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ESSEX THAMES GATEWAY INFORMATION GROUP
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The Essex Thames Gateway Information Group was formed in order to provide accurate and non-political information about the Thames Gateway developments that will soon be coming to many parts of Essex.
<< PLEASE USE SHORTCUTS ON THE LEFT
We aim to cut through the glossy brochures and soon to be broken promises of economic and environmental nirvana, instead focussing on the development itself and what it will mean to Essex and the rest of the Thames Gateway area.
Essex has an extremely diverse and in some cases internationally important environment, but more than any other county is suffering from accelerating environmental decay caused by housing, retail developments and road building. This wonderful range of natural environment and wildlife habitat that we are just clinging on to may not last for much longer.
The Essex Thames Gateway Information Group is not against all types of development, and there are many reasons to carry out sensitive, appropriate and limited developments, including the creation of jobs to satisfy local need. We are, however, dismayed at the blanket approach of Thames Gateway in creating massive housing complexes and untargeted job creation which will lead to even more commuting on the already congested roads of Essex, Kent and east London.
10/11/2006
Due to my commitments on The Earth Blog and many other environmental projects, ETGIG is being CLOSED DOWN.
Please read the information that is on the site - it will stay there for as long as the Beehive is around.
Thank you for your interest.
Keith Farnish
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You don't see the stars when the light's overspill
Is too bright and too strong
From hundreds of homes on the side of the hill
Just where did we come from
Now we've been told to build ten thousand more
Let's cover the countryside we came here for
Trees coming down on the edge of town
In the cold heart of England
So it's grey supermarkets instead of green fields
To pay all our wages
'Til we're choking in traffic and tied to the wheels
Like cattle in cages
And if you work within limits the law will allow
You find the land's under concrete instead of the plough
(Cold Heart of England by Steve Knightley
taken from Cold Frontier HMCD13 - www.showofhands.co.uk)
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East Of England Plan : Public Consultation
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The public consultation exercise on RSS14, the "East Of England Plan" has come to no agreements at the time of writing.
This Plan will define the way in which planning is carried out in the greater East Anglia region, and will largely determine the decisions taken on housing, transportation, environmental protection and employment.
ETGIG have formally responded to the document, finding many issues with the plan - few of which have been addressed. You can read the formal response by inserting this link into your browser (also see links page):
http://www.asnh82.dsl.pipex.com/RSS14_ETGIG.rtf
The key criticisms that this response highlights fall into the following areas:
• Economic growth is treated as sustainable;
• The environment is treated as an economic resource, or at least as an asset for the sole benefit of humans rather than the ecosystem as a whole;
• Climate change is treated as inevitable, and in some cases an asset, rather than something which has to be prevented;
• Road transport is still the priority, despite the sustainable aims of The Plan;
• There seems to be a constant compromise between enriching small communities, improving public transport, encouraging local economies and feeding the needs of the market economy;
• There is little recognition that habitats have to be contiguous and of high biodiversity to be viable;
• There is blanket acceptance of the Thames Gateway Sub-Regional Plan without criticism;
• Job creation will lead to more housing demand and regional population influx – this is not accepted in the The Plan;
• Air travel is considered appropriate even though it is completely unsustainable.
The detailed response in Section 2 contains a large number of changes to The Plan and recommendations
for deletions and additions, many of which are key to actually ensuring that The Plan achieves its sustainable aspirations.
(updated) 28/05/2006
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