APC Statement Regarding Planning Application 251310, Foxes Corner, Halstead Road, Aldham
Statement by Mike Lambert on behalf of Aldham & Eight Ash Green Parish Councils to be read at the Planning Committee on 12th March 2026 relating to Application 251310, Foxes Corner, Halstead Road, Aldham
The two Parish Councils object in the strongest terms to this application.
We do not oppose any, or all development. Eight Ash Green has made positive efforts to promote and consult on alternative options we believe are better for our communities, but this is now undermined and leaves our communities confused and frustrated. Approval tonight will set a precedent, making it harder to resist any proposal for residential development adjoining existing settlements until a new Local Plan is in place, causing long term damage to the existing character and future well-being of the City and surrounding villages.
We understand NPPF guidance regarding 'tilted balance' and current Government pressure for new housing, but fundamentally disagree with conclusions in the officers’ report on the impact and harm that would result, not just on the Valued Landscape of the Colne Valley, on traffic conditions on the A1124 and J26 on the A12, on the Ancient Woodland, but also the site’s poor relationship with the existing villages and the loss of good agricultural land.
The site is not ‘sustainable development’ for the purpose of applying the NPPF ‘presumption in favour’ in paragraph 11 - it is isolated, will be wholly car dependent with no services or employment close enough to avoid travel by car, no safe cycling routes and with only an hourly and unreliable bus service.
The application elongates the built-up area of Eight Ash Green, merging it with Aldham. This is a very large site, nearly 10 acres – not a small infill or rounding off. 250 homes here will mean as many houses on one site as there are in the whole village of Aldham, altering its character for ever.
The report is misleading, giving inadequate weight to the ongoing concerns of statutory and other key consultees. Highways England are not satisfied the scheme can mitigate impacts on J26 which is at capacity, Essex County Place Services remain concerned that the landscape impact has not been mitigated and the Forestry Commission have outstanding concerns and Woodland Trust object to the impact on Ancient Woodland. The report suggests that individually these issues are not decisive in reaching a decision. In doing so it fails to reach a proper conclusion on the cumulative impact of these various harms which cannot be mitigated by condition or s106. The NPPF at paragraph 11 (d) (ii), makes it clear the presumption in favour does not apply if the adverse impacts taken as a whole ‘significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits’ – and they do!
The application is piecemeal and premature because it pre-empts the Local Plan and takes no account of the infrastructure required to mitigate the cumulative effect of emerging sites along the A1124 which could amount to 700 new homes, putting further strain on J26, that Highways England acknowledge is at capacity now.
In summary, the Parish Councils believe there are strong grounds to refuse this application and urges the Committee to have the courage to make the right decision, not just for our two parishes, but for all the villages surrounding Colchester.