prioritised in planning and infrastructure decisions.
23

Also see CS5 – Tourism, Leisure, Arts and Culture (Oyster Impact Focus)
“Policy EN1: Nature Conservation Designated Sites – Development proposals that have adverse effects on the integrity of habitats, designated sites, or Sites of Special Scientific Interest, either alone or in combination, will not be supported.”
Oysters as a Critical Economic and Cultural Resource:
i) Native oyster beds in the MCZ are central to local livelihoods, aquaculture tourism, and heritage activities.
ii) Any additional nutrient, chemical, or bacterial pollution from WRC effluent, CSO events, or cumulative housing discharges would degrade oyster beds.
iii) Such degradation would be catastrophic, halting recovery efforts, threatening oystermen’s livelihoods, and undermining aquaculture- based tourism, including oyster festivals, seafood experiences, and heritage tourism.
Tourism and Recreational Impacts:
i) Degraded estuarine and coastal water quality would reduce the attractiveness of bathing waters, beaches, and recreational activities, harming local tourism revenue.
ii) Visitors are deterred by pollution events, bacterial spikes, or visibly degraded coastal environments, which directly impacts hotels, restaurants, and leisure providers.
iii) The harbour area protection for leisure and commercial boating is vital to the local economy
Cumulative Impacts:
i) Existing and proposed housing (~600 dwellings) increase effluent load, with direct implications for oyster beds, estuarine ecology, and tourism.
ii) CSOs and WRC discharges exacerbate risks, particularly during storm events.
Policy Implications:
i) To comply with CS5, development must protect tourism assets: oyster beds, bathing waters, coastal recreation, and cultural heritage.
ii) Required measures include:
1. Full cumulative assessment of wastewater and CSO impacts.
2. Infrastructure upgrades at the WRC before development occupation.
3. Mitigation measures to prevent degradation of oyster beds, estuarine habitats, and recreational water quality.
Conclusion:
i) The downgrading or loss of oyster beds would be catastrophic for both Mersea Island and Colchester’s economy, tourism, and cultural heritage.
ii) Tourism and aquaculture must be explicitly prioritised in planning and infrastructure decisions.
23

Also see CS5 – Tourism, Leisure, Arts and Culture (Oyster Impact Focus)
“Policy EN1: Nature Conservation Designated Sites – Development proposals that have adverse effects on the integrity of habitats, designated sites, or Sites of Special Scientific Interest, either alone or in combination, will not be supported.”
Oysters as a Critical Economic and Cultural Resource:
i) Native oyster beds in the MCZ are central to local livelihoods, aquaculture tourism, and heritage activities.
ii) Any additional nutrient, chemical, or bacterial pollution from WRC effluent, CSO events, or cumulative housing discharges would degrade oyster beds.
iii) Such degradation would be catastrophic, halting recovery efforts, threatening oystermen’s livelihoods, and undermining aquaculture- based tourism, including oyster festivals, seafood experiences, and heritage tourism.
Tourism and Recreational Impacts:
i) Degraded estuarine and coastal water quality would reduce the attractiveness of bathing waters, beaches, and recreational activities, harming local tourism revenue.
ii) Visitors are deterred by pollution events, bacterial spikes, or visibly degraded coastal environments, which directly impacts hotels, restaurants, and leisure providers.
iii) The harbour area protection for leisure and commercial boating is vital to the local economy
Cumulative Impacts:
i) Existing and proposed housing (~600 dwellings) increase effluent load, with direct implications for oyster beds, estuarine ecology, and tourism.
ii) CSOs and WRC discharges exacerbate risks, particularly during storm events.
Policy Implications:
i) To comply with CS5, development must protect tourism assets: oyster beds, bathing waters, coastal recreation, and cultural heritage.
ii) Required measures include:
1. Full cumulative assessment of wastewater and CSO impacts.
2. Infrastructure upgrades at the WRC before development occupation.
3. Mitigation measures to prevent degradation of oyster beds, estuarine habitats, and recreational water quality.
Conclusion:
i) The downgrading or loss of oyster beds would be catastrophic for both Mersea Island and Colchester’s economy, tourism, and cultural heritage.
ii) Tourism and aquaculture must be explicitly prioritised in planning and infrastructure decisions.

Shopping Area Map page 899/1342
Church Road shopping goes too far west
Barfield Road shopping area in middle of south side area should extend back to Folly/FP

The Infrastructure Audit & Delivery Plan Stages 1 & 2 Report misses a number of West Mersea Assets.
Mersea Museum
Mersea Barrow
Firs Road Burial Grounds
Feldy View Burial ground
No Data for Mersea Medical situation. The doctors list has been closed since July 2024 but no actual number of patient or number of GPs or GP patient ratio mentioned to show the desperate situation for any new resident moving onto the Island and finding they can not register with the Island practice as the list is closed. There is knock on effect as residents try and register with a Doctor off the Island only to find their lists are also closing. Also the Dentist list for NHS patients is full.
Voluntary emergency services
The Island has to rely on the several voluntary organisation to provide emergency support for the community. Retained fire firemen, now about 7 persons, who need to come from the local community normally working and living within 5 minutes of the station. Last year 2025 they had nearly 300 call-outs which when one considers they have to earn a living and or patient employer makes for difficult situations. Lifeboat station requires a large team for launching authorities, launchers and crew all active and fit and again working/living locally. Auxiliary Coastguard team to coordinate Lifeboat and water incidences. A team of First Responders again need to be living/working on the Island. Because we are an Island which can be cut off from the mainland support all the teams are of critical importance and with no large employers it does result in need 25
for self employed volunteers who are fit and able. The population age profile has again grown in the last tens year (census data 2011/2021) from 39.9% to 44.2% for the over 60’s, this issue will become more of a problem for recruitment of young active volunteers.

Busing of some 400 plus students to two secondary schools with high tides the return trip can be a problem. The buses to TLA are free the other catchment secondary school in Tiptree has to be paid for by the parents.

It has to be understood that facilities provided at the WMTC recreation fields, The Glebe, are for Parish use and not a sub centre for CCC sports facilities as the provision has to be maintained at Parish’s expense/local council tax payers. Also it has to be borne in mind the problematic access to these facilities with people coming from off the Island due to tidal problems.
The Island does have many sports facilities in the form of private clubs which run by subscription of the members who use same.

“Policy EN1: Nature Conservation Designated Sites – Development proposals that have adverse effects on the integrity of habitats, designated sites, or Sites of Special Scientific Interest, either alone or in combination, will not be supported.”
Oysters as a Critical Economic and Cultural Resource:
i) Native oyster beds in the MCZ are central to local livelihoods, aquaculture tourism, and heritage activities.
ii) Any additional nutrient, chemical, or bacterial pollution from WRC effluent, CSO events, or cumulative housing discharges would degrade oyster beds.
iii) Such degradation would be catastrophic, halting recovery efforts, threatening oystermen’s livelihoods, and undermining aquaculture- based tourism, including oyster festivals, seafoodexperiences, and heritage tourism. Tourism and Recreational Impacts:
I) Degraded estuarine and coastal water quality would reduce the attractiveness of bathing waters, beaches, and recreational activities, harming local tourism revenue.
ii) Visitors are deterred by pollution events, bacterial spikes, or visibly degraded coastal environments, which directly impacts hotels, restaurants, and leisure providers.
Cumulative Impacts:
i) Existing and proposed housing (~600 homes) increase effluent load, with direct implications for oyster beds, estuarine ecology, and tourism.
ii) CSOs and WRC discharges exacerbate risks, particularly during storm events.
Policy Implications:
i) To comply with CS5, development must protect tourism assets: oyster beds, bathing waters, coastal recreation, and cultural heritage.
ii) Required measures include:
1. Full cumulative assessment of wastewater and CSO impacts.
27
2. Infrastructure upgrades at the WRC before development occupation.
3. Mitigation measures to prevent degradation of oyster beds, estuarine habitats, and recreational water quality.
Conclusion:
i)The downgrading or loss of oyster beds would be catastrophic for both Mersea Island and Colchester’s economy, tourism, and cultural heritage.
ii)Tourism and aquaculture must be explicitly prioritised in planning and infrastructure decisions.