Areas of Special Restraint (ASRs)

The Areas of Special Restraint (ASRs), over 200 acres within the A120 bypass to the North of the town, were designated in order to reserve land for airport-related housing. The “Special Countryside Areas” adjacent to the ASRs were created to be strategic reserves for even more development in the longer term.

ASR1 = 32.3 acres ; ASR2 = 51.2 acres ; ASR3 = 56.5 acres ; ASR4 = 21.7 acres ; ASR5 = 48.1 acres ; “Special Countryside Area” = 100 acres.

CAUSE believes that development of this area would be unsustainable. This is supported by statements in various County Council documents:

• “The Development Strategy and Dwelling Distribution” (a consultation document published by the County Council early in 1996). It lists the Stort Corridor as one of three “less suitable areas for major new development” particularly “development locations along the Stort Valley which would exacerbate road congestion in the towns, particularly in view of the uncertainty about if and when an M11 link road will be constructed.” Paragraph 4.44 speaks of “a strong rationale for steering additional development away from this corridor in the extreme east of the County to towns in western and central areas where most of the locally generated growth in household numbers is projected to occur”.
• “Alternative Location for Major Development” (the County Council’s paper on Issue 7 for the Enquiry in Public, March 1997). Paragraph 5.2 states: - “The town has an already relatively congested historic centre which is yet to experience the traffic impacts of the substantial housing growth committed on its periphery as a result of Stansted Airport.” Paragraph 5.10 then says: - “ the proposals for Bishop’s Stortford North do not appear to offer an appropriate location for strategic housing development in addition to that already committed.” The only known commitment is for the 692 airport-related dwellings, which are no longer needed.
• Strategic Environmental Appraisal of all Policies, carried out by the County Council in preparation for the EiP. It found that the policy relating to Stansted Airport-Related Development had “an adverse or potentially adverse effect on a number of sustainability aims and objectives”. As the number of houses proposed for the ASRs has since increased, it is clear that these sites will now fail on sustainability grounds for any house building.
• The Report of the EiP Panel states in paragraph 7.60 that “further major housing releases unrelated to the expansion of the airport are likely to lead to high levels of out commuting, and residents not working locally would have to travel some distance.” Its conclusion was that “the Panel recommends that no additional housing allocation is made at Bishop's Stortford.”

It is not surprising that Bishop’s Stortford North (the ASRs) has been omitted from the Hertfordshire Structure Plan (Policy 8 - Strategic Locations for Supplementary Housing Development).

The Local Plan Executive Panel’s proposal to include an extension of the Green Belt in the Local Plan to take in the Special Countryside Areas have been dropped (June 2004) from the latest version of the Plan. CAUSE continues to believe that any housing on the Areas of Special Restraint or Special Countryside Area would constitute unsustainable development, and would greatly exacerbate traffic congestion in the town centre and on radial roads. In retaining these areas for development, the Local Plan is in direct conflict with the County Structure Plan. Development of the ASRs should be abandoned and the Green Belt inner boundary drawn in to the line of Hadham Road, Cricketfield Lane, Barrells Down Road, Whitehall Lane and thence along the edge of the built envelope of the town to Rye Street.

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