SOUTHEND’S most densley populated ward cannot cope with a raft of new applications for homes, community leaders have said.

Westborough Community Association vice chairman Julie Farrow has written to Southend Council protesting the slew of planning applications threatening to turn the already tightly packed ward into an even more difficult place to live.

With 10,847 people registered as living in the 92 hectare ward in the 2011 census, a population density of 117.9 people per hectare puts the ward far above the next most densely populated ward, Kursaal, at 89 people per hectare.

The borough average is 41.58.

Mrs Farrow, of Tintern Avenue, said the crowded conditions were already putting strain on school places, doctor’s surgeries and parking in the ward, which is a lattice of long streets running through Fairfax Drive, Westborough Road, and London Road.

She said: “This area was built more than 100 years ago and, since then, there has been nothing has changed or been updated, including the sewage system, and stuffing more homes into the area is going to put more pressure on everything.

“We have two doctor’s surgeries here which are both working over the national guidelines because there are too many people, and I for example have to go to the Valkyrie Surgery because I’ve never been able to get any into any surgeries here.

“We don’t have any schools in the ward and, with more and more flats being built and converted, that obviously means more children can’t go to certain schools and parents are having to travel further.

“Everybody already moans about the cars here, too, and you can’t guarantee anymore that you’ll have a space in front of your house unless you have a drive, though it’s becoming more common that people park in your drive anyway.

“It’s absolute overkill.”

However, housing councillor David Norman said he feared the council would be even less able to resist further development as a result of government changes to planning law.

He said: “People don’t necessarily appreciate how limited the council’s powers are now in terms of curbing housing development, but this government and its immediate predecessor has liberalised the planning rules in such a way that you don’t need planning to convert a shop to a flat for two years, for example.

“Westborough is very densely populated and but there are often very few, if any, planning grounds that an application can be turned down and the Housing Bill currently going through Parliament would further reduce the authority councils have.”

RECENT PLANNING APPLICATIONS IN WESTBOROUGH

13/11/15
34a Fleetwood Avenue
Change of use from office/workshop to dwelling house.

30/10/15 26
Westcliff Park Drive
Demolish existing garage and erect two storey dwellinghouse with associated amenities.

30/10/15
Alpha Print, 379 Westborough Road
Change of use of ground floor from shop to self-contained flat

28/10/15
Les and Gary’s, 659-665 London Road Demolish existing building and erect four storey building comprising 18 flats

19/10/15
155-161 Westborough Road
Change of use of ground floor from shop to self-contained flats, erect two storey side and rear extension, ground floor front extension to form five self-contained flats

07/10/15
Rear of 1 Northview Drive
Demolish existing storage unit and erect one dwelling house with garage

WESTBOROUGH BY NUMBERS
(Source: 2011 Census)

Housing type
Wholly-occupied terraced houses: 1,787
Shared houses/bedsits: 1,330
Total homes: 4,702

Population
2001: 10,196
2011: 10,847
Increase: 6.4 per cent

Percentage privately renting
Westborough: 34.2
Southend: 22

Percentage socially renting
Westborough: 1.5
Southend: 11.5

Percentage of population aged zero to 19
Westborough: 27.9
Southend: 22.6