Braintree
Final approval granted for 300 new homes in Coggeshall
Tuesday 24 August 2021
The final go-ahead to build 300 homes in Coggeshall has been given by Braintree District Council. The local authority had granted Bovis Homes permission in 2019 for the Colchester Road development, which includes a community centre, but the details of the scheme have now been approved unanimously by its planning committee. People in the village […] Read more >
A patchwork of paradise in a very special nature reserve
Tuesday 3 August 2021
Writer Anne Boileau offers an enticing taste of a delightful Essex woodland where “small groups used to meet up for dawn chorus and bacon butties in the spring”. A little chunk of paradise has fallen among us… Between Stisted and Greensted Green lies a small nature reserve known as Belcher’s and Broadfield Woods, or Brookes […] Read more >
Depressing in Cressing
Friday 28 May 2021
Susan Simpson relates a gloomy tale from one Essex parish that shows how the lack of a Local Plan can allow opportunistic developers to call the shots Cressing parish lies south of Braintree. It has two main village areas and several hamlets that together, before 2019, had some 700 houses. It was classified in the […] Read more >
Gimsons development: a tragedy for Witham
Tuesday 20 April 2021
A tragedy for Witham… CPRE Essex’s John Palombi doesn’t sugar-coat his view of the decision to approve plans to build 78 homes on a sensitive site in the town. Braintree District Council’s planning committee in October last year gave Bellway Homes permission to build the properties on the Gimsons site. This was despite hundreds of […] Read more >
Prayer for a Tree
Friday 26 March 2021
We are delighted to present this “little piece from Coggeshall” by writer Anne Boileau. “I’m obviously not getting out and about much at the moment, so it’s local,” she tells us. We’re almost there, Anne… in the meantime, thank you so much for this. Prayer for a Tree I’ve got a twig in my hand. It […] Read more >
Our favourite water mill? Well, the one we live in, of course!
Tuesday 16 March 2021
Our series of talks aimed at helping people through the lockdown winter has been wrapped up in delightful fashion by Petra Ward with her presentation My Favourite Water Mill. Petra, a long-standing member and trustee of CPRE Essex, gave her talk on Wednesday last week (Wednesday, March 10) ably assisted by husband Richard. The secret […] Read more >
Almost 240 new homes approved for Kelvedon
Thursday 21 January 2021
Planners have backed a scheme to build 238 homes in Kelvedon. Worries about design were brushed aside as Braintree District Council planning committee backed the application by Cala Homes – it had already been given outline permission in 2018. A parish council statement said: “This is the first significant development in the village for over […] Read more >
Village awaits decision on 230 new homes
Thursday 21 January 2021
Rivenhall will grow by 230 homes if a developer has its way. Bellway Homes has applied for outline planning permission for the estate, off Rectory Lane. The site comprises farmland, woodland and part of a former golf course. Nearby residents say the development would erode further the gap between their village and Witham – more […] Read more >
Chance to take part in consultation on proposed solar farm
Thursday 10 December 2020
Another day, another consultation. This time for a solar farm near Chelmsford. Longfield Solar Farm is being put forward by EDF Renewables UK and Padero Solar for almost 940 acres north-east of Chelmsford and north of the A12 between Boreham and Hatfield Peverel. The developers say the scheme would generate electricity for up to 67,000 […] Read more >
Bocking to get 265-home development after Gladman wins appeal
Monday 14 September 2020
Gladman has struck in Bocking. The land agent has won an appeal it launched in 2017 against Braintree District Council’s failure to rule on its application for a housing development within the statutory 13-week period. The site, off Church Street, had been targeted with two proposals: one for 265 units and the other for 300. […] Read more >