Jaywick residents brand new home site a 'monstrosity'

Tendring Council has built ten new homes in Lotus Way, Jaywick, as part of a bid to regenerate the village’s Brooklands area.

Five of the new homes are council housing while the other five houses are for potential buyers and come with a price tag of £200,000.

The development is meant to mark the beginning of a Jaywick revival but some residents are unhappy.

Andy Barker, 64, has lived in the coastal village’s Sea Way for about eight years, which is now overlooked by the new homes.

NOT HAPPY: Jaywick resident Andy Barker

Mr Barker and his neighbours feel they now have a lack of privacy and their properties are always shaded, due to the new homes blocking the sunlight.

He also says the homes’ nearby drainage ditch has resulted in their gardens becoming flooded with about three inches of water.

“The problems are many and various, we do not like the design and homes are a monstrosity,” added Mr Barker.

“They have not been built sensibly because we have no privacy and every part of our gardens can be seen by these buildings.

“There are also security lights at the back of the homes which are so bright one woman actually woke up thinking it was morning and she was late for work.

“We were never informed about what the council was planning and there is no-one on this street who says they were ever consulted.”

FALLING DOWN: New fences which are appear to have beeb poorly installed

Mr Barker also says builders replaced his and his neighbours’ fences without asking and failed to fit the replacements correctly and tore down a homeowners’ wall.

The roundabout connecting Lotus Way and Brooklands is also now a “death trap” according to Mr Barker, due the location of the new homes.

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He said: “We know they will not get knocked down but if nothing changes we will go the Secretary of State if we need to.

“We want some sensible changes made. We want the apex roofs taken off and flat roofs put on, so we get sunlight.

“We also want the windows to be opaque glass or have an opaque film on them and restricted so we regain our privacy. The council has expressed a desire to get rid of Jaywick and rebuild it all together in the past, but it appears they do not ask the people who live here if they want it done.”

Paul Honeywood, Tendring Council Cabinet member for housing, said residents had been consulted.

VILLAGE REVIVAL: Paul Honeywood, councillor responsible for Housing, pictured outside the finished Jaywick homes

“Planning applications for this development were advertised in the usual way, with letters being sent to homes next to the site – including Mr Barker’s – inviting them to comment he added.

“This is on top of community engagement events we held and a multitude of press coverage about the plans before and during construction.

“Our planning officers assessed the application and recognised in their report to the Planning Committee that in ordinary circumstances the issue of overlooking, combined with out-of-character design, would make the plans inappropriate – but in this specific case, given the flood risk and history of Jaywick Sands, the balance was tilted in favour of approval. So these concerns were addressed.

“We have received an official complaint from Mr Barker about other issues and these are being investigated.

“This council has no policy of wishing to get rid of Jaywick Sands. Indeed, the area is recognised in many policies as being of real importance, a place of great opportunity, and this can be seen in the multi-million pound investments being made.”