FAQ

The Hadleigh Farm Estate is an important area of natural beauty, public spaces and
biodiversity and The Salvation Army is committed to working collaboratively to ensure the land is used and developed in the best interests of the whole community.

The Salvation Army have put forward some parcels of land at Hadleigh Farm Estate to
potentially be allocated within the Castle Point Borough Council emerging local plan. This is part of our vision to increase community facilities and protect the local environment which will in turn create training opportunities for vulnerable people and increase tourism.

As part of the process, we were invited to submit proposals to Castle Point Borough Council as part of the evidence gathering stage of their Local Plan process known as a Call for Sites. This submission does not commit us to developing or selling the land, but it outlines the possibilities for the Council to consider as part of a wider need to provide new homes and community facilities across the borough.

Throughout the process, The Salvation Army is committed to working collaboratively to ensure the land is used and developed in the best interests of the whole community.

Our submission was based around using funds generated from new the homes to invest in the community facilities at Hadleigh Farm to create sustainable training opportunities for vulnerable people as well as protecting the local environment.

However, this is just a ‘Call for Sites’ submission at this stage and is subject to consultation and scrutiny by the council. Until these processes are completed, it is difficult for us to know what, if anything, will be agreed going forward and we may be asked to make changes to our proposed land allocation. We need this information to understand how we can finance the changes and further the mission of The Salvation Army.

Castle Point Borough Council has identified the need for more homes to meet the needs of its existing residents and there are not enough brownfield sites to meet that need. That is likely to mean some development on Green Belt sites.

Ultimately, it is up to the council to determine whether Green Belt land can be built on, but we have provided some parcels of land within our site that tries to balance the need for more local homes with returning other land back to natural habitat, increasing biodiversity and protecting public spaces. Unlike a commercial developer we are not driven to extract the maximum financial value from the site, but we are able to take a more community-based perspective.

We hope that if our site is included within the Local Plan, one of the benefits would be to provide space for much needed additional housing for local people, including affordable homes. 

However, the proposals are at a very early stage. If Castle Point Borough Council agrees to take our site to the next stage for further consultation, it would be at this point that the scale of development will be discussed.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that it is for the local authority to determine their housing need and tenure based on a requirement to meet the local housing need. The NPPF provides guidance on this, but it would be expected for the policy to be laid out by the authority in what is known as the ‘Local Plan.”

Ultimately, it is up to the council to determine whether any, or which Green Belt land can be built upon and how they respond to any central Government building regulations. When they are considering each submission to the ‘call for sites’ they will also consider how local services, and infrastructure will be affected by proposals. The next stage of consultation will require each submission to demonstrate the viability of the project which would include local infrastructure requirements such as highway improvements.

If we can move forward with our proposals, jobs will be created in our training centre. We also hope that improving our camping facilities, modernising the tea rooms and expanding our rare breeds farm will provide new opportunities and increase tourism to the area which will also bring more money into Castle Point benefit the local community.

We believe that if we can invest in our site, we can make it better and more sustainable as we seek to support the community in the long term.

The soil contains high amounts of clay and chalk which results in low crop yield each year. This is not a recent issue; the land has historically been known as the “Badlands” due to the poor soil conditions. Farming is no longer viable for this reason.

We strongly feel the land could provide more and better value for the community with affordable housing and additional infrastructure. Some of the arable farming fields will be used for an arable reversion scheme to create new wild marshes to increase the biodiversity of the area.

Preserving the natural beauty of Hadleigh is of paramount importance to us. The proposed allocated pockets of land will only take away a small portion of The Salvation Army’s land, leaving plenty of natural landscapes for the community to enjoy. On the remaining land we plan to maximise its potential as a site of natural beauty and wildlife sanctuary by working with Natural England to create new wildlife habitats by reverting cultivated land to its natural habitat. As plans evolve it will be necessary to undertake biodiversity studies to ensure proper account is given towards the environment.

We have a dedicated Community Liaison team to ensure residents are kept up to date. Sign up for updates by emailing engagement@hadleighfarmestate.co.uk or visit www.hadleighfarmestate.co.uk.