Takeley's county councillor told Affinity Water to pause its Garnetts works; hours later its letter said work starts 9 November with the permit in place.
Takeley’s county councillor has told Affinity Water to “pause this work immediately” in Garnetts so that residents can be heard. Hours later the company’s contractors were handing out a new letter saying the works “will proceed as planned and the necessary permit authorising the works is in place”.
Geoff Bagnall, the Essex County Councillor for the Takeley division, wrote to Affinity Water’s developer services complaints team at 8.12am on Thursday 29 October:
“I think you are missing the point of these emails. The residents want to be consulted so that you are aware of the issues before you make plans on the work. All you are doing here is ‘bulldozing’ people into your way of thinking, that is not ‘Consultation’.”
He turned down the idea that talking to people on the doorstep counted as the meeting he had asked for: “I’ve requested a meeting with a few of us and that should take place in a proper location, not out on the street when your team are delivering leaflets. You need to escalate to someone who can make a decision and pause this work immediately, so that a discussion can happen.”
It is the latest turn in a dispute we have followed since our first report on 11 October, through the closure signs on 19 October and the revised plan of 26 October. Garnetts is a cul-de-sac with one way in and out, and Affinity Water is laying a new main along it to supply Bellway’s new homes.
The new letter: dates fixed
Affinity Water’s letter of 29 October, works number DS0062953, firms up the dates its 26 October letter gave as a window. It says:
- Parsonage Road: multi-way traffic lights from Monday 9 November “for approximately 3 weeks”. The map in the letter marks three-way lights from 9 to 29 November.
- Garnetts, first block: Monday 23 November to Friday 18 December 2026, then a break over Christmas and New Year.
- Garnetts, second block: “We anticipate returning on Monday 4 January 2027 for approximately six weeks to complete the remaining works along Garnetts.”
- Getting in and out: “A diversion route through the Bellway development will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the works,” and emergency access “will be maintained throughout”.
The work will move down the road “in sections of approximately 50 metres at a time”, the letter says. A map splits Garnetts into four sections and lists the house numbers whose driveways fall inside each one: 19 to 24 first, then 14 to 18, then 10 to 13 with 45 and 46, and finally 6 and 47 to 50, with the road closed at the Parsonage Road end during the last section. “Access will be maintained,” it says, though “temporary interruptions may be necessary while certain activities are carried out.”
Residents are asked to “plan ahead and, wherever possible, minimise the need to enter or leave the works area during the closure hours”. This letter does not give those hours; the 26 October letter said the road would be closed 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
“Your feedback has been taken onboard”
The letter says Affinity Water’s team visited Garnetts on 7 October, when “a full road closure between Monday to Friday, 0800-1600 may have been required”, and that “a further site visit on Monday 26th October took place alongside Essex Highways to further finalise how the work will be delivered”.
“Your feedback has been taken onboard, and we have tried to address as many concerns as possible,” it says. A question and answer section adds: “Our initial proposal potentially involved a full road closure. Following further consideration of residents’ concerns and our continued work with the Highways, we have revised the arrangements to include a diversion route and to maintain access for residents as the works progress.”
On why the main has to go along Garnetts at all, the company says the route was chosen after “detailed planning and assessment” covering the existing network, the new development and “strict OFWAT regulatory requirements”. “It is not simply a case of installing a pipe along any available road.” On why the job takes so long, it says the road has “a concrete subsurface under the tarmac”. Water supply to Garnetts homes will not be turned off, and delivery drivers “will need to follow the signed diversion route”.
On permits, it says Essex Highways, as the highway authority, must approve the works first, and that a permit “does not mean that disruption can be avoided entirely”. Its answer to whether it has one: “Affinity Water does have an approved permit to carry out this work, and work will proceed as planned.”
Residents who need to leave home for medical appointments, or who have carers or health visitors, are asked to contact the company’s customer liaison officer at its contractor, M&S Water Services Utilities, whose details are in the letter.
2 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Morgan Hunting
Resident asks county to step in
At 12.05pm, Morgan Hunting, the Garnetts resident who has kept us informed throughout, sent what they called an “urgent formal notice” to Councillor Bagnall and to Councillor Mark Webster, addressed as the Cabinet member for highways and infrastructure at Essex County Council.
“Affinity Water has repeatedly stated that the necessary highway authorisations are in place and that its revised programme will proceed,” it says. “Meanwhile, residents have still not been provided with the documentary evidence establishing precisely what Essex County Council has approved, which alternatives were assessed and how the proposed arrangements have been evaluated.”
It asks the county for the permits and traffic orders issued, their references, dates and conditions; who approved the original plan and each revision; what thought was given to emergency access, vulnerable residents and the route through Trinity Green; and whether the council assessed the plans itself or accepted assessments supplied by Affinity Water and its contractors. “I am not alleging that authorisations do not exist,” the notice says. “I am asking Essex County Council to identify them and explain the evidence and reasoning supporting its decisions.”
Hunting has already made a request to the council under the Environmental Information Regulations, reference ECC21403015 10 26, which normally allows 20 working days for a reply. “There is a genuine risk that significant activity will commence before residents have received the information necessary to scrutinise the highway decisions affecting their homes,” the notice says.
It asks Councillor Webster to back the call for a pause and to ask Essex Highways whether there are “lawful grounds and available mechanisms to secure a short, proportionate pause”, and for a meeting with councillors, a senior Essex Highways officer, Affinity Water staff who can make decisions and a few residents, at “a suitable venue, with reasonable advance notice, an agreed agenda and an accurate record”. It asks for a first written reply within two working days.
“Neither Richard nor I is opposed to the lawful provision of essential water infrastructure,” it says, naming Richard Ridley, the Garnetts resident and Takeley parish councillor copied in. “Our concern is that residents should not be expected to accept major disruption without transparent explanations, properly examined access arrangements and meaningful engagement.”
Digging on 28 October
Hunting also tells us residents reported excavation and “substantial noise” near the alleyway between Garnetts and the Bellway development from about 5pm on Wednesday 28 October. It has not been established who was digging, what the work was or which authorisation covered it, and Hunting has asked which permits applied and whether the work was linked to the water main. “I am not alleging that unauthorised excavation has taken place,” Hunting writes. “I am seeking clarification of the documentary position.”
The rest of the letter
The letter’s question and answer pages set out the company’s reasons for the closure, the length of the works and the permit position.
2 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Morgan Hunting
We will report replies from Affinity Water and Essex County Council when they come.
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