NEWS & COMMENT
Updated 21 Mar 2006
Extracts from recent items in the press:
- No Water for Development - H&E
Observer 23/2/06
- Bordering Authorities Must Work Together
- H&E Observer 23/2/06
- Roads HAVE to be Better - H&E
Observer 23/2/06
- Developer in Bid to Build on Green
Belt - H&E Observer 12/1/06
- Homes on Green Belt? - H&E Observer
1/12/05
- Town Centre Plan Fears - H&E
Observer 24/11/05
- 700 More Homes - Herald 24/11/05
- Fears New Estate Will Lead to Major
Transport Problems - H&E Observer 13/10/05
- Herts/Essex Area on Assembly's Top
List - H&E Observer 10/2/05
- "We Must Fight House Plan!"
- H&E Observer 3/2/05
- New Homes Could be at Risk from Flooding
- H&E Observer 3/2/05
- Homes Plan will "Do Away With
Green Belt" - H&E Observer 20/1/05
- Call to Arms Rallies Public - H&E
Observer 6/1/05
- Speak Now to Shape Future of Counties
- H&E Observer 9/12/05
- The New Homes: Have Your Say - B/S
Citizen 9/12/04
- Plans for Thousands of New Homes Agreed
- H&E Observer 11/11/04
- Anger over Threat of New Homes for
Town - H&E Observer 4/11/04
- Stepping up Fight to Protect Countryside
- H&E Observer 4/11/04
- Fighting for a Better Quality of Life
- H&E Observer 28/10/04
- Process "Removes Fundamental
Democratic Right" - H&E Observer 28/10/04
- Pressure too Great for Road, Rail
and Water Supplies - H&E Observer 28/10/04
- Planners Reject Bid to Build Extra
Homes - H&E Observer 21/10/04
- Assembly Rejects Stansted Claim -
Herald 14/10/04
- Inquiry into Bowls Club Homes Scheme
- H&E Observer 14/10/04
- Just Madness - Citizen 22/9/04
- Herts to Bear Brunt of Housing for
East - H&E Observer 16/9/04
- Residents Speak Out Against More Houses
- H&E Observer 29/7/04
- Population on the Rise - H&E Observer
22/7/04
- Blueprint for Town Growth Revealed
- H&E Observer 8/7/04
- More Homework is Needed on Schools
- H&E Observer 1/7/04
- Population Bonanza on Cards - B/S
Citizen 16/6/04
- Green Belt Ruling Opens Way for Flood
of Housing Around Thorley - H&E Observer 20/5/04
- Building Controls Must be Respected
- H&E Observer 13/5/04
- Shouldn't the Pupils have a say in
Debate About Siting of School? - H&E Observer 13/5/04
- School Expansion a Great Necessity
- H&E Observer 6/05/04
- Bid to Save Wildlife Site from Builders
- H&E Observer 29/04/04
- CPRE's Housing Danger Warning - H&E
Observer 22/4/04
- Have Your Say on Crucial Changes for
Our Town - H&E Observer 18/3/04
- Key Redevelopment Plan Given Go-Ahead
- H&E Observer 11/3/04
- Councils 'Reeling' at Housing Decision
- H&E 12/2/04
- Demand for New Houses Rising - H&E
Observer 29/1/04
- Housing Forcasts "Not Appropriate"
- H&E Oberver 13/11/03
- Unveiling Vision of Key Sites's Future
- H&E Observer 13/11/03
- Hospital Housing Scheme Accepted
- H&E Observer 30/10/03
- Council Attacks "Flawed"
Report - H&E Observer 30/10/03
- M11 Corridor Development Plans Lacked
Consultation - H&E Observer 30/10/03
- Housing will Ruin our Quality of
Life - H&E Observer 9/10/03
- Worries Rife over Loss of Countryside
- H&E Observer 9/10/03
- Region Facing Homes Threat - H&E
Observer 25/9/03
- New Numbers Spark 'Urban Sprawl' Fear
- H&E Observer 25/9/03
- CAUSE ready to Fight the Cause - H&E
Observer 20/2/03
- Planners Back Off Green Belt Sites
- Herald 20/2/03
- Urban Jungle Still a Threat - H&E
Observer 6/2/03
- Plan to Build Extra 200 Homes Each
Year - H&E Observer 6/2/03
- Good Opportunity to Praise Town Planners
- H&E Observer 7/11/02
- Stealth Building Warning - H&E
Observer 10/10/02
- Restraints Prevent Building - H&E
Observer 19/9/02
- Our CAUSE is Good for Town - H&E
Observer 5/9/02
- Town Planning is Not Working - H&E
Observer 29/8/02
- Planners Will Destroy Town - H&E
Observer 22/8/02
- Plans Should Change Everyone's Way
of Thinking - H&E Observer 1/8/02
- Green Campaigners Predict 'End of
Civilisation' - H&E Observer 25/7/02
- Doubts on Green Belt - H&E Observer
27/6/02
- Ramblers Rally Against Development
- H&E Observer 9/5/02
- Airport Growth Project Panned - H&E
Observer 2/5/02
.
- NO WATER FOR DEVELOPMENT
(Herts & Essex Observer 23 Feb 2006, p12)
Mass house-building plans for the west of Sawbridgeworth
have suffered a major setback after it was revealed there is
not enough water to supply further development. Experts from
Thames Water and the Environment Agency told the examination
in public on Wednesday last week not only was there no water
available, but there was currently no technological solution
to the problem and no funding. The agency also highlighted that
there was no additional capacity at existing sewage treament
works, including Rye Meads, and that local rivers already receive
significant dischanrge of treated effluent from other settlements.
The claims back concerns raised by Friends of the Earth (FoE)
that the proposed scale of development to the north of Harlow
around High Wych, Eastwick and Gilston is not sustainable. The
inquiry chairman has now asked the Government and the relevant
agencies to prepare an urgent report on possible ways forward
on the water and sewerage issues.
Mary Edwards, regional campaigns co-ordinator for FoE, said:
"It has always been clear that these proposals do not make
sense. Now the experts have revealed the true extent of this
problem - and said that no ready solution exists. If John Prescott's
department has made such a mistake for Harlow area we have to
ask if they have made the same mistake on the other areas proposed
for large scale development."
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- BORDERING AUTHORITIES MUST
WORK TOGETHER
(Herts & Essex Observer 23 Feb 2006, p12)
Calls for a more integrated approach to guide sustainable
development in East Herts and Uttlesford were made at the public
inquiry in the the draft East of England Regional Plan last week.
Both the county and district councils were urged to work more
closely together to ensure the best possible outcome for the
border towns and villages situated along the county divide ...
John Rhodes from CAUSE (Campaign Against Unsustainable Stortford
Expansion), added: "Bishop's Stortford is the largest settlement
to be affected by growth at Stansted, but as we are in East Herts
and Uttlesford is the planning authority, we have not rights
of representation or means of expressing our views at all "
...
.
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- ROADS HAVE TO BE BETTER
(Herts & Essex Observer 23 Feb 2006, p12-13)
Infrastructure in Bishop's Stortford would be unable to cope
with the thousands of new homes planned for the area, it has
been claimed. That wa the concern raised when development of
the Stansted-M11 corridor came under the micrscope as part of
the public inquiry into the draft East of England Regional Plan
on Thursday. Fears were also voiced that not enough emphasis
has been put in the plan on improving the road and rail networks
and existing settlements would struggle if more homes were built.
The regional blueprint will guide development over the next 20
years and includes 20,800 new dwellings in East Herts by 2021.
John Rhodes, from CAUSE (Campaign Against Unsustainable Stortford
Expansion), told the panel sitting in Letchworth that Bishop's
Stortford had already taken its share of extra housing and any
more would put further pressures on the town's already overburdened
infrastructure. "Housing growth does not automatically drag
new intrastructure along in its wake", he said. "Over
the last 40 years, our population has doubled and yet our experience
shows there is a major infrastructure shortfall. This plan fails
to deal with that shortfall and the improvements it does mention
are nothing more than a wish list. If sustainable growth is going
to happen, then it needs to be underpinned by the physical and
social intrastructure needed to support housing development of
this magnitude."
His views were echoed by Stop Stansted Expansion, which feared
that the majority of new properties would be snapped up by commuters
instead of hundreds of low-skilled workers expected with any
expansion at Stansted Airport - resulting in even more pressure
on roads and rail ...
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Top
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- DEVELOPER IN BID TO BUILD ON
GREEN BELT?
(Herts & Essex Observer 12 Jan 2006, p23)
A developer has appealed to the inspector deciding Bishop's
Stortford's future planning framework to include land off Dane
O'Coys Road for housing. Knight Developments Ltd wants to build
30 dwellings on the greenfield plot on either side of Hoggates
End property. The site stretches from Wickham Cottage and Cherry
Stones to the west and Cherry Trees and Cherry Lea to the east.
It forms part of the five Areas of Special Restraint (ASRs),
but is in the sections being held back by East Herts District
Council for strategic development much further into the future.
Knight told inspector Ava Wood at the hearing into the Local
Plan that the 2.9 acres (1.16 ha) was suitable for building on
before 2011 and would not result in a material change to the
envelope of built development around Bishop's Stortford. Knight
said East Herts was releasing Green Belt to meet its housing
needs in order to preserve the ASRs, which was inappropriate.
Bishop's Stortford Civic Society has already lodged its pbjections
to the ASRs being kept in the Local Plan for future development.
East Herts coundcil says they need to be kept in for strategic
reasons. The public enquiry is sheduled to run until March.
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- HOMES ON GREEN BELT?
(Herts & Essex Observer 1 Dec 2005, p10)
Developers want to build houses and industrial units on Bishop's
Stortford Green Belt land next to a potential schools' site,
a public inquiry heard. ... Kevin Coleman, from Andrew Martin
Associates said the proposed development would countain at least
five hectares (12.35 acres) of industrial space. Housing would
take up 30ha (74.1 acres). He was presenting Countryside's argument
last week to inspector Ava Wood, who is conducting the inquiry
into East Herts District Local Plan. It wants the Green Belt
status reclassified to take housing and industry. East Herts
council, which is prepared to release 15ha (37.05 acres) for
the new schools, opposes extra housing and employment on the
rest .... Councillor Mione Goldspink told the inspector there
was no need for any more housing land ...
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- TOWN CENTRE PLAN FEARS
(Herts & Essex Observer 24 Nov 2005, p13)
Ambitious plans that will radically reshape Bishop's Stortford
town centre received a lukewarm reception when they were unveiled
to the public. Around 100 residents attended a Community Voice
meeting at the Charis Centre, Water Lane, on Thursday to see
how the former rail goods yard site might look in the future
and voice their opinions. The plans are due to be submitted to
East Herts District Council in the coming weeks. Developer Barratt
Homes wants to build more than 600 dwellings ont he 13-acre site
between the train station and the River Stort, as well as shops,
offices and a hotel ...
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- 700 MORE HOMES
(Herald 24 Nov 2005, p1)
People have been angered by plans for nearly 700 homes, a
hotel and shops in Bishop's Stortford. The proposals for the
Goodsyard site, which were shown to members of the public at
last Thursday's Community Voice Meeting, were met by angry residents
deeming them "ugly" and "not in keeping with the
market town". Some buildings could be up to seven storeys
high, almost as tall as the Bishop's Stortford Mill....
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- FEARS NEW ESTATE WILL LEAD
TO MAJOR TRANSPORT PROBLEMS
(Herts & Essex Observer 13 Oct 2005, p11)
Bishop's Stortford WILL be having another housing estate
- but when? Developers want to start building Bishop's Stortford
North, as it is labelled, soon on the ASRs, while the district
council is keen to keep it in reserve. Otherwise, there will
be nothing left to meet John Prescott's demand for more homes
in future - and that could put the Green Belt at risk, it was
said. There is also huge concern that Bishop's Stortford could
disporportionately end up with virtually all the new homes for
East Herts - thus adding to the transport problems instead of
solving them as new residents travel further afield for work.
... Lawyer representing East Herts council Rob Jameson raised
the fear of what might happen if this large area was used too
soon ... "Are we looking for land outside the bypass of
Bishop's Stortford?"
The master plan for the ASRs was published this week by East
Herts District Council. It will have new primary schools, but
no secondary, nearly seven acres set asside for providing employment
and housing density between 25 and 55 dwellings per hectare.
It is recommended that development takes place in a west to east
direction and one of the ASRs, number five, will need special
care because it is the most visually prominent. That is the tranche
closest to where the A120 meets Stansted Road at Birchanger roundabout.
ASR1 and 2 extend from Tesco roundabout along the bypass and
ASR3 and 4 are at the other end, off Rye Street and Farnham Road.
On Tuesday, East Herts executive received the just-released master
plan which had as part of its brief to also examine the effects
of the development on the town as a whole, and particularly the
town centre. It has been carried out by East Herts consultant
Roger Evans Associates.
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- HERTS/ESSEX AREA ON ASSEMBLY'S
TOP LIST
(Herts & Essex Observer 10 Feb 2005, p23)
A bid for nearly £200m to fund road and rail schemes
has been drawn up and sent to the government by the regional
assembly. The body, which withdrew endorsement for its own Regional
Plan because Whitehall cash was not guaranteed for the necessary
infrastructure, has put the M11 corridor as one of its 12 prorities.
... The London-Stansted-Cambridge-Paterborough corridor and Bishop's
Stortford green corridors and growth area links across Essex
and Herts both feature in the top 12, totalling £117m which
could be built by 2008. The latter involves £1.75m worth
of cycle and walkways linking Bishop's Stortford with Harlow,
and with the airport; improving rail and raod crossings; and
the towpath. ... John Reynolds, chairman of the regional housing
panel, said a strong message was being sent that the approach
to transport funding was disjointed and a more visionary and
strategic approach was needed to tackle needs properly. ...
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- "WE MUST FIGHT HOUSE PLAN!"
(Herts & Essex Observer 3 Feb 2005, p4)
... Mark Prisk, Bishop's Stortford's MP has delivered a rallying
cry to worried townsfolk declaring that the controversial East
of England Plan that would flood East Herts with 20,800 new homes
can be beaten. At a packed Community Voice meeting at the Charis
Centre on Monday evening, Mr Prisk won applause for his message
of defiance. "Do not believe that this is set in stone.
If we are prepared to fight this rigourously and with determination
on the practicality question, on the money issue and the principle,
I genuinely believe we can win," he said. ... He said: "20,800
is an enormous number. The whole of Hertford is just about 10,000
homes and they plan to build a community the equivalnt of twice
that size somewhere between Hertford and us. ...
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Top
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- NEW HOMES COULD BE AT RISK
FROM FLOODING
(Herts & Essex Observer 3 Feb 2005, p4)
New homes to be built in the M11 corridor could be at risk
from flooding, a report representing the views of UK insurance
firms has warned. A study by the Association of British Insurers
(ABI), entitled Making Communities Sustainable, found that tens
of thousands of houses allocated to be built in Herts, Essex
and elsewhere under the Government's East of England Plan, could
be "vulnerable to inland flooding". ... "Building
in the flood plain, even using flood resilient techniques"
the report states, "could increase the risk to existing
property in the vicinity" ...
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- HOMES PLAN WILL "DO AWAY
WITH GREEN BELT"
(Herts & Essex Observer 29 Jan 2005, p3)
... In his address to Bishop's Stortford Town Council at
its Windhill planning meeting on Monday night, Mike Carver called
on townsfolk to oppose the development plans envisaged by the
East of England Regional Assembly. The body has proposed the
build 79,000 new houses in Herts by 2021, with nearly 21,000
of these in East Herts. Mr Carver said this was not supported
by improvements to road or rail connections, or with money for
hospitals or schools. He said: "This is probably the single
most threatening piece of legislation which has come into this
area in the last 10 to 15 years. .. The biggest fear is that
it is just going to do away with the Green Belt", he said.
"Effectively, we will become the next stage of Greater London."
He urged the town council to submit a collective objection to
the regional assembly and encouraged residents to attend the
Community Voice meeting at the Charis Centre, Water Lane on January
31 at 7:30pm. To comment on the plan, visit www.speakuphertfordshire.org.uk.
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- CALL TO ARMS RALLIES PUBLIC
(Herts & Essex Observer 6 Jan 2005, p16)
Herts county and East Herts district councils are gearing
up to blitz the public with information about how they MUST contribute
to the regional debate It is not a done deal and definitely a
numbers game, asserts district leader Mike Carver. The more individual
responses which are sent to the East of England Regional Assembly
the better, he stresses. "This is the one opportunity for
the public to have its say", added the councillor. "It's
important people grab that. We honestly believe the numbers of
people who respond will make a difference". ...
COMMENT: Full details on the East Herts website at
www.eastherts.gov.uk/speakup/.
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- SPEAK NOW TO SHAPE FUTURE OF
COUNTIES
(Herts & Essex Observer 9 Dec 2004, p18)
Yesterday was the start of the 14-week timetable for the
public to have its say on how Herts and Essex will look in 15
years' time. ... The Council for the Protection of Rural England's
head of planning, Henry Oliver, said: "It's not too late
to fight for a better future. Now is the time for the communities
whose environment would suffer to have their say." The plan's
effects would irreversibly damage landscapes, wildlife, rural
tranquility, water resources, air quality, recreation and the
character of historic towns and villages, he added. ....
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- THE NEW HOMES: HAVE YOUR SAY
(Bishops Stortford Citizen 8 Dec 2004, p7)
The battle cry has been sounded for people to come out and
fight for their quality of life in east Herts. Proposals to build
20,888 homes in the district by 2021 were today published and
put out for a 14-week public consultation. This is the only change
residents will get personally to voice their concerns over the
massive number of proposed homes, which councillors and campaigners
say is totally unsustainable and would put too much pressure
on local intrastructure. In a bid to get as many people to respond
as possible Hertfordshire County Council has joined forces with
district councils, including East Herts, and set up a website
that will aim to simplify jargon in the bulky report and tell
residents what they are facing and how they can best respond.
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- PLANS FOR THOUSANDS OF NEW HOMES
AGREED
(Herts & Essex Observer 11 Nov 2004, p15)
Thousands of new ho,es for Herts and Essex were rubberstamped
by the East of England Regional Assembly on Friday. The unelected
body confirmed what its planning panel had recommended a month
ago - and reiterated opposition to an extra 18,000 dwellings
in the M11 corridor and a second runway at Stansted Airport.
But the numbers decision, which now goes to Government, was heavily
criticised by local authorities and environmental groups. East
Herts District Council, expected to take 20,000 of Herts' 79,600,
is planning to appeal directly to the public to continue the
fight. ... The plan predicts population will increase for the
region by 648,000, with 82 per cent coming from inward migration....
The Council for the Protection of Rural England's Head of planning,
Henry Oliver, said: "Development of this scale with do permanent
and dramatic damage to the countryside and towns and people's
quality of life". ... A 14-week consultation period starts
on December 8 and a public inquiry is due next September.
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- ANGER OVER THREAT OF NEW HOMES
FOR TOWN
(Herts & Essex Observer 4 Nov 2004, p12)
Angry residents attacked designs for new development in Bishop's
Stortford as badly thought out in a town whose facilities were
already at "bursting point". They also cloaimed that
the plans ignored practicalities during the Community Voice meeting
at the Charis Centre in Water Lane on Thursday. An opening speech
by East Herts District Council's assistant planning director
Mary Orton outlined the council's stance, saying that it hoped
that by working with consultants to plan possible expansion,
it might "minimise adverse effects." Detailed talks
were then given by Mark Kintell, of Land Use Consultants and
Karl Kropf, of Roger Evans Associates. .... at one point the
speaker was interrupted by an irate town and district councillor,
Duncan Peek, who said: "Don't you understand; we don't want
it!". Mr Kropf responded, saying sensible planning could
mitigate the efects of expansion, which would need to occur sooner
or later. Several of the 50-strong contingent of townspeople
expressed their misgivings about transport implications, saying
that Bishop's Stortford's roads were already overburdened. Others
attacked the East of England Regional Assembly, which will make
the final decision on the number of new houses in a draft document
to be published in February. Townsfolk described it as "an
undemocratic clique with vested interests" adding that its
usurpation of planning responsibility from elected authorities
was "disgraceful". ... The gathering centred of the
possibility of 2,0000 new homes and associated facilities between
existing built up areas and the A120 bypass, around Dane O'Coys
Road. ...
COMMENT: See the proposed plan here.
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- STEPPING UP FIGHT TO PROTECT
COUNTRYSIDE
(Herts & Essex Observer 4 Nov 2004, p11)
The Stop Harlow North campaign includes High Wych, Eastwick
and Gilston, Much Hadhan, Husdon and Widford parish councils,
as well as Sawbridgeworth Town Council, under its banner. It
has now taken the battle for the land directly to BP Pensions
Fund, whose subsiduary Ropemaker Properties, as made proposals
for up to 25,000 homes on the Green Belt land to the north of
Harlow. Stop Harlow North has focused its sights on the East
of England Regional Assembly meeting of November 5 and has lodged
a question to the chair of the assembly. It is after this meeting
that the public consultation takes place from December until
March next year. The group has asked the assembly how it can
be represented at the Examination in Public to be held in Ely
in September 2005 on the issue, as it will, despite its name,
not be a public meeting. ... The campaign, whose slogan is "unnecessary,
unsustainable and undemocratic", believes that the planning
policy should not be makde by the East of England Ragional Assembly,
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or GO East, but by properly
elected representatives accountable to the affected residents..
Anyone wanting to register their opinions on theproposals or
donate to the cause can do so on the website www.stopharlownorth.com.
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- FIGHTING FOR A BETTER QUALITY
OF LIFE?
(Herts & Essex Observer 28 Oct 2004, p19)
The key man at the heart of weighing up the pros and cons
of housing growth in the East of England told the Observer that
the regional assembly was championing the people's cause. John
Reynolds, chairman of the planning panel, said: "We are
fighting on behalf of the people for a better quality of life".
He added: "But everyone has to accept that if we are to
solve the problms we have about loack of affordable homes for
people who are homeless and providing quality jobs, we have got
to have some substantial changes." East Herts was one of
the country's worst areas for lack of affordable homes, he pointed
out. ...
"What we are trying to do is make sure where we identify
substantial growth it should be sustainable., not encourage extra
long car journeys. We must make sure there are sufficient houses
for the young people who are currently on housing registers,
but not propose housing developments which encourage more out-commuting
to London etc"....
It strongly believes that there is no justification in the medium
term to giving Stansted another runway. ... "Consultants
have said if passengers contiue to rise, through a second runway,
that will not create any more jobs across the area." ...
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- PROCESS "REMOVES FUNDAMENTAL
DEMOCRATIC RIGHT"
(Herts & Essex Observer 28 Oct 2004, p19)
Anger was voiced this week at the undemocratic way that the
regional housing allocation of 478,000new homes by 2021 was made.
The regional assembly comprises representatives from local councils
- two thirds - and the rest are unelected stakeholders from environmental
groups, academia and other interested parties. ... Herts County
Council leader Robert Ellis added that until recently, counties
were responsible for setting housing targets through the Structure
Plan process. "Their input is now restricted to a seat on
the regional assembly and advisory support. Surely a decision
as significant as this needs to be made by elected representatives
from the region. This process takes a fundamental democratic
right away from the public who will be most affected."
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- PRESSURE TOO GREAT FOR ROAD,
RAIL AND WATER SUPPLIES
(Herts & Essex Observer 28 Oct 2004, p19)
The plans threaten the countryside and would put unsustainable
pressure on Herts' roads, rial and water supplies, says the county
council. Environmental executive member Derrick Ashley hit out
because the county's concerns were not listened to and added:
"This scale of development (79,600 homes) is not justifiable.
We are already the most densely populated county in the country"
His authority's leader Councillor Robert Ellis said capacity
had been based on crude criteria which did not take into account
restirctions such as road and rail networks, schools, hospitals
and water supplies. "Development on this scale will mean
eating into Green Belt land" Some 95 per cent of land in
Herts was subject to planning constraints such as landscape paulity,
floodplains and Green Belt. Uttlesford's planning policy manager
Roger Harborough said the district would have to accommodate
a further 2,650 on top of existing plans for 5,350-400 a year
compared to an average of 275 in recent years.
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- PLANNERS REJECT BID TO BUILD
EXTRA HOMES
(Herts & Essex Observer 21 Oct 2004, p3)
Regional planners want to thwart Deputy Prime Minister John
Prescott's desire for an extra 18,000 homes in the M11 corridor.
Friday's East of England Regional Assembly planning panel rejected
the Government's request to find space for those additional dwellings
in the next 16 years and restatid its opposition to any second
runway at Stansted. But the panel, which included councillors
from the six counties, agreed that 478,000 new homes should be
bult by 2021 to meet the affordable housing needs of key workers
and the economic growth of the region.
Essex's share has gone down ....But Herts' allocation has increased.
Its 10 distircts were earlier this year in line to accomodate
72,000, but on Friday, that was altered to 79,000, or 3,980 a
year. That increase is spread over all the county, but East Herts'
20,800 (1,040pa) means it is bearing the brunt of development,
says district leader Councillor Mike Carver. ....
The Cambridge meeting's recommendations go to the November 5
regional assembly. Public consultation begins in December and
a public inquiry will be held in September 2005.
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- ASSEMBLY REJECTS STANSTED CLAIM
(Herald 14 Oct 2004, p5)
Claims that a second runway at Stansted Airport will benefit
the regional economy have been rejected by the East of England
Regional Assembly (EERA). The assembly analysed the East of England
Development Agency's (EEDA) regional economic strategy, which
supports another runway, at a meeting at Hertford County Hall
on Friday. The assembly was content with most of the strategy,
but disagreed with support for a second runway ....
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- INQUIRY INTO BOWLS CLUB HOMES
SCHEME
(Herts & Essex Observer 14 Oct 2004, p27)
A public inquiry is to be held in a bid to win planning permission
to build 42 apartments where Bishop's Stortford Bowling Club
is in Hockerill Street. East Herts District Council rejected
the scheme on six ground, which are all refuted on behalf of
the developer by JB Planning Associated Ltd. Councillors threw
out the residential scheme earlier this year, siting the scale
of the development and the fact that no alternative bowls facilities
were yet to be established. The development control committee
rejected its officer's recommendation to approve. ... No date
has been set for the inquiry.
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- JUST MADNESS
(Citizen 22 Sep 2004, p1)
... [Herts] could have to acommodate 72,000 new houses by
2021 - the equivalent of five new towns the size of Bishop's
Stortford. Bishop's Stortford rural county councillor Mary Bayes
said: "Yes we need housing for the needs of Hertfordshire
residents, but not to cater for massive migration from the rest
of the country. The Government's plans are madness" ...
The council says it is already building the equivalnt of a new
Sawbridgeworth every year on current growth figures. ...
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- HERTS TO BEAR BRUNT OF HOUSING
FOR EAST
(Herts & Essex Observer 16 Sep 2004, p7)
Nearly all the extra 18,000 homes earmarked for the M11 corridor
are set to be in Herts .... At Monday's extraordinary full council
meeting, the political parties united in opposition to the proposals
which indicate that Herts should accommodate the latest number
on top of an already expected 72,000 other homes in the next
17 years. ... Conservative councillor Derrick Ashley, executive
member for the environment, said: "The report seems to be
saying that there is no justification for homes in the growth
area, but because it's what the Government wants, then it should
be included in the draft Regional Spatial Stragegy. That strikes
us a being a somewhat flawed approach and not a very sensible
way to go about things" ...
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- RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST
MORE HOUSES
(Herts & Essex Observer 29 July 2004, p7)
The message from the latest Community Voice meeting in Bishop's
Stortford was loud and clear - no more expansion of the town.
... The opposition to development was voiced from the word go
by angry Meadowlands resident Dick Pollard [Spooner] who questioned
the wole basis of the meeting, claiming that discussing ideas
for expansion, when expansion was not yet certain was "like
discussing rhe consequences of a verdict before the trial".
He was backed by Councillor Duncan Peek who said: "... The
very first priority of the people of this town is no more peripheral
development. ...". However, Councillor Allen Burlton,
chairman of Community Voice Bishop's Stortford, and Councillor
Mike Carver, the leader of East Herts District Council, reminded
everyone that development cound still do ahead whether they liked
it or not. If the chance to participate in the consultation process
was wasted now, they said, the opportunity may not be there in
the future. Discussion groups initiated by representatives from
the council's independent consultants Roger Evans Associates
again revealed the mahority's opposition to development. ...
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- POPULATION ON THE RISE
(Herts & Essex Observer 22 July 2004, p3)
Dire predictions for the future of Bishop's Stortford are
set to be revealed at a public meeting on Monday. Cedric Thomas,
vice-chairman and researcher for the Campaign Against Unsustainable
Stortford Expansion (CAUSE) estimates that come 2021, the town's
population could have shot up to an unsustainable 51,000. Mr
Thomas has based his figures on both local and national government
documents and hopes that the Community Voice meeting at the Charis
Centre will shock residents into opposing such development. The
meeting starts at 7pm.
COMMENT: Approximately 100 concerned residents attended
this meeting and left EHDC's consultants in no doubt about the
strength of feeling on this issue in the town.
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- BLUEPRINT FOR TOWN GROWTH REVEALED
(Herts & Essex Observer 8 July 2004, p18)
.... East Herts District Council has to allow for 1,448 new
dwellings between the plan period 1999-2011, of which 756 are
for the town's need and 692 for Stansted's expansion to its permitted
25m passengers a year. But sites identified equate to more than
sufficient - 1,574. Potential locations, including some which
already have planning permission, are:
Riverside/Adderley Road (150 dwellings);
railway goods yard / John Dyde Training College, Anchor Street
(700);
Herts and Essex Hospital (270);
ex-Hillmead Primary, Heath Row (43);
reserve secondary school site, Hadham Road, (250);
117-121 Hadham Road, near Bishop's Stortford College (13);
Apton Road car park (16);
Westmill Foods mill, should it relocate (100);
23 North Street (6);
and 4 Newtown Road (5).
In reserve, in case town centre developments are not enough,
are two of the Areas of Special Restraint between the A120, Hadham
Road and Dane O'Coys Road. They could take 1,086.
Also now included is the proposed shared high school site for
Herts and Essex and Bishop's Stortford secondaries. The draft
plan removes 15 hectares (37.05 acres) from the Green Belt near
Whittington Way. Sports pitches may need to be outside that allocated
area, on adjacent Breen Belt with the south-west bypass, it says.
Last week, East Herts' Local Plan executive panel approved the
revised plan, which has to go before full council. There will
be a public hearing next year.
COMMENT: CAUSE continues to be disappointed by the
insistance of the District Council to include the 692 airport-related
houses in the local plan. CAUSE have demonstrated that these
houses are no longer required and stick to our assertion that
the ASRs should be returned to Green Belt. We will be making
our comments on this version of the plan when it goes for inquiry
and we urge residents to attend the relevant Community Voice
meetings to make your opinions on these flawed plans heard.
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- MORE HOMEWORK IS NEEDED ON SCHOOLS
(Herts & Essex Observer 1 July 2004, p8)
Letter from Philip Rowley, Chairman of CAUSE:
CAUSE (Campaign Against Unsustainable Stortford Expansion) has
been following the plans announced to this newspaper to demolish
two secondary schools and relocate them together on the southern
periphery of the town, whilst redeveloping their old sites for
housing as per the Hillmead operation but on a grander scale.
Is this really the only solution and best site for the town's
growing problem concerning provision of secondary school education?
CAUSE agrees there is chronic under provision of secondary education
in Stortford created by the town's over development. CAUSE is
pleased the shortage is being addressed. CAUSE believes building
an additional new school is the obvious solution. It would appear
fortunate that the County Council own land lying fallow to the
west of the town near the new developments of Bishops Park and
close to a swathe of the existing community which has no secondary
school nearby.
The site of a new additional school here, by the fire station
off Hadham Road, to the west of all other schools in the town,
would re-balance the town's secondary school sites, so helping
prevent much of the ridiculous twice daily criss-crossing of
school induced traffic endured by most of the town.
A relative sustainable planning victory is within our grasp,
and yet, yet again, the ambitions of a few driven by the desire
to save money or profit on land development will ensure a complete
planning disaster. Whilst financially it may well serve the County
Council and its Education Authority to agree these proposals
from the Herts and Essex High School and The Bishops Stortford
High, an utterly unsustainable planning solution for all will
be the legacy for our town.
The situation is only exacerbated by some of the EHDC planning
supremos, like Hadham based leader Mike Carver, wanting to release
yet more land to the North West of the town giving the potential
to develop around four thousands more houses from Tescos to the
The Red White and Blue pub as peripheral "bolt on"
estates. At the same time other planning experts believe it is
a good idea to demolish two compact well-run schools centrally
located in walking distance for many families, and instead relocate
them on a vast campus, with probably more associated housing,
on Greenbelt sites as far away to the South of Bishops Stortford
as possible. Also why do they intelligently re-develop the Goods
yard and Hospital sites for housing, then at a later date stupidly
plan to move the nearby needed schools further away from them?
However attractive the financial side of this scheme looks (i.e.
the demolition and rebuild costs would presumably be "underwritten"
by housing developments off Warwick Road, London Road, and in
the Greenbelt "education" site) this cannot be considered
the only sensible solution. The new Greenbelt site is primarily
accessible only by car, closer to the flight paths and drives
a coach and horses through existing school catchment areas and
feeder arrangements.
The Planners, their process and the councillors involved give
little confidence to their tax paying electorate. The proposals
even contradict the provisions of the existing EHDC Local Plan.
There is a viable alternative. Keep the Girl's AND Boy's schools
as they are, whilst planning for an additional new mixed secondary
school to the west of the town next to existing housing where
a secondary school is required.
The councillors will forlornly trot out the same indoctrinated
excuse that this site is too small for secondary school purposes.
Well please do your homework again and have a rethink about the
land opposite on ASR 1. Start thinking tunnelled or bridged access
across Hadham Road for the playing fields or further school buildings;
think re-routing part of the Hadham Road. At least try to offer
this town some sustainable planning instead of this poorly balanced,
short term, ill-conceived scheme which will fail the simplest
of sustainability's tests.
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- POPULATION BONANZA ON CARDS
(Herts & Essex Observer 16 Jun 2004, p4)
The population of Bishop's Stortford could increase by more than
ten per cent if proposals to build at least 2,000 homes are successful.
The figure for north Bishop's Stortford was met with disbelief
when it was announced at Wednesday's community voice meeting.
East Herts District Council will now appoint consusltants to
analyse the impact before a three-month consultation period begins
in the next few months. Bishop's Stortford mayor Allen Burlton
acknowledged there needed to be more "affordable" homes
built in the town but expressed fears over the proposed scale.
He said "Two thousand homes could mean at least 4,000 people
which would increast the population be at least ten per cent.
It's already crowded and we don't have the roads of the infrastructure
to go with it .... These houses are in addition to the district
plan, which is quite incredible". The likely area for development
is between the A120 boundary and Dane O'Coys Road, around Hoggate's
Wood. ... Harlow has been named as growth area ... Mr Burlton
added: "If we're not careful, Harlow could join into Sawbridgeworth
and we would be left with one long concrete block between London
and Peterborough". ... An East Herts Council spokesman said:
"The wording of the draft policy indicates 2,000 dwellings
is an historic estimate of capacity and it's likely this could
be increased. After the three-month consultation the plan will
be scrutinised through an examination in public, before being
adopted around 2006 .....
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- GREEN BELT RULING OPENS WAY
FOR FLOOD OF HOUSING AROUND THORLEY
(Herts & Essex Observer 20 May 2004, p7)
Letter from Councillor S McDonald, Thorley:
As a Thorley parish councillor, I must respond to Bernard Engel's
letter informing readers that on April 21, the district council's
Local Plan executive panel "agreed" a recommendation
to make changes in the Draft District Plan allowing two land-owning
schools in the town to develop land in Thorley. ... Your readers
will not know how the said "agreement" came about.
Six or seven council officers were present to hear which of two
options tabled for discussion would be recommended to them, these
options being (a) to retain the Green Belt status of quo and
treat any upcoming schools planning application through normal
"departure procedures", or (b) to make changes to the
Local Plan to withdraw Green Belt status, albeit at a time when
this document is between deposit stages and government guidance
discourages major alterations. In spite of logical arguments
from two district councillors strongly in favour of the option
to retain Green Belt, the chairman, by vitue of exercising his
sole vote, recommended the other option to the officers, stating
that the council responsibility for schools came before Green
Belt. This "agreement" has since been progressed through
the system at great speed. ... Readers should know that the Thorley
Green Belt farmland in question is 125 acres, an area about three
times greater than than claimed as needed for the proposed school
development and the "enabling housing" being contemplated
.....
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- BUILDING CONTROLS MUST BE RESPECTED
(Herts & Essex Observer 13 May 2004, p9)
Letter from John Rhodes, B/S Civic Society:
... The new site proposed for the Herts and Essex School and
the Bishop's Stortford High School is currently zoned as Green
Belt land. The purpose of this designation is to safeguard the
land from development and keep it as open space. ...Keeping the
land as open space plays an essential role in containing the
pressure to expand the boundaries of Bishop's Stortford, which
would otherwise see it becoming Harlow Garden Suburb. A second
reason for objecting to this proposal is transport. ... According
to your report, some 3,000 students and staff will be using the
site. With little suitable public transport, imagine what that
will do for the school run and traffic congestion.
Thirdly, much of the open land between the current built up area
of the town and the bypass is classed as Areas of Special Restraint
- areas which have been set aside for airport related housing
if that should be needed, but which should otherwise be treated
as Green Belt. In fact this land will not be needed for airport
related houseing even if Stansted is developed to its maximum
capacity using one runway. Bit there is continuing commercial
pressure to develop these ASRs for other purposes which the district
council, as planning authority, has so far successfully resisted.
However, if it now agrees that a similar site, already classed
as Green Belt, can be developed for educational purposes, it
will have given up its main justification for objecting to development
of the ASRs. ...
Our town has already been forced to absorb far too much housing
without any provision for infrascructure to support it. It should
hardly be a surprise that this has let to a need to provide more
school places. The county council - the education authority -
in fact owns a vacant site already next to Bishop's Park which
it has been reserving for educational purposes. We ought to expect
it to find an imaginative way of using this first to meet the
demand for school places, before there is any suggestion of relocating
two of our existing schools .....
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- SHOULDN'T THE PUPILS HAVE A
SAY IN DEBATE ABOUT SITING OF SCHOOL?
(Herts & Essex Observer 13 May 2004, p9)
Letter from Clr G McAndrew and Cllr D Peek:
... Considerably less than a half of the land would be necessary
to accomodate the two new schools ... So what fate for the remaining
70 acres - housing at 20 dwellings to the acre as demanded by
central government now? That's 40 houses for each area the size
of a football pitch, on an area large enouch for 35 pitches .....
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- SCHOOL EXPANSION A GREAT NECESSITY
(Herts & Essex Observer 6 Mar 2004, p9)
Letter from Bernard Engel, County Councillor:
... the Bishop’s Stortford High School and the Herts and
Essex High School are both at the limit of their potential for
taking increasing numbers of pupils because of the limited extent
of the sites they currently occupy. The stark choice facing both
boards of governors was either to remain the same size school
as at present ... or move to a new site that would allow for
expansion. ... It quickly became apparent that somewhere within
the ASRs on the northern perimeter or the Thorley site were the
only two areas within the limits of the town that might prove
suitable for re-location of their one or both of the schools
and considerations of timing and the proximity to existing housing
favoured the Thorley option .....
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- BID TO SAVE WILDLIFE SITE FROM
BUILDERS
(Herts & Essex Observer 29 Apr 2004, p5)
A protected patch of land to the north of Bishop’s Stortford,
which lies alongside an earmarked 2,000-home development area,
should keep its special countryside status, councillors are recommending.
That would provide more security than turning it into Green Belt
and potentially putting East Herts District Council and the Government
on a collision course, said the authority’s leader ... The
Special Countryside Area is among the five Areas of Special Restraint
(ASRs) bordered by the A120, Hadham Road and Farnham Road.. ...
At least week’s East Herts Local Plan executive panel meeting
.... Councillor Duncan Peek [said] “... If this was Green
Belt, it would keep it as it should be, as a proper wildlife
site without people building up to it,” .... Bryan Thomsett,
head of environmental planning, said while there might be growing
pressure for more development around Bishop’s Stortford,
no strategic need had yet been identified for this specific countryside
zone, but its position needed to be considered for the revised
Local Plan. He added that East Herts had been offered £130,000
by the Government's Easter office for a detailed evaluation of
the development capacity of the ASRs and the sustainability of
the town in light of any such growth. ....
COMMENT: Despite the Council's reticence, CAUSE will continue
to campaign for the ASRs and the Special Countryside area to
be designated as Green Belt. We feel this is the only way that
these areas can be preserved for future generations.
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- CPRE'S HOUSING DANGER WARNING
(Herts & Essex Observer 22 Apr 2004, p27)
... Council leader Mike Carver told a packed meeting of stalwarts
from the Herts wing of theCampaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)
about how the recently aproved draft regional planning guidance,
which could see 72,000 new homes in the county by 2021, would
affect the lives of residents. ...
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- HAVE YOUR SAY ON CRUCIAL CHANGES
FOR OUR TOWN
(Herts & Essex Observer 18 Mar 2004, p9)
Letter from John Gearing, Chairman of the Bishop’s
Stortford Chamber of Commerce:
... Space is required for new “starter business seedbed
centres”. Out of town shopping outlets, garden centres,
office science parks, children’s play barns and creches,
recreational facilities, hotels and conference centres. These
cannot be provided in the town centre and, therefore, the only
sensible solution is to have a controlled release of Areas of
Special Restraint and Green Belt land for these specific purposes.
With the town expanding residentially, it must be recognised
that to do nothing to expand the economic base by matching the
demands of the shopper will mean that business is going to go
to other towns. ....
COMMENT: Yet again the Chamber of Commerce is considering
only profit.
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- KEY REDEVELOPMENT PLAN GIVEN
GO-AHEAD
(Herts & Essex Observer 11 Mar 2004, p23)
The masterplan for the £100m redevelopment of Bishop’s
Stortford’s railway goods yard has been given the green
light by the district council. .... East Herts District Council
executive formally approved the goods yard site development breif,
which has been out to consultation..... At least 200 homes are
envisaged, of which, 30 per cent will be affordable. The council
said the goods yard would make a significant contribution to
the town's housing stock. ...
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- COUNCILS "REELING"
AT HOUSING DECISION
(Herts & Essex Observer 12 Feb 2004, p19)
The Eastern Regional Assembly has approved plans for 496,000
new homes in a shock move which will mean the equivalent of five
new Bishop’s Stortfords in Herts and population influx the
size of Newcastle for Essex. ... Herts will have to build 72,000
homes, of which it anticipates 25,000 will be forced onto greenfield
land, and Essex must find the space for 131,000. ... Following
a public inquiry next year, the scheme is expected to be approved
by government in 2006.
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- DEMAND FOR NEW HOUSES RISING
(Herts & Essex Observer 29 Jan 2004, p5)
Shock demands for more housing in the M11 corridor greeted
members of the regional planning panel on Friday. The Government
wants an extra 900 homes a year in the next 20 years on top of
the 23,900 a year over the same two decades ... Chairman of the
East of England Regional Assembly planning panel John Reynolds
said at the meeting: “We were shocked that the Government
should at such a late stage require us to increase the regional
housing proposals, particularly as we have no studies or other
evidence to support higher figures. This will pose a signigficant
challenge, particularly because communities in Herts and Essex
that are unhappy with the RPG14 (regional planning guidance document
in its final stage) housing figure of 23,900 will not fear that
yet more housing is to be identified in their areas” ....
Herts has assessed its housing needs at 3,600 a year....
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- HOUSING FORECASTS " NOT
APPROPRIATE"
(Herts & Essex Observer 13 Nov 2003, p5)
Assumptions about housing forecoasts, including for the M11
corridor, were described as “fragile” by Essex County
Council and “fundametally flawed” by Herts as the authorities
considered this week their responses for new regional guidelines.
... At Monday’s Herts cabinet meeting, members approved
their officer's response to a range of possibilities from 66,000
to 86,000 additional dwellings purely to meet EERA’s [Eastern
England Regional Assembly] requirments. Even at the lower level,
significant extra greenfield land would have to be released,
they stated, and some districts did not have the capacity to
meet their own housing needs within their boundaries. The document
sent to the assembly states: “The Herts authorities have
come to the conculsion that the process is fundamentally flawed
and it is not feasible, or appropriate, to made any recommendations
which are robust and which will stand up to scrutiny”. ...
Councillor Derrick Ashley, executive member for environment,
said: “How are we supposed to submit figures for where these
houses could be built, when so many basic questions are unanswered.”
....
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- UNVEILING VISION OF KEY SITE'S
FUTURE
(Herts & Essex Observer 13 Nov 2003, p21)
The key which unlocks the £100m development potential
of a major Bishop’s Stortford site should turn early in
the new year. That is when the aggregates business moves from
the railway goods yard to its new depot at Old Harlow, triggering
the opportunity for landowner Network Rail to begin marketing
the 14 acres to potential partners. In readiness for that moment,
East Herts District Council has published a draft development
plan brief to help guide the construction of housing, leisure,
shops, offices, restaurants, employment opportunities and new
public transport interchange - and the all important new link
rouad from London Road to Station Raod, bypassing Hockerill traffic
lights. Public consultation begins on Monday next week ....
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- HOSPITAL HOUSING SCHEME ACCEPTED
(Herts & Essex Observer 30 Oct 2003, p5)
... On Monday, members of the planning and environment committee
backed the latest Barratt Homes plan to build 149 homes, 81 affordable
dwellings and a creche and conver the former Victorian workhouse.
listed infirmary and Rutherford House into 40 further apartments,
ending a 19 month stand-off with the developer. ....The revised
scheme differs from earlier versions because of a proposed reduction
in dwellings from 273 to 270, improvements to pedestrian and
cycle ways and more sympathetic handling of developments around
the liste workhouse. It will also mean that nearby Rutherford
House is saved from demolition. .... The developer will have
to sign a legal agreement guaranteeing £1,068,000 to improve
amenities in the area, including £197,000 for highways
and sustainable transport, £100,000 to improve the Haymeads
Lane/Dunmow Road junction, a £67,667 contribution towards
primary school provision. £581,150 towards secondary schooling,
£40,950 for library facilities and £81,900 towards
youth and child care facilities....
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- COUNCIL ATTACKS "FLAWED"
REPORT
(Herts & Essex Observer 30 Oct 2003, p13)
... Members launched a scathing attack on the Buchanan report,
a study by independent consultants into the possible urbanisation
of the airport hinterland up to 2021 and 2036, at a special meeting
of the [Stansted Parish] council on Wednesday last week. Chairman
Catherine Dean was unhappy about the brief consultation period,
which comes to an end toworrow, and said “It’s a flawed
consultation. We have been given a month, that’s all, in
which to consult on something that’s very important to this
area.” .... She added that there were discrepancies between
the Buchanan report and South East Regional Airports Study (SERAS)
document into airport growth, published in July last year, in
terms of housing. Councillor Peter Jones described the report
as on of the“poorest” he had ever seen and said: “I
can only believe it was deliberately written and illustrated
in this form and we weren’t supposed to understand. It was
written to confuse.” ....
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- M11 CORRIDOR DEVELOPMENT PLANNS
LACKED CONSULTATION, SAYS COUNCIL
(Herts & Essex Observer 30 Oct 2003, p3)
Bishop’s Stortford Town Council has criticised the speed
and lack of consultation behind proposals for developments at
Stansted along the M11 corridor which, it fears, could “change
the town forever”. Councillor John Wyllie ..... expressed
his horror that the town was predicted to grow by “effectively
the size of another Thorley Park” regardless of airport
expansion. He said: “why are we taking 2,000 extra houses
for no benefit for us whatsoever?" .... Town Clerk John
Ingram warned the proposed developments would have a “serious
impact” on Bishop’s Stortford’s schools, shops
and traffic levels and could result in "urban sprawl.”
....
.
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- WORRIES RIFE OVER LOSS OF COUNTRYSIDE
(Herts & Essex Observer 9 Oct 2003, p22)
The consultation for the Stansted-M11 corridor development
proposals has been slammed as a “sham” by Uttlesford
District Council’s leader. Alan Dean, criticising the huge
potential growth in housing as ill-conceived and illogical, hit
out at the timescale for public responses as ridiculously short.
.... Similar criticisms were voiced on Saturday by Suzanne Walker
of Radwinter, chairman of the Council for the Protection of Rural
Essex at its annual meeting. ... Epping Forest District Council
has issued a general “health warning” over the latest
Buchanan report and other M11 corridor studies. ....
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- HOUSING WILL RUIN OUR QUALITY
OF LIFE
(Herts & Essex Observer 9 Oct 2003, p9)
Letter from Cedric Thomas, vice-chairman, CAUSE:
Sandra Perry's article in the Observer (September 24) was
excellent in the warning it gave of the impact on Bishop’s
Stortford and surrounding area in terms of increased housing.
It was too soon after the publication of the study for her to
identify specific threats to the town itself. Even by studying
the full document, the real scale of the threat to the town will
not be obvious as the figures given for the population in 2001,
2011 and 2021 are quite wrong and well understated to such a
large extent as to indicate that the whole study may be nonsense.
CAUSE has done some research of its own and discovered that the
population figures for 2001 (in tables 5.1 and 5.2) are 3,800
fewer than the 2001 census reveals. The correct figure is 35,325.
At that time, there were 13,906 dwellings in the town - a ratio
of 2.54 persons per dwelling.
The study then gives3,159 as the number of dwellings already
planned for and sites identified in an Urban Capacity Study to
be built by 2011; it proposes that a lower person/dwelling ration
of 2.2 is used to calculate population growth to 2011, producing
a population of 42,275 rather ahan 38,477 in the study.
The study proposes that an extra 2,000 dwellings are provided
by 2021, adding another 4,400 to the population, raising it to
46,675. If the person/dwelling ratio does not drop, population
could top 48,000 in 2021.
And where is it proposed that these 2,000 dwellings be built?
On the Areas of Special Restraint within the A120 bypass, of
course! This is the very land which CAUSE is stirving to have
redesignated as Green Belt.
Commenting of the impacts on the town to 2036, the study states
that the population growth for the town is limited. As most of
the growth appears to be in the period to 2021, we do not consider
a 32 per cent population increase in 20 years is limited growth,
or that it could be sustainable development.
It is also suggested that an expansion of the Herts and Essex
Hospital may be required. It accepts that the existing problems
of urban traffic congestion will be compounded. Additionally,
the study identifies expansion at Stansted Mountfichet and new
settlement at Elsenham as further compounding Bishop’s Stortford’s
traffic congestion.
Quality of life has featured as a consideration in recent planning
documents and statements, but its absence is notable in this
study. The quality of life for the people of our town is certain
to deteriorate if the proposals are finally adopted in the forthcoming
regional planning guidance. ...
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- REGION FACING HOMES THREAT
(Herts & Essex Observer 25 Sep 2003, p1)
A massive 47,700 new houses would be needed in this area
if an additional two runways were built at Stansted, concluded
independent consulatns on Tuesday. Another 7,300 dwellings would
be needed at Stansted Mountfitchet, 5,800 at Dunmow, 2,000 in
Bishop’s Stortford, and new settlements created at Felsted
and between Elsenham and Henham, totalling 14,100. The Hadhams
is another possible area, which could take the number over that
total ....
COMMENT: See further details here.
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- NEW NUMBERS SPARK 'URBAN SPRAWL'
FEAR
(Herts & Essex Observer 25 Sep 2003, p5)
The expansion of the aurport would compound existing pressures
for more houses arising from anticipated local population growth,
say Stop Stansted Expansion campaigners in the wake of Tuesday’s
study .... SSE chairman Norman Mead said Stansted Mountfitchet
would be almost joined with Bishop’s Stortford. ... The
report on pressures for growth andpossible solutions will feed
into the next regional planning guidelines. It covers up to 2021
and 2036 and factors in a number of different runway options......
COUNCIL LEADERS CONDEMN 'FAR-FETCHED' FINDINGS OF INFRASTRUCTURE
PROJECTIONS
The leader of East Herts District Council described as “far-fetched”
any idea that a new town might be built in the Hadhams, west
of Bishop’s Stortford, off the A120. ... Mr Carver, who
sits on the regional authority’s planning panel and is the
member for Much Hadham, added that there was no proof that with
multiple runways, more houses would be needed. He gave as an
example land reserved on the outskirts of Bishop’s Stortford
for years for housing for when Stansted reached 15m passengers
a year. That was not needed when it came to it because the number
of employees was less and therefore, so was the housing requirement.
...
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- CAUSE READY TO FIGHT THE CAUSE
(Herts & Essex Observer 20 Feb 2003, p8)
Letter from Cedric Thomas, Vice-Chairman CAUSE: Your
article headed “Plan to build extra
200 homes each year”, Observer February 6, would
be really frightening if it was factually correct. The current
County Structure Plan required 11,1000 dwellings to be built
in East Hertfordshire between 1991 and 2011 - an average of 555
per year. It is a matter of fact that an average of 666 dwellings
per year were built between 1991 and 1999. The new proposal that
450 a year are built is a reduction of 105 a year from 555, and
far less than the 1991-1999 figure. This, of course, means that
a lesser number will have to be built in Bishop’s Stortford
each year than has been the case the recent past.
CAUSE has campaigned not only to prevent more homes being
built on the periphery of the town, but also to reduce the number
which will have to be built in the future. We can be justly satisfied
that our efforts so far have been rewarded, but we do not contemplate
resting on our laurels - we must continue to be vigilant about
future proposals and be ready to fight again.
CAUSE also considers that your front page article “Urban
Jungle still a Threat” is alarmist. What the document
Sustainable communities in the East of England - Building
for the future actually says is that “London and the
growth areas have the potential to accomodate an additional 200,000
homes above levels currently planned in regional planning guidance”
(the four growth areas are as you wrote, the M11 corridor (London-Stansted
Cambridge), Milton Keynes-South Midlands, Ashford and the Thames
Gateway). It does not say that all 200,000 will be required to
be built.
We will not know the implications for East Hertfordshire district
until Draft Regional Planning Guidance to 2021 is issued for
consultation in the second half of this year. It may well be
that it could be neutral for the distirct, but we will have to
wait and see. However, your readers can rest assured that CAUSE
will be ready to make objections, and campaign loudly, if we
cannot accept what might be proposed.
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- PLANNERS BACK OFF GREEN BELT
SITES
(Herald 20 Feb 2003, p9)
Planners are bowing to pressue to stop allowing housing estates
in the protected Green Belt. After a massive “no” vote
in recent public consultations, Herts county councillors have
changed the proposed structure plan . The decision was announced
on Friday by county council executive memeber for environment
Iris Tarry. ... Of 1,000 replies at the Herts consulations, 85%
backed option C, calling for new housing to be on previously
developed, or “brownfield” sites, while in petitions
2,000 more also backed that option. Now that option is being
built in the draft structure plan, the document which sets out
the planning and development guidelines for the next 10 to 15
years. .... “I believe, and all out technical work has shown,
that we have enough housing land to until at least 2011 and probably
until 2016 without greenfield development” said Cllr Tarry.
... The amended draft structure plan will go on public deposit
at libraries, the council offices, its website and at district
council offices from March 5-April 16, during which time further
comments can be made.
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- URBAN JUNGLE STILL A THREAT
(Herts & Essex Observer 6 Feb 2003, p1)
... Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott unveiled
his vision of how to meet the country’s growing housing
need, partucularly for low cost homes. The M11 corridor - which
stretches from East London via Bishop’s Stortford and Stansed
Airport to Cambridge - is earmarked for a share of 200,000 new
dwellings in the next 30 years. that is on top of any already
in the planning pipeline. But in his statement in the House of
Commons, Mr Prescott was still not specific about which parts
of the morotway corridor would be affected, although he did say
the county councils would have not involvement - regional assemblies
would decide locations. He pledged to maintain or increase Green
Belt land in every region but thousands of homes will still need
to be built on unprotected virgin green fields. ... Mr Prescott’s
announcement is linked to a new bill going through Parliament.
The Planning and Compulsory Pruchase Bill will abolish country
Structre Plans, handing over the strategic role to regional assemblies
.....
COMMENT: See letter from Cedric Thomas,
CAUSE vice-chairman.
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- PLAN TO BUILD EXTRA 200 HOMES
EACH YEAR
(Herts & Essex Observer 6 Feb 2003, p16)
... At last week’s Structure Plan panel, members chose
their favoured option C for the authoriity’s future strategy
of how to approach providing 49,200 dwellings by 2016. That recommendation
not goes before full council later this month. For East Herts
it will mean that 450 new homes a year have to be built in existing
urban areas until 2006, compared to the current annual rate of
252 .... and delays any release of greenfield sites until 2006.
.....
COMMENT: See letter from Cedric Thomas,
CAUSE vice-chairman.
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- GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO PRAISE TOWN
PLANNERS
(Herts & Essex Observer 7 Nov 2002, p8)
Letter from Philip Rowley, Chairman of CAUSE:
... The recent mobile public display for the comprehensive,
intelligent and forward thinking regeneration of the goods yard
site at the railway station showed what can be done in the name
of sustainable planning. Members of the public saw developers
propose a very localised solution to a semi-derelict site which
really would deliver amenity benefits, improved car parking,
station access, traffic flow improvements and retail outlets
for the town as a whole while preserving our green fields on
the outskirts. If the final designs and detail are of genuine
high aesthetic quality, there is every reason to feel confident
the development will produce the new housing numbers required
and add to Stortford’s quality built environment. This possibility
in no small part owing to the district council working with local
people and developers in harmony. Our local representatives in
authority listened to the peoples wishes, resulting on balance
in good news. Well done to all involved. It is criminal that
the airport planners are set up to ignore local views and so
inevitably they will produce a shockingly bad plan.
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- STEALTH BUILDING WARNING
(Herts & Essex Observer 10 Oct 2002, p18)
... Mr Carver [Councillor] ... was critical of the Government’s
“incomprehensible” policy of pushing housing towards
southern England and the threat that posed to the Green Belt.
The council had to analyse the true development potential of
any land for housing, he said, answering political opponents’
criticisms that bounding 460 homes a year on brownfield sites
- 200 more - would lead to town cramming. A suggestion that the
Areas of Special Restraint (ASRs) on the edge of Bishop’s
Stortford should not get Green Belt status as recommended by
East Herts executive, but be kept for future housing, was defeated.
Said Mr Carver: “Now is the time to wake residents to the
true threat. The stealth legislation on strategic planning which
the Government is pushing through is frightening.” East
Herts and a major part of the county could become a concrete
jungle because of the expansion of Stansted Airport, and Harlow
and Stevenage on the district’s borders. The council had
to take a stand otherwise Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth
and Harlow, Hertford and Ware would become one.
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- RESTRAINTS PREVENT BUILDING
(Herts & Essex Observer 19 Sep 2002, p3)
Threatened open countryside on the edge of Bishop’s
Stortford is set to be protected by Green Belt status. It will
make it difficult to build on the acres, know as Areas of Special
Restraint (ASRs), which lie between the A120 bypass, Hadham Road
and Farnham Road. East Herts District Council’s executive
on Tuesday approved the proposal to delete the ASRs as a development
location from the country Structure Plan’s pre-deposit stage
document. Instead, they should be made Green Belt, it argued.
Said planning executive supremo and Bishop’s Stortford councillor
Duncan Peek: “For years they have been exposed. It brings
the ASRs into line with other Green Belt land, it’s sacrosanct,
but not totally.” He added that Herts County Council’s
review of streategic policies showed there were enough brown
field sites until at least 2006. East Herts’ recomendation
will be forwarded to county as part of its consulation on the
Structure Plan.
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- OUR CAUSE IS GOOD FOR TOWN
(Herts & Essex Observer 5 Sep 2002, p8)
Letter from Cedric Thomas, Vice Chairman CAUSE: Does
John Gearing [“Planners will destroy
town”, Observer letters, August 22] think that
CAUSE consists of a small group of NIMBY people? In reality
it is supported by all residents associations, bar one, the Civic
Society, Bishop’s Stortford U3A, Stort Valley Friends of
the Earth and The Hertfordshire Society/CPRE. We are anything
but a bunch of vandals - we care passionately about the health
and amenity of our town. Does he not know that the County Structure
Plan 2001-2016 Consultation Document the County accepts that
there is now no need for the airport related housing on ASRs
1 & 2? Can he not accept that the developer’s plans
for Adderley Road and Riverside increase the provision of public
parking spaces by some 194 spaces? Does he know that I have strongly
objected to the proposed development on former gas works site
with its “Berlin Wall” of five storey flats along the
river?
Mr Gearing wants more commercial development and new job opportunities
for the town. We must ask him from where he expects to find the
employees in an area with only 1% unemployment? In any case the
District Council’s planning brief, prepared some years ago,
for the goods yard site suggested a degree of commercial development.
Whilst we support redevelopment on “brownfield” sites
in the town, and this is government policy, our member organisation,
the Civic Society, monitors planning applications and objects
in the strongest terms any which they consider damaging to the
appearance and vitality of the town.
If there is no hidden personal agenda behind his letter, I believe
that Mr Gearing owes an apology to Duncan Peek, who works extremely
hard not only for Bishop’s Stortford, but also for the District
as a whole.
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- TOWN PLANNING IS NOT WORKING
(Herts & Essex Observer 29 Aug 2002, p8)
Letter from Gary Aldam, CAUSE Committee: John Gearing
is absolutely correct in saying that CAUSE wishes to see
the brown field areas of the town exploited fully. (“Planners will destroy town”, Observer
letters, August 22). Like Mr Gearing we would want that development
to be sympathetic to the town and its history. Mr Gearing paints
a picture of CAUSE as urban vandals wishing to concrete over
the town centre. This is not the case. Two of our most prominent
members are also very highly regarded in the Civic Society an
organisation that has fought for many years to preserve the unique
nature of our town.
Our argument is one of practicality. Mr Gearing need only look
around at the empty shops in town or the run down nature of the
existing spaces to realise that the town centre needs redeveloping.
By bringing people into the town, living and playing, new life
will be injected into a tired centre which is already becoming
a no-go area for people after dark. I would say to Mr Gearing
that the bigger danger is that of out-of-town ghettos, areas
with no life, where basic amenities are forgotten in the drive
to put up more and more homes.
Instead of promoting a blinkered old-fashioned view John Gearing
and his friends should embrace the new, where commerce and urban
living can sit side by side. We need only look at what urban
renewal has achieved in other towns not just in the UK but also
on the continent to see how successful this can be. This is the
message that has come to us from the people we have spoken to
in the town, the thousands of people who signed our petition,
the many hundreds who made their objections to the local plan
and the supporters who have turned out on our Rambles. These
people understand the value of the land that is around us. They
understand what beauty we have surrounding us. They also understand
that Stortford is growing beyond a sustainable size where the
town cannot support the people who wish to live here.
CAUSE does not want high-rise tower blocks any more than Mr Gearing.
What we want are well-thought-out areas of planning that promote
urban living, making full use of the amenities on offer and providing
new ones where needed. By approaching development in this way
we can regenerate and win back our town centre from the yobs
and drunks and at the same time preserve the countryside on our
doorstep for future generations.
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- PLANNERS WILL DESTROY TOWN
(Herts & Essex Observer 212 Aug 2002, p8)
Letter from John Gearing, Chairman, Bishop’s Stortford
Chamber of Commerce:
.. According to their website, the aim of CAUSE is to
prevent any further large-scale housing development having an
adverse impact on the town of Bishop’s Stortford. What CAUSE
is campaigning for is to stop any new development on the edge
of the town, namely green fields beyond Cricketfield Lane, referred
to as ASR1 and ASR2 which are related to airport expansion. Instead,
with the support of Councillor Bernard Engel, they would prefer
to see redundant sites in the middle of town used instead for
high-density flats development. These sites include Glasscocks
and Causeway Business Centres, the former gas works site in Anchor
Street and the railtrack owned railway sidings.
East Herts District Council is not slow to jump on the bandwagon
and has thrown in the Sainsbury’s car park for flats development
as well. Other sites such as the formar Inland Revenue offices
and Matthams Garage site in South Street will fllow shortly.
While a limited number of residential units in the centre of
town is to be welcomed, we are in danger of swamping the town
with one and two bedroom flats in five-storey blocks and not
making any new provision for commercial expansion and new employment
opportunities as well as nuch needed car parking. In short, we
are heading for gridlock unless we make some serious future planning
decisions and that will mean looking to build sensibly and carefully
on the outskirts of the town as well as on the brownfield sites.
The danger is that public attention will be diverted away from
there immediate problems due to the Stansted Airport fiasco and
if we are not careful, we will be presented with a townscape
that we will live to regret. Two planning applications are already
in for consideration by East Herts District Council and, in total,
would provide around 300 flats. The chamber of commerce considers
that this is inappropriate and has forwarded objections accordingly.
COMMENT: See replies from Gary Aldam
and from Cedric Thomas.
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- PLANS SHOULD CHANGE EVERYONE'S
WAY OF THINKING
(Herts & Essex Observer 1 Aug 2002, p9)
Letter from Cedric Thomas, Sandle Road, B/S: It is
surprising how one’s perceptions can change over a couple
of days. When on July 23, your reporter
asked me about my reaction to Precott's statement I told him
that I was not unduly pessimistic about the effect on Bishop’s
Stortford. There was nothing new in it - the London/Stansted/Cambridge
sub-regional study was initiated in Regional Planning Guidance
two years ago. Within the study area were the lower Lea Valley
and Harlow, both of which were defined as “priority areas
for economic regeneration”. We will have to wait until the
end of the year for the draft Regional Planning Guidance for
the Eastern Region to be published before we have an idea of
our future.
Later on the same day I downloaded the SERAS report on the need
(?) for more airport runways in the South East. On reading this
“consulation document”, I cynically, conclude that
decisions have already been made, and that Stansted is to be
developed into a second “hub” airport. .... I am now
pessimistic about the future for our town, for the eventual capacity
of the airport with three additional runways, will be greater
than that at Heathrow with one extra runway. It would have 61,000
people working on site, and the number of people affected by
noise at Leq 54 would rise to 50,000 over an area of 393 sq km.
If we care for our town and its environs, we must fight. The
best way to start is to obtain a copy of the consulation document
The Future of Air Transport in the UK - South East by
writing to DfT free literature, PO Box No 236, Weatherby LS23
7NB, ......
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- GREEN CAMPAIGNERS PREDICT 'END
OF CIVILISATION'
(Herts & Essex Observer 25 July 2002, p5)
... The Essex Green Party has slammed the house building
programme and claims that the plan best serves the interests
of the business community. ... He went on to predict that Essex
would become an urban sprawl scarred by major transport corridors
“with fragments of countryside remaining.” Joe Mishan,
leader of Bishop’s Stortford Friends of the Earth, said
“My guess is that this housing is linked to the airport.
The two things combined - the development of the M11 corridor
and the airport - we will see the end of civilization as we know
it here. ...” Cedric Thomas of the CAUSE group (Campaign
Against Unsustainable Stortford Expansion), is less pessimistic
in assessing the implication of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott’s
announcement. Referring to Mr Prescott’s pledge to safeguard
huge wedges of Green Belt land, Mr Thomas said: “It could
be that his statement will in some ways be advantageous to us.
He has made quite a strong statement against the building on
areas of special restraint (ASRs).” He said that he was
also impressed by the proposal’s commitment to offer a high
proportion of affordable homes as part of the package.
COMMENT: However, see Cedric Thomas's
letter one week later.
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- DOUBTS ON GREEN BELT
(Herts & Essex Observer, 27 June 2002, p17)
The status of the huge piece of land on the outskirts of
Bishop’s Stortford is to be revised as part of the county
council’s strategic planning document. The site, with a
capacity for 2,730 homes, used to be earmarked for airport-related
development. All but 690 have since been switched for general
use.
...... The status of the ASRs [Areas of Special Restraint]
identified in the East Herts Local Plan, such as the five lying
next to each other to the north west of Bishop’s Stortford,
between the A120, Hadham Road and Farnham Road, will now be revised.
Members passed a resolution to wait until a government review
in 2006 before agreeing to release an additional greenfield sites.
They agreed to consult the public on Herts’ Draft Structure
Plan. There are three options: that the county is right to estimate
it can squeeze 47,000 new homes into urban areas, leaving 2,000
for greenfield sites. Second, that the district councils are
right that only 35,600 can be built in towns, so room has to
be found for another 13,400. Third, which the county is backing,
to delay a decision on releasing new sites and keep matters ticking
over by building just 3,280 a year until 2006.
..... Consultation documents will be available from July and
submissions submitted at the end of September. Philip Rowley,
chairman of the Campaign Against Unsustainable Stortford Expansion,
welcomed the re-evaluation. It was sensible to wait until 2006,
he said.
COMMENT: CAUSE supports Herts County Council's preferred option
- to build on no greenfield sites until at least the next review
(2006).
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- RAMBLERS RALLY AGAINST DEVELOPMENT
(Herts & Essex Observer, 9 May 2002, p11)
Monday’s countryside ramble organised by Bishop’s
Stortford’s development campaign group, was declared a success
with more than 70 people taking part. CAUSE (Campaign Against
Unsustainable Stortford Expansion) last held a similar event
two years ago and the three-mile walk took in the 300 acres of
greenfiled to the north west of town, earmarked for housing and
known as Areas of Special Restraint. It started at Grange Paddocks
car park in Rye Street and the principal arguments of CAUSE were
explained and why the ASRs did not need houses built on them.
Other interesting local historical facts about the town were
also outlined as people traversed the route. CAUSE chairman Philip
Rowley said the morning was for people to enjoy their walk and
see the reality of what its campaign was all about. “This
land is so accessible, so beautiful and not required for houses
any more.” He added that CAUSE was now in its fourth year
and had begun to see tangible results from its campaign. The
Government had issued planning guidance urging that brownfield
sites were built on before green ones, the county planning structure
was under review and East Herts District Council was beginning
to wholeheartedly support developing Stortford’s central
brownfield potential. And the airport now realised it could grow
without needing thousands of houses built on its doorstep because
there were job seekers in Harlow and the Lea Valley with 20-minute
direct rail access.
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- AIRPORT GROWTH PROJECT PANNED
(Herts & Essex Observer, 2 May 2002, p2)
... The airport’s controversial plans to expand the
terminal from 15 to 25 million passengers - and probably up to
40 million in the coming years - were blasted by a three-strong
panel of speakers on Thursday night. .... At the rostrum, Uttlesford
district councillor Alan Dean - who does not sit on the crucial
development committee - said his gut feeling was councillors
would give BAA the thumbs up to expansion .... From the floor,
Cedric Thomas, member of CAUSE (Campaign Against Unsustainable
Stortford Expansion), said: “The real problem is how tough
will Uttlesford council be in enforcing agreements with the airport.
councils are usually very weak in theis field.” ...
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