Ropemakers bail out from Harlow North

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Representation on the Further Proposed Changes to the draft East of England Plan

Thank you for submitting comments on the Further Proposed Changes to the Draft East of England Plan.  The deadline for submissions has now passed.
We will ask the Government Office for the East of England for a copy of their analysis of the responses, but know that around 1800 individual responses were received via this website (generating over 7000 objections to specific sections of the Plan) with many more submissions on postcards or by letter.  We will also press GO-East for the expected timescale for the comments to be incorporated into the Plan and a revision to be released.  As soon as we have further information then we will advise members accordingly.
Click here to see STOP Harlow North's response

The East of England Plan is due to be published soon.

Please write to the new Housing Minister, Caroline Flint, MP, to make sure she knows your views on Harlow North.

The suggested text for a letter is here

We have written five standard letters which you can print off, or download and edit then send to the four relevant ministers. You need to add you name and address and date the letters.  The first letter is to Gordon Brown and focuses on the cost to the taxpayer of this scheme - Ropemakers have not committed to fund any infrastructure.  The second is to Hilary Benn, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary (DEFRA). This letter focuses on the serious environmental impact of the scheme.  The third is to Hazel Blears, who replaced Ruth Kelly, as Communities and Local Government Secretary, and describes the serious flaws in preparation of the Plan and its consequent irrationality and, probably, illegality.  The fourth is to Barbara Follett, the minister with responsibility for the East of England, and highlights the immediate local concerns over the Plan as it currently stands.  The fifth is to the newly-appointed Housing Minister, Caroline Flint

You may not have received an individual response to letters you have written to the new Ministers (see left), but they have been noted.  We received the following communication from GO-East:

As a general rule, we do not to respond individually to large volumes of campaign correspondence (ie duplicate or template letters) as it is simply impractical to do so. It is accepted practice to respond to a campaign leader/head with a response to the issues raised in such campaign letters and ask the campaign leader/head to filter this response down to their campaign members whilst also outlining the impracticality (time/expense etc) of answering every letter individually. In addition, we keep a record of the volumes received and make sure this information is passed to relevant officials.

Bearing in mind the above, I have attached a response to the letters from your colleagues and I would be grateful if you could disseminate it to the other members of your campaign.

Mike Harris
Development & Infrastructure
GO East
Tel: 01223 372740
GTN: 3841 2740
Fax: 01223 372862

The Secretary of State is required by law to note the outcome of the public consultation, and we await her decision - due mid-year - with more than passing interest.  In the meantime STOP Harlow North will not be idle; in particular we are taking advice on the legality of some aspects of the way the East of England Plan has been developed so far.

So... thanks again and WATCH THIS SPACE for further developments

Proposed Changes to the draft East of England Plan

Ruth Kelly has completely ignored the recommendations from the independent Inspector, public opinion and the experts by proposing to re-instate Harlow North

On 19 December, Ruth Kelly's Department for Communities and Local Government (now there's an irony!) issued their proposed changes to the draft East of England Plan.  These were meant to reflect the recommendations from the independent Inspector of the Plan, whose proposals had taken account of the weight of public opinion expressed during the first round of public consultation and of the weight of expert technical evidence presented during the four-month long Examination in Public. The DCLG's proposed changes are now subject to a second, and final, round of public consultation until 9 March 2007.

STOP PRESS

The report which Ruth Kelly chose to ignore is released.  Rye Meads sewage works will constrain growth

The long-awaited study of sewage treatment capacity called for by the independent Inspector at the Examination in Public (EiP) has been published.

The results are damning

The study looked at the reduced level of growth around Harlow recommended by the Panel - without Harlow North. It concluded that, even then, Rye Meads cannot cope without massive investment; investment that is not guaranteed by the Government or OFWAT.