Kelvedon Against Urban Sprawl

17/04/2026

TEMPLATE FOR LAST-MINUTE OBJECTION!

Have you objected to the 5,600 houses planned for Kelvedon yet? Deadline is 5pm TODAY!

Objection to Policy LPR 26 – Kings Dene and Monks Farm at Kelvedon

1. The scale is excessive - This would dramatically expand Kelvedon and Feering, effectively turning them into a large town and is completely out of keeping with their rural character.

2. Infrastructure is not guaranteed - Major A12 and A120 upgrades have been cancelled and there are no guarantees they will ever be delivered.

3. Traffic will get worse - Our roads are already struggling. Thousands of new homes will mean significantly more congestion, with little realistic alternative to car travel.

4. Too many unknowns - Key details like layout, road infrastructure, and environmental protection are being pushed to later stages. That’s too late - these issues should be resolved now.

5. Loss of countryside & village identity - This risks merging Kelvedon, Feering, Coggeshall, and Rivenhall into one continuous urban area.

6. Harm to heritage - The scale of development threatens the setting of listed buildings and conservation areas nearby.

7. Environmental damage - Important habitats and landscapes would be lost or heavily impacted.

8. “Good design” won’t fix this - No matter how it’s designed, a development of this size cannot fit sensitively into a rural setting.

9. Impact on existing residents - Years of disruption, more traffic, and pressure on services are not being properly addressed.

10. Doubts over delivery. The project is so complex it may not even be viable - risking cuts to infrastructure later.

11. Limits better alternatives. This policy could block more appropriate, smaller-scale developments elsewhere.

Conclusion: This proposal is too big, in the wrong place, with too many unanswered questions.

Email the above to [email protected]
Use Reference: Regulation 18 Local Plan Review and add your name and address to the email

14/03/2026

Here is a template objection residents can copy, personalise and send to Braintree District Council regarding the proposed Kings Dene (5,000 homes) and Monks Farm (600 homes) developments near Kelvedon.

Subject: Regulation 18 Local Plan Review – Objection to Kings Dene and Monks Farm

Dear Planning Policy Team,

I am writing to object to the proposed developments at Kings Dene (5,000 homes) and Monks Farm (600 homes) near Kelvedon in the draft Local Plan.

Kelvedon and Feering are historic villages with limited infrastructure. Development on this scale would significantly change the character of the area.

My main concerns are:

1. Traffic and congestion
The A12 junction at Kelvedon South is already congested at peak times. Local roads and access to Kelvedon Station are often busy. With the cancellation of the A12 widening and A120 upgrades, the road network does not have the capacity for thousands of additional homes.

2. Lack of guaranteed infrastructure
There is no clear or funded plan showing that schools, healthcare, roads, public transport and sewer upgrades would be delivered before housing. Large developments often place pressure on existing services.

3. Loss of countryside and merging of villages
Building around 5,600 homes would greatly reduce the countryside between Kelvedon, Feering, Coggeshall, Rivenhall and Silver End, risking the merging of separate historic villages and the loss of valuable farmland.

4. Drainage and sewage concerns
Residents already experience drainage problems and concerns about sewer capacity. Development on this scale would increase pressure on water and sewage systems.

5. Unsustainable scale
Kelvedon is a village, not a town, and does not have the roads, jobs or services to support this level of growth.

6. Air quality
Extra traffic would worsen air pollution, particularly given the proximity of the proposed developments to the Rivenhall Airfield waste incinerator.

7. Wildlife and habitats
The surrounding countryside supports wildlife including bats, barn owls and hares. Large-scale development risks damaging important habitats.

For these reasons I believe the Kings Dene and Monks Farm proposals are unsustainable and should not be included in the Local Plan.

Yours faithfully
Name
Address
Postcode

⸻

How to submit your objection

Deadline: 5pm Friday 17 April 2026

Online:
https://www.braintree.gov.uk/ConsultLP

Email:
[email protected]
Subject: Regulation 18 Local Plan Review

(Include your name and address for the objection to count.)

You can also use this Kings Dene AI bot to help draft a response:
https://kings-dene.zapier.app

10/03/2026

Preview of KAUS leaflets being delivered to all households in Kelvedon, Feering, Coggeshall, Rivenhall and parts of Silver End and Tiptree

04/03/2026

NOTICE OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION – Braintree District Council – Local Plan Review
Regulation 18

The Consultation Period:
Tuesday 3rd March to 5pm Friday 17th April. Late responses will not be accepted.

Braintree District Council is holding the consultation just over the minimum legally required six-week period.

NUMBER ONE PRIORITY: As part of the consultation, exhibitions are being held across the District including one at The Institute, Kelvedon on Tuesday 10 March from 3pm to 7pm. PLEASE ATTEND to see the maps of the 5,600 houses Braintree District Council is proposing to allocate at Kelvedon and to discuss the proposals with planning officers.

If you can't make the exhibition at Kelvedon on Tuesday 10th March, others are also being held including at Coggeshall Village Hall (Main Hall) on Wednesday 11th March also from 3pm to 7pm.

Other venues and dates are listed below.

Braintree District Council's current adopted Local Plan is over 5 years old and planned to deliver 716 homes a year. The Government has set a new mandatory target requiring the Council to deliver around 1,300 homes per year. A wholesale root and branch review of the current Local Plan is being undertaken to see where new housing could be allocated sustainably and to protect the places where growth would not be sustainable.

The Conservative majority group at Braintree District Council is pushing to allocate 5,000 houses at Kings Dene and 600 houses at Monks Farm, both Kelvedon, despite the cancellation of the A12 and A120 upgrades which means there is no new strategic road infrastructure to support the Kings Dene new town north of Kelvedon or the large Monks Farm housing estate south-west of Coggeshall Road, Kelvedon.

Braintree District Council is going ahead with the Regulation 18 public consultation despite the fact its waiting for new detailed traffic reports which will outline the impact of the proposals on Kelvedon, Feering, surrounding villages and the existing A12 and A120.

How to View the Consultation Documents:
Online: www.braintree.gov.uk/ConsultLP
Braintree District Council Offices, Causeway House, Bocking End, Braintree (during usual working hours)
Public libraries across the District (during usual working hours)

How to Respond:
Consultation responses are encouraged directly via the Councils' online consultation system. Please contact us if you have forgotten the username or password for your account.

Online: www.braintree.gov.uk/ConsultLP

For those unable to respond online:

Forms can be requested from the Planning Policy Team (see contact details below)
Paper response forms are available at Braintree District Council Offices, Causeway House, Bocking End, Braintree and from public libraries.

Consultation Events:
As part of the consultation, exhibitions are being held across the District. These are drop in sessions which are being held from 3pm to 7pm at the following locations;

Hatfield Peverel Village Hall – Monday 9th March
The Institute, Kelvedon – Tuesday 10 March
Coggeshall Village Hall (Main Hall) – Wednesday 11 March
Braintree Town Hall – Tuesday 17 March
Queens Hall, Halstead – Wednesday 18 March
Cressing Sports and Social Club – Thursday 19th March
Information on all areas will be available at all sessions.

Webinar:
Braintree District Council is holding a virtual webinar on Microsoft Teams where our Planning Policy team will outline what the Local Plan is, what it covers, explain the consultation process, and highlight how the Local Plan will shape the future of the district:

Tuesday 24th March from 6pm-7pm. Register or visit our website.
The webinar will be recorded and shared on Local Plan Review webpage for anyone who is unable to attend on the day.

What Happens Next:
Following the consultation, we will consider all the comments and redraft the document to take account of the responses. Once agreed by Council the pre-submission document will then be published for a final public consultation period before it is submitted to the Planning Inspector later this year.

Further Reading:
A summary document to accompany the consultation is available
Government guidance requires that sound evidence is required to support a Local Plan. Braintree District Council's Evidence Base Documents can be found on the Council’s website
For more information on the Local Plan Review: www.braintree.gov.uk/localplanreview
Kind regards

You can contact BDC's Planning Policy Team by email at [email protected]

In person: Braintree District Council
Causeway House
Bocking End
Braintree
CM7 9HB

Or by phone: 01376 552525 and ask for planning policy

Review of the Local Plan 2033

03/02/2026

At last night's Braintree District Council's Full Council meeting, the Conservative majority group, supported by Labour and some (but not all) Independent councillors, voted to send the draft Local Plan out to the Regulation 18 six-week public consultation, expected to begin around February 19th.
This is a crucial moment for Kelvedon, Feering and surrounding villages.
Despite the serious concerns raised by myself, KAUS members and many residents, the draft plan still includes the Kings Dene 5,000 houses and Monks Farm 600 houses - even though the A12 and A120 upgrades that originally justified development on this scale have now been cancelled. The infrastructure context has fundamentally changed, but the proposal remains.
The Regulation 18 stage is where residents can formally put their views on the record in a way the planning process must legally consider.
As soon as the exact consultation dates and documents are published, we will be delivering leaflets across Kelvedon, Feering and nearby communities explaining:
• how to submit comments or objections correctly
• the planning grounds that carry real weight in a Local Plan consultation
• the key issues residents may wish to raise in their responses
Too often people feel ignored because they are not shown how to engage with the system in the way planning inspectors require. We intend to change that.
We want to make sure residents know how to respond in a way that cannot be dismissed.
When the timetable is confirmed, we will share full details and make sure everyone knows how to take part.
Thank you

17/01/2026

What is Kings Dene?

Kings Dene is a proposed large new 5,000-houses development that would stretch from Coggeshall Rd, Kelvedon, all the way to Rivenhall and has been included in Braintree District Council’s draft Local Plan.

Key Objections

1. The transport evidence that Braintree District council has produced is incomplete

The Council’s own highways report confirms that:

Only basic, broad-stroke modelling has been carried out
Detailed junction impacts have not yet been assessed
Mitigation measures and infrastructure solutions are undefined

Residents will soon be asked to comment on a strategic allocation at the Regulation 18 public consultation before it has been shown to be deliverable in transport terms.

2. Severe pressure on the A12 is unresolved

The A12 is already heavily congested, particularly at:

Junctions 23 and 24
Peak commuting hours
Incident and closure events

There is no clear or funded solution explaining how Kings Dene traffic would be accommodated without worsening congestion or diverting traffic through villages.

3. Local village roads would bear the impact

Kelvedon High Street, Feering Hill and surrounding rural roads are already constrained by:

Narrow widths
Safety concerns
Existing congestion and rat-running

Residents fear Kings Dene would significantly increase traffic through village centres, undermining safety, air quality and quality of life.

4. Key decisions are being deferred until later in the planning process

Critical transport work is being postponed to the second public consultation, Regulation 19, when:

The Local Plan will be far more fixed
Alternatives will be harder to introduce
Community influence will be reduced

Residents believe this reverses the proper plan-making process and is being driven by political policy

5. Infrastructure promises are uncertain

Claims about new schools, health services and transport infrastructure are not guaranteed:

No confirmed delivery timescales
No certainty infrastructure would come early enough
No assurance benefits would serve existing villages rather than the new settlement alone

6. Once allocated, removal is unlikely until it’s too late

History shows that once a site is included as a strategic allocation:

It becomes the Council’s “preferred option”
Enormous pressure exists to make it work, regardless of later evidence
Communities are left managing impacts rather than shaping outcomes

Frequently Asked Questions

Isn’t Regulation 18 just an early stage?
Yes – but it is the stage where options should be tested and ruled out. Residents argue Kings Dene has been included prematurely, without meeting the evidence threshold expected even at this stage.

Can’t transport problems be fixed later?
Possibly but there is no proof they can, and no commitment to funding or delivery. Planning policy requires sites to be justified and deliverable, not based on hope.

Won’t a large development bring benefits?
Only if:
Infrastructure is proven it can be deliverable
It arrives early, not years later
It does not rely on existing villages absorbing the harm

At present, those conditions are not met.

Are residents anti-development?

No. Many residents accept the need for some new housing, but believe:

Growth should be evidence-led
Locations should be sustainable and deliverable
Existing communities should not carry disproportionate impacts
Development should be proportionate in size to existing communities

What are residents asking the Council to do?
Residents are calling for the Council to:

Remove Kings Dene from the draft Plan
Complete full highways and junction-level assessment first
Reassess spatial options transparently
Avoid locking in an unsound strategy

What can residents do now?
It hasn’t started yet but please respond to the Regulation 18 public consultation when it begins (probably February, and we will let you know when, how and where to send your comments, concerns, or objections)
Reference the highways report and its acknowledged gaps
Focus on soundness, deliverability and transport feasibility
Encourage neighbours and local groups to respond too

Thank you for reading

04/11/2023