​Jam was appointed on behalf of the Campaign Against Urban Sprawl in Essex (CAUSE) with regards to the Sustainability Appraisal of the North Essex Authorities’ Section 1 North Essex Local Plan. The NEA is made up of the following Councils: Braintree District Council; Colchester Borough Council and Tendring District Council.

The Plan set out the proposals for housing and employment growth within the three Districts, including the proposals for three garden communities. The garden communities were proposed at: Tendring/Colchester borders; Colchester/ Braintree borders; and to the west of Braintree adjacent to the border with Uttlesford District.  The proposals would deliver a total of up to 43,000 dwellings.  Jam’s review of the Sustainability Appraisal process found significant failings in the assessment of the growth plans and the justification for the new garden communities, including a lack of evidence with regard to transport infrastructure and the viability and deliverability of the proposals.

Jam prepared representations and hearing statements on behalf of CAUSE for the Examination in Public and was an Expert Witness at the examination.  The Inspector found that deliverability was critical to the justification of the Plan’s Spatial Strategy and the proposed garden communities and that two of the three garden communities had failed to demonstrate the necessary viability.  As a consequence, the Inspector found that the Plan’s Spatial Strategy could not be justified as it could not be shown that the garden communities were deliverable both over the plan period and the longer term.  It was therefore recommended that the Colchester/Braintree and West of Braintree garden communities be deleted from the proposed Plan. ​