YOU’RE sitting in your car with the engine running, but you’re just not moving.

Sound familiar? If you ever attempt to drive in the vicinity of Colchester’s North Station at rush hour, this is almost certainly what you will experience.

And a report just published by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Environment and Society at Essex University confirms residents have had enough of the problem.

In the summer, 435 people responded to a public consultation held in Mile End.

Most people surveyed – 51 per cent – thought the biggest problem in the area, once a village a mile from Colchester’s centre, was transport and roads, particularly at North Station roundabout.

Cynics might wonder how the findings are of any use.

But they will be used to shape a planning document which will help decide future development in the area. Something which most definitely will strike a chord with Mile Enders.

Last year, Colchester Council adopted a Core Strategy that 2,200 homes should be built on land off Nayland Road, near Chesterwell Wood.

It sparked outrage among local residents and saw the formation of the Love Myland campaign group. Amid huge local pressure, the document now looks set to be reviewed next year. Housing scored second on the list of residents’ headaches in the consultation this summer.

It’s not just this development, but homes at the former Severalls Hospital site which could also radically swell the size of Mile End.

David Clouston, a parish councillor and also a member of Love Myland, said the week-long consultation was crucial in identifying Mile End’s key problems.

He said: “The roads are clearly one of the most difficult problems any development is going to have.

“We haven’t seen any solution at all and we don’t see how it is possible without huge changes, as there is no possibility of funding from Essex County Council.

“Without this problem cleared up, it is hard to how large-scale developments can go ahead.”

Myland Community Council also feels the consultation has been hugely important.

Speaking on its behalf, parish councillor Peter Hewitt said: “The issues which have been brought out by the university study demonstrate the green open spaces are hugely important to the community, especially the Chesterwell area that is under threat from development.

“Linked to this is the profound concern Mile End cannot cope with more housing.

“There is no perceived demand for it.

“Linked to this, the people of Mile End, who use the road system every day, are adamant the traffic infrastructure simply will not cope with more housing.

“The detail behind the headlines will be analysed and will help inform the Myland Parish Plan and other areas that need attention.

“Overall, this is a plea to stop expanding Mile End while we battle to bring in facilities the existing population is crying out for.”

Colchester Council leader and Mile End ward councillor, Anne Turrell, added: “What’s happened in Mile End is we have more homes without additional roads being built, other than the Northern Approach Road.

“But this is not a road for local people, it is a through-road which takes people elsewhere.

“The rest of us are suffering. We also get through traffic for the A12 when Cowdray Avenue is congested.”