Castle Point
Estuary 2021: a celebration of the ‘unfashionable end of the Thames’
Tuesday 18 May 2021
You can enjoy more than 90 artworks and events during the Estuary 2021 festival, which begins on Saturday (May 22). Held along the 107-mile trail of the Thames estuary, it celebrates the lives, landscapes and histories found there through visual art, literature, music and film. It can be enjoyed for free, outdoors and in a […] Read more >
Flats in Thundersley Green Belt backed by appeal inspector
Friday 9 October 2020
An inspector has allowed an appeal against Castle Point Borough Council’s refusal of planning permission for 22 new flats in the Green Belt. Plans to develop a site of a little more than an acre on the edge of a residential area in Thundersley had been blocked by the local authority. Surrounded by buildings on […] Read more >
The Green Belt: its value is obvious but it needs protecting more than ever, says new report
Wednesday 20 November 2019
Lying next to London, Essex is of course well served by the capital’s Green Belt. A report by a cross-party Parliamentary group shows that London’s Metropolitan Green Belt not only protects against urban sprawl but also provides vital countryside on our doorstep for health and well-being. Benefits include: • 26, 267 hectares of Sites of […] Read more >
Will councils’ lack of action plan make them vulnerable to the housing speculators?
Monday 21 October 2019
Three local authorities in Essex have failed to produce the Housing Delivery Test Action Plan required of them by government. They are among just 21 across the country to have not published the plans, which they are instructed to do if they under-deliver on housebuilding targets. The plans should set out how they intend to […] Read more >
What Thames estuary growth plans could mean for climate change… and accountability
Monday 10 June 2019
The government’s backing of proposals to target the Thames estuary for massive development flies in the face of wider calls to tackle climate change, according to one of CPRE’s leading lights in the area. In June last year the Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission published a report calling for the building of more than a […] Read more >
South Essex in the firing line for colossal housing growth
Wednesday 5 September 2018
If you thought development pressure on Essex could not get any worse, there is some sobering reading from the Thames Estuary Growth Commission. This advisory body to the government is urging “joint spatial plans” to be created in both Essex and Kent to support the building of more than a million homes. The two counties […] Read more >
Castle Point agrees to step up the pace on Local Plan
Wednesday 18 July 2018
Castle Point Borough Council is to speed up its Local Plan timetable in a bid to stop central government taking over the process. The local authority has also agreed to produce a joint spatial plan with five other local planning authorities in south Essex – Basildon, Brentwood, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock – and the county […] Read more >