These fields must be saved, says Town MP

12.00.00am GMT Tue 9th Mar 2010

Bob Russell MP standing in Mile End Recreation Ground

Colchester MP Bob Russell has called for a "minimum delay of ten years" in even considering whether further land in Mile End should be developed for housing.

In an impassioned plea "not to build on the fields of my youth", Mr Russell said he thought it was premature for Planners - admittedly driven by Government targets - to look at releasing more land in North Colchester when the proposed huge development of 1,500 houses on the site of the former Severalls Hospital had not even started. Indeed, as he pointed out yesterday, the land had yet to be put back on the market for sale let alone detailed planning permission given.

And Mr Russell - backing what he said two weeks' ago during a House of Commons debate on housing - said that more effort should first be made into bringing empty houses back into occupation before building on yet more green field sites. Estimates suggest that there are about 2,000 empty dwellings in the Borough - about the same number of new dwellings which are proposed for the fields bordered by Bergholt Road, Mile End Road and Village and the Northern By-Pass.

He told the Commons: "There is a housing crisis in this country, but not necessarily a housing shortage. We have a mismatch, and there are empty houses that need to be brought back into use.

"The Government ought to use requisition powers, or introduce new powers. In a civilised country such as ours, it is ludicrous that we have thousands of children living in poverty, yet there are empty houses."

Mr Russell told the Essex County Standard: "For me, the valley of St Botolph's Brook - the historic boundary between Colchester and Great Horkesley and West Bergholt - is an area of natural beauty to match that of Dedham Vale. It is just that John Constable painted the latter. One has to only walk the footpaths between Braiswick and Mile End to appreciate the sheer beauty of so much open space close to urban Colchester - and do we really want to cram houses right up against the Northern By-Pass, destroying the rural vista between the Blue Bridge at Braiswick and the Boxted Road bridge?"

Over the years, Mr Russell has advocated urban renewal with the building of new houses on sites previously developed and known as "brown field sites". He can look to several sites in the New Town Ward area of Colchester where he used to be a Councillor, and opposite his home planning permission has been given for housing on a former highways depot. He wants to see more attention to developing "brown field sites" before the Council contemplates the loss of further "green field sites" such as that now put forward in Mile End.

"Who knows what the picture will be like in 2020? Let's first develop those sites for which planning permission has been given throughout the Borough, and on land which it is known is to be developed such as the 1,500 already approved in principle for Severalls, before even embarking on releasing yet more land.

"Do we really want to see urban Colchester built hard up against the A12, with just a short distance left to separate the town from the villages of Great Horkesley and West Bergholt? We need the open spaces. Mile End has experienced massive new house-building over the past decade and the next decade is likely to see further huge growth - there is a need for all of us to take a deep breath, and contemplate whether future generations will thank those currently making decisions if the precious visual beauty of the remaining fields in North Colchester are built on.

"That is why I am urging all involved to take a pause, literally. Let's stop the clock, now, take stock of the situation and not take decisions to release more land for housing when there are currently sites already allocated for several thousand new homes which have not yet been built. I am all for forward planning, but rushing headlong into the unknown is not sensible forward planning."

In a separate move, Mr Russell - who grew up in Mile End - said he had challenged Council Officers to explain what had happened to proposals to expand the Mile End Recreation Ground. "When I was Chairman of the relevant Council Committee, about 15 years ago, I officially opened the new Pavilion - which had been located in a position where it would be central when additional sports pitches were provided on the adjoining agriculture fields. I now discover that at some point in the intervening period the playing fields expansion has seemingly been dropped in favour of housing development. I am trying to find out how this happened."

He added: "While I acknowledge that successive Governments have driven Colchester's expansion with housing targets, it is important that we do not allow the Planners and here-today-gone-tomorrow Developers to dictate what happens. It is important that we fight to save as much open space as we can, and I believe that what I am urging - with a moratorium on the release of yet more land at this moment - is something which those who live in Colchester will support."