Fears about blueprint for Hockley town centre

The Hockley Area Action Plan is the blueprint developers will have to follow if they want to build new homes or businesses anywhere in the middle of the town including Foundry Business Park, Spa Road, and the middle sections of Main Road and Southend Road.

As part of the plan, a new supermarket up to 3,000square metres, could be built.
Brian Guyett, chairman of Hockley Residents Association, fears the proposals are not the best solution for the town.

He said: "If we stand back and ask ‘What does the HAAP do for Hockley?’ The roads issues are not addressed and there is a danger we will miss the opportunity, whilst increased traffic volumes clog-up our roads even more.

“The whole document is based on creating a new, larger supermarket but could this force the closure of other shops and lead to less competition or choice, which would not be good.
“Will this take Hockley forward? It does not address any of our key issues and is likely to adversely affect our traffic problems.”

Public consultations have been carried out, the most recent in August this year, and have
Keith Hudson, Tory councillor responsible for planning, says any developer that wants to build in the town centre area will have to make sure the roads can cope and make improvements if needed.

He said: “This is not a planning application. It is an overall design for what the area should look like in years to come if anyone chooses to redevelop it.

“A detailed traffic assessment and design will have to be done in conjunction with any development so we can be assured the develpment will not excarcebate the situation on the roads and hopefully improve it. They will not get approval if they don’t address the problem.”

Mr Hudson said the document provided a limit to the size of any new store.

He added: “The plan doesn’t say it must be 3,000 square metres that is a maximum. It is anticipated there will be more than enough car parking spaces in that area.”