UPDATE

Further to our story published yesterday (See below), Cllr Gary Byrne has contacted Nub News to say that he and fellow Homesteads councillors James Halden and Gary Collins have been invited to a meeting in the new year with highways and planning officers and transport portfolio holder Cllr Ben Maney. Cllr Halden says: "it appears contrary to what was said previously the council still wishes to go ahead with this plan in some way. Residents can rest assured myself and follow ward councillors will be working hard on their behalf to ensure that all local views are considered and nothing is pushed through that is detrimental to the area."

FRUSTRATION, anger and annoyance appear to be watchwords ending the year for residents in the Branksome Avenue and wider Homesteads area of Stanford-le-Hope as Thurrock Council continues to prevaricate over traffic calming measures in the area.

But while the lack of a definite plan is causing confusion, nevertheless there is also some support for more consultation.

The year began with the council promising to take measures to ease concerns about speeding in the area and in February the council committed to using up to £250.000 it had received via Covid Tranche 2 funding it had secured from the government's sustainable transport scheme.

The council committed to consultation with residents and ward councillors about their concerns and suggestions they might have and then prepared a report including its proposals which it put out to consultation in August.

The initial reaction to the plans was lukewarm at best and over the following weeks accumulated opposition and criticism of the plans from residents eventually led to the council announcing last month that it had scrapped the scheme.

And that, it was thought, was the end of the matter for Branksome. Previously the council had said that if nothing could be worked out in the area to everyone's satisfaction then the cash would be used elsewhere.

That was summed up in a response by Homesteads Cllr Gary Byrne who said: "Finally we have the full details from the consultation. The number of people taking part was very good and proves residents will stand up and be counted when needed.

"3,322 homes were consulted and 145 were in favour and 618 against. 77 per cent did not respond. Therefore this plan will not go through, all three Homesteads councillors are fully on board and support the residents on this.

"There is no Plan B, the funding will now pass to West Thurrock and Branksome will stay as is.

"Thank you for everyone's input, the plan was always about a safer avenue but the council's highways team failed to find a resident-friendly plan." However, that has not proved to be the case and a 'Plan B' appears on the cards. A second consultation is likely and council officers have written to residents say they are looking at new proposals for the area. The council says: "We are writing to you to offer further clarification on what is happening in regard to the proposed active travel scheme in the Homesteads ward. "The results of the initial consultation have clearly demonstrated that the original plans had strong objections from residents and that there are specific design elements which they feel strongly should not be implemented. "We have heard those objection and are now planning to review and revise designs which we hope will deal with them, and mean we can present you with details of a proposed scheme that overcomes those objections and meets both the local residents' needs and the ambitions of the scheme. "Once these designs are complete they will be the subject of another more detailed consultation exercise during which you will have an opportunity to tell us is we have succeeded in overcoming the issues the first consultation revealed residents had with the original proposals. "This is not an indication that we plan to implement this, or any scheme, in the Homesteads ward. It is instead an opportunity to use the feedback we have received to see if we can create a plan that meets your expectations and delivers in a way that you are satisfied with." Residents have reacted in a variety of ways. Some have welcomed the opportunity of a rethink, while others have said they have already spoken and made it clear the council's plans are not welcome. Others have criticised the council for the amount of money it has spent of development, planning and administration on a project for almost a year that appears no nearer to a solution now, than it was 11 months ago. Others say whatever the outcome is of a further consultation, it is likely residents' wishes will be ignored regardless, summed up by the comment: "What's the point of consulting residents then just ignoring what they want anyway?"