I read with interest the reactions of the local community to the application for housing development on Thorney Bay Park, Canvey.

Are those against the scheme not aware the park is a recognised brown field site and would, therefore, potentially reduce the risk of applications coming forward to develop the cherished areas of green belt in Castle Point?

I would have thought members of the community would have been pleased with this alternative to green belt development.

I suggest to the scandalmongers that they go to one of the consultations at the Paddocks before attempting to have the proposal rejected.

I am sure they are aware of the desperate need for housing in the borough, and of the need for employment.

This project satisfies both criteria in the long term.

It will provide much needed housing, and has the potential for immediate and long-term employment opportunities.

I am sure even the most vocal doubters must agree that new monies being brought to Canvey, and injected back into the community, can only be a good thing.

I would again urge people to attend the consultation sessions at the Paddocks, which continue today.

J M O’Dell
Thorney Bay Park
Thorney Bay Road
Canvey

...The housing proposals put forward for Thorney Bay caravan park have points for and against them.

The obvious point against is the effect the occupants of hundreds more homes would have on the infrastructure, not only of Canvey, but of Benfleet as well.

It is already a nightmare getting on and off Canvey at peak hours. The addition of hundreds more cars to the overburdened roads system would do nothing to improve the situation, new Sadlers Farm junction or not.

There is also the question of where the people who now live or stay in these caravans would go when the houses are built.

Many of the people at Thorney Bay are, I understand, elderly or enduring reduced circumstances.

Castle Point does not have enough social housing to accommodate them, so where are they to go? Out of the area, to another district which also might not have room for them?

The development would, however, draw developers away from the green belt, thus protecting what little we have left in the borough.

It would also help Castle Point meet the housing targets set for it by the Government, without giving rise to public outcry elsewhere.

Jim Arthur
Watlington Road
Benfleet