Bovis Homes, Alfred McAlpine Homes and Beazer Homes formed a consortium which has a controlling interest in four-fifths of the ASRs. Countryside Properties plc has the remaining fifth. The consortium’s masterplan (Feb 2000) for the ASRs included 2,000 houses, a primary and secondary school, a local centre with leisure facilities, an employment area and possibly a hotel. Vehicle accesses are proposed on to Hadham Road, Rye Street and the A120, and a new bus route would run along Cricketfield Lane and Lindsey Road. Further houses would presumably be built on the areas under the control of other developers. Peter Frampton (one of the consortium’s team of consultants) claimed the ASRs have no “special” environmental value [H&E Observer, 3 Feb 2000]. This plan was withdrawn soon after it was made, but in September 2000 Bovis and Alfred McAlpine Developments submitted a revised application for the development of 33.6 hectares of land on ASRs 1 and 2, behind the Rugby Club. The development would comprise a school, community facilities and 692 houses. Objections were submitted by local residents, Residents’ Associations and the Civic Society, and EHDC were recommended to refuse the application. Anticipating failure, the builders withdrew their application in February 2001, with the stated intention of making a new application when the airport enters its next phase of expansion.
Following increased Government pressure for building in the South East, the ASRs are once again being targetted for development - see the new proposals here.
