Takeley's county councillor says the Garnetts disruption should have been avoided at the planning stage. A resident has escalated a complaint to the county.
Takeley’s county councillor says the disruption facing Garnetts “should have been avoided by ‘preparation’ within the original development in the first place”, and that he will feed that back through the planning process. “We cannot allow this to happen again, anywhere,” Geoff Bagnall wrote on Wednesday 4 November.
His email came the day before Essex County Council answered a complaint that Morgan Hunting, a Garnetts resident, made on 8 October. Hunting calls the reply “substantively inadequate” and on Thursday 5 November asked the council to escalate it.
We have followed the dispute since our first report on 11 October. Affinity Water is laying a new main along Garnetts, a cul-de-sac of about 68 homes with one way in and out, to supply Bellway’s new homes next door. Its letter of 29 October put three-way traffic lights on Parsonage Road from Monday 9 November and the first block of work along Garnetts from 23 November.
“Why we ended up here”
Councillor Bagnall, who represents the Takeley division on Essex County Council, was replying to Hunting about a meeting with residents planned for Monday 9 November. In full, the body of his email reads:
“I don’t think we’ll get anyone from ECC in attendance at short notice on Monday, although I will ask for someone to attend.
I think, however, a further meeting on ‘why we ended up here’ would definitely be worthwhile and I’ll explore that with the officers.
I will also be feeding back through the ‘Planning Process’, as this should have been avoided by ‘preparation’ within the original development in the first place, which you also raised. We cannot allow this to happen again, anywhere..!
The meeting on Monday was to make sure we all fully understand what has changed and how that still impacts residents, unless, of course, you already have that understanding..?”
Hunting says those comments matter most because “they raise questions extending beyond the immediate roadworks, including whether the infrastructure requirements and their consequences for existing residents were adequately considered during the original development planning process.”
Whether council officers will be at Monday’s meeting is not settled. “Councillor Bagnall has indicated that he will seek Essex County Council officer attendance, although this has not been confirmed in the correspondence supplied,” Hunting told us.
What the county council said
Hunting’s original complaint, reference FS-Case-881423984, was sent on 8 October, when the plan was still a full closure of Garnetts from 2 November to 18 December. It asked for the permit conditions, the legal closure order, the approved traffic management drawings, written confirmation of whether residents could drive in and out, an assessment of arrangements for emergency services, disabled and elderly residents, carers and medical transport, details of any alternative parking, and what consultation had taken place.
The council’s compliance and complaints team replied on 5 November. It said the works “have been rescheduled to commence on 23 November to 26 February 2026”; the year is as printed, and Hunting has asked the council to correct it.
“Essex County Council (ECC) fully acknowledges that roadworks can be frustrating for residents in the local area,” the reply says. “As the Highway Authority, we need to maintain the fine balance between minimising disruption to the road network and facilitating the delivery of development and utility company work/improvements.” It adds that the public “do not see the numerous works for which we receive applications which are refused or postponed”, and that the council “frequently” intervenes “to scale down the level of traffic management requested by utility companies”.
On access, it says: “Affinity Water will need to maintain access for residents and emergency services.” It points to the permit’s details and conditions, which are published on one.network, and says: “The management of the works will be the responsibility of Affinity Water and if you have any further queries or concerns regarding how the works will be managed, please contact Affinity Water.”
It ends by saying permit officers “undertake a number of crucial checks before issuing a permit”, but “must however reasonably allow utility providers access to their apparatus to carry out maintenance, installations and repairs”.
“Largely general explanations”
Hunting’s challenge, logged by the council as FS-Case-890193406 the same day, says: “After 28 days, ECC has provided largely general explanations of highway procedures rather than addressing the specific questions and documentary evidence requested in my original complaint.”
It lists what the reply did not provide or account for: the Essex Highways officers who assessed and authorised the original and revised arrangements; the permits, authorisations and conditions; the approved traffic management drawings and decision records; the assessments behind residential and emergency access; any thought given to disabled and elderly residents, medical transport and carers; alternative parking and less disruptive options; records of resident consultation; and “a reasoned decision on my subsequent request for precautionary suspension of the works”.
The reply, the challenge says, “does not clearly address the Parsonage Road works scheduled to commence on 9 November 2026”. “I am particularly concerned that ECC has referred residents back to Affinity Water for operational matters without adequately explaining ECC’s own decisions as highway authority.”
Hunting asks for an item-by-item answer to the October questions, the names of the officers responsible, confirmation that a separate request under the Environmental Information Regulations is still being handled, referral to a senior complaints officer, and “an urgent, reasoned written decision on the outstanding request for precautionary suspension, identifying the responsible decision-maker, before the proposed commencement of Parsonage Road works on 9 November 2026.”
“I do not accept ECC’s response of 5 November as satisfactory resolution of my complaint,” it says.
No decision on a pause
Hunting sent a formal demand for the works to be suspended to Affinity Water and the county council on 4 November. “The suspension demand remains an important unresolved matter,” Hunting told us. “I have not received a confirmed written decision granting suspension.”
Residents have said throughout that they do not claim the works are unlawful; they want to see what was approved and why. “I welcome your independent examination of these documents and the wider questions they raise about local government decision-making and accountability,” Hunting wrote to us.
We will report replies from Essex County Council and Affinity Water, and what comes of Monday’s meeting.
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