Save Corringham Green Belt .org.uk

“Protecting the Green Belt of East Thurrock”

In January 2008 an East Thurrock community woke up to a bombshell. Two public bodies revealed they were considering plans for multi million pound developments on the designated Green Belt of East Thurrock. The proposals have sent shock-waves through the community.

In response Save Corringham Green Belt .org.uk was formed in January 2008 as an independent, non-political group of residents in Corringham, Essex. We are outraged about the plans to build on designated “Green Belt” land around Corringham.

Our message is very simple ‘NO development on Green Belt land’.

If development or regeneration is needed choose an ALTERNATIVE to Green Belt land. If small scale release is allowed for any reason, the ‘flood gates’ will open for developers to expand around the small scale release. We feel that green belt should remain sacrosanct and be protected at all costs.

The local Community are taking more than its fair share of regeneration with the development of the ‘Super Port’ and negative impact on the environment in the locality, additional development on Green Belt land is a step too far for the local Community who share our views.

Much of the local community feel that communications between development proposers and the local residents has been nonexistent, due to less than sufficient channels and structures. They feel that they have not been properly consulted and not had their views heard. These huge plans need to be discussed fully and in public. We just think people deserve the facts.

Our Website – www.SaveCorringhamGreenBelt.org.uk

We felt East Thurrock needed an independent non-partisan website devoted solely to coverage of the East Thurrock development plans bombshell which broke upon us. The website has been created to raise awareness of the development proposals and help communication to all concerned. Our aim is to make sure that information is freely available to as many people as possible. We hoped, naively as it turned out, that we needed a forum where people could share different opinions so that we could all make intelligent decision about the far-reaching implications of the East Thurrock development plans.

In February, however, we decided to change the remit of the site, to reflect what had happened in practice. In truth, it was impossible to find pretty much anyone with a good word to say about the large scale development plans. Some locals are against all development; some are in favour of limited development; a few, very few, think the large scale plans are a good idea. So we decided to pitch the site wholeheartedly behind what we believed to be the general opinion of the community, namely that development plans on Green Belt within East Thurrock is a bad idea which seems, to most living in this area, to be more appalling, and more ruthlessly prosecuted by its backers, than any of us appreciated back in January. So our brief now is to:

• Oppose all attempts to turn any part of designated East Thurrock Green Belt into development land.
• Call for these huge plans, one which would change an entire community forever, to be discussed fully in public.
• Examine and question fully and publicly, and open up to debate, every consultation conduct, statement and proposal issued by TTGDC, Thurrock Council, councillors and other bodies.
• Seek to be the first and most reliable source of news and information on the future of East Thurrock.

We are in no way a splinter group, fifth column or in any way competition for any existing organisation or body, be it the Community forum or any other website. We simply see ourselves as a single-issue communal notice board and information store which hopefully could be a resource for the East Thurrock area for years to come. The site is designed as a large-scale, searchable database which will allow you to retrieve anything written here quickly and easily through our search engine, however large the site becomes, and however many years it runs.

We are also keen to carry articles by anyone who shares the same ideals. If you would like to write for us, or help get the message of opposition to TTGDC and Thurrock Council in any other way, please get in touch using the contact form on the ‘Contact Us’ page.