Hertfordshire is already the most densely populated county in the East of England. After historically high building rates over the last 20 years, it now has a population density of 633 people per square kilometre compared to 464 people per square kilometre for Essex, slightly ahead of Bedfordshire at 454; all three well ahead of the remaining three counties in the East of England.

Herts County Council has accepted the need for and identified areas for 72,000 additional houses without encroaching onto the Gilston estate. This already represents an additional 44 dwellings per square kilometre, equal to Bedfordshire and compared to an allocation of only 36 dwellings per square kilometre for Essex, 26 for Cambridgeshire and less than 20 for Norfolk and Suffolk.

At the beginning of 2003 the BP Pension Fund was - like many others - underfunded.  However BP made huge profits in 2003 due to increasing oil prices and 'topped up' the fund by £2.5 billion to make good the shortfall.

BP is almost unique among major multinationals in continuing to offer a Defined Benefits Pension (ie guaranteed, final salary-related income) to its employees.  Good for them; not so good for everyone that has to pay the price.

They are not a house building company. They are the property nominees of the BP Pension Fund. Their interest is in seeing the value of their land greatly increased if a housing allocation was granted .

Ropemaker Properties Limited are unlikely to build anything themselves, throwing into serious doubt any guarantees they appear to be making about the design of Harlow North including the proportion of affordable and/or rented housing.

"The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment is an educational charity established by The Prince of Wales to teach and demonstrate in practice those principles of traditional urban design and architecture which put people and the communities of which they are part at the centre of the design process." (Website of The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment)

They were contracted by Ropemaker Properties Limited to run the Enquiry by Design in Feb 2004.

“The Prince of Wales has certainly considered the matter” (Sir Michael Peat, Private Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales 18^th May 2004.)

The East of England Regional Assembly will vote on a draft Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) on Nov 5^th 2004

After public consultation this winter there will be an Enquiry in Public next autumn

An Inspector, appointed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), will review the proposals and comments and submit a report to the ODPM.

The ODPM will make the final decision on whether to accept the Inspector's report on the RSS.

Your local councils may get to decide which way the houses will face.

A body comprising

It is therefore unelected, unrepresentative of and unaccountable to the people it purports to serve.

None that have been made public.

Yes, it can be seen here