THIS IS SERIOUS!!! and it affects you.

There is something you should know about what is happening in South Fambridge....and it Could potentially affect you!

(If you are a non resident of Fambridge read the text below in blue as this does potentially affect you and planning decisions which may have contributed to the horrendous traffic congestion we see today in South Essex)

There have been several residents keeping a close eye on the comings and goings at the site of the Former Shellfish packing station which is owned and used by Autoval Limited and particularly since the business resumed operations as a Car Breakers Yard in early January 2015.

Here is what you don't know and really should:-

• A comprehensive steady flow of emails providing evidence of numerous breaches of legally binding conditions relating to that site have been issued since the beginning of January 2015 to the Enforcement officer Yvonne Dunn at Rochford District Council during the course of these emails there have been few responses from Yvonne and on occasions those responses have been contradictory of the site Planning consent thus allowing a number of serious issues to continue.  

         The longstanding breaches are as follows:

1. The JCB on site without permission
2. End of Life vehicles being stored in the open in the area intended as customer and staff parking.
3. Transit truck back part only being stored on site and used as additional storage facility.
4. Scrap metal being stored at the back of the site to the east and the occasional vehicle.
5. Scrap being stored out in the open in the turning zone which should remain free of obstruction at all times.
6. The bunded oil tank on site without permission
7. The unlawful use of the the northern building and side annex which are being used at storage
8. Out of permitted hours deliveries including very early morning and very late at night.
9. Out of permitted hours use of power tools.
10. Persons staying overnight on the site.

 (Photographs will be shown on the Save South Fambridge Facebook page to illustrate the above, the council know their responsibilities  but  are ignoring the evidence and are not upholding the planning consent in place which clearly is intended to preserve the visual aspects of this site in relation to the sensitive location.)

• During the period when Autoval submitted 2 planning applications, relating to this site, a serious incidence of negligence was uncovered by a resident with regard to the Highways consultations and a formal complaint was lodged to the Chief executive, Mr Rodney Bass of the Highways at Essex County Council in April 2014, This document ( 60 +  pages) was submitted by the resident to  MP Mr Mark Francois on 24th March 2014 who in turn forwarded this onto Mr Rodney Bass Chief Executive of Essex County Council.  A letter of confirmation of receipt was received from Essex County Council dated 8th April and this was forwarded onto the complainant via a letter from PA to Mark Francois, Adele Jacquin dated 9th April 2014 and nothing else has been received by the complainant from either Mr Francois or Mr Bass.  Full knowledge of this lays at the door of Essex County Council Highways and our MP and the serious safety issues currently relating to this site as a consequence remain today! The question has been asked by more and more people...Who will take responsibility in the event of injury or death? The gate is constantly open allowing Autoval vehicles to race down the hill and onto the site. It appears they often hurry onto site in a bid not to be photographed!?

• Also during and after the Committee Decision meeting for the planning Application 13/00370/FUL one particular District Councillor Tracy Capon expressed verbally the annoyance of how the Highways continuously fail to take their responsibility to consult seriously. She also followed this up in writing to a resident and communicated the following " thank you for your email - very interesting reading and something many of us have been saying for years-Highways make comments without any knowledge of a site."

          As a result of this email a complaint email from the resident was issued to a number of people   including the following:

• Phil Capon (Chairman of the decision committee at the time)
• Tracy Capon 
• Terry Cutmore 
• Mark Francoise
• Mike Stranks
• Shaun Scrutton

 Apparently not one person responded to the resident in relation to this complaint. A meeting was promised by the Councillor Tracy Capon but never occurred despite many attempts by the resident to try to meet then all went very quiet! The complainant found that the Highways Authority quite often wrote "no Comment" or "de-minumis" as opposed to actually reviewing the site and conducting appropriate consultation and also found a member staff who blatantly lied on the phone!

• This year the Environment Agency have been given substantial evidence of Autoval conducting their business without the appropriate waste/environmental license and evidence of the de-pollution of these vehicles on the site which is prohibited.  The response from the Environment Agency was to confirm they would not be visiting the site as they do not have enough staff and do not have enough funding to look into this, however they confirmed they would write a letter to Autoval advising they would need to comply with their L13 license which allows them to have x2 cars on site at any one time. (this license is intended as a guide for refurbishment of a classic car for example) After confirming to the Environment Agency there are regularly at least x 10 and sometimes x 20 vehicles on site they said sorry the L13 gives them no revenue so they will not be acting on it! The environment Agency have also been advised of the possibility of contamination on the site perimeter when soil has been turned by a JCB and months later several boundary conifer trees have since died. It seems that being adjacent to a river has rung no alarm bells! The question is " will your property be covered by your insurance company in the event of a catastrophic field fire or explosion as a result of negligence of Autoval and the flammable liquids being present on site illegally especially with the Rochford District Council and the Environment Agency knowing there is a RISK and do Autoval have public liability insurance in place? "    This is not an impossibility... there are risks with the type of business practice and this is where procedures should be in place to limit or avoid such events.  There was a fire at Autovals previous site in Rayleigh 2 weeks after their planning application was refused in September 2013.

•  The police have been made aware of a number of incidents regarding the activities of Autoval (cars of visitors being locked in as the gate was previously left open and then padlocked and the incident of the visitors car being moved by Autovals forklift truck up the road) Police 101 were made aware of these incidents but no action was taken or acted upon.  The local community police officer PC Michelle Rawson is aware of the site and the activities of Autoval and has asked to be kept informed of any future incidents.

 SO WHAT NOW????.....NOBODY IS LISTENING.... PEOPLE WORKING IN THE AUTHORITIES, PAID TO DO THEIR JOB ARE NOT DOING IT, OTHERS SEEM TO HAVE CLOSED RANKS  AND ARE HIDING....WHO WILL SUFFER? IF YOU THINK IT LOOKS BAD NOW WAIT A YEAR AND YOU WILL BE SHOCKED!!   YOU ARE TAX PAYERS AND SHOULD DEMAND TO BE SERVED BY YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL.  THEY ARE IGNORING THE PROBLEM DESPITE BEING FULLY AWARE OF THE SITUATION!

THIS IS TIME FOR YOU TO BE AGAIN INVOLVED....HAVE YOUR SAY AND DEMAND ACTION!!!! 

The list at the top shows the breaches and if these continue and you have other concerns such a speeding vehicles entering the site/open gate/out of hours deliveries, excessive noise early morning or late at night, unusual night time movements on the site you can email the Enforcement Officer Yvonne Dunn on the following email address:  Yvonne.Dunn@Rochford.gov.uk

QUOTE IN THE SUBJECT BOX: " Autoval, South Fambridge, DATE & TIME if specific incident

 Clearly just a few voices are not enough!

Copies of further correspondence and photographs will follow shortly.