12 May 2008
East of England Plan Published
30 April 2008
Ropemakers bail out from Harlow North
15 February 2008
Two years on and still no water cycle study
6 January
2007
Thanks for your support; 2008 will
be an interesting year
15 November 2007
Council rejects development plan for north of Harlow
1
November 2007
Further Harlow North public consultation- please respond
5
October 2007
Have
your say on Harlow's development
2
October 2007
STOP
Harlow North update October 2007
18 June 2007
SHN
campaign continues with a rally on June 24th
27 May 2007
Come
and join the STOP Harlow North rally on Sunday June 24th
10 March 2007
5,000
local residents object to Harlow North development
26th February 2007
GO-East disappoint at public meeting
27th December 2007
Responding to Ruth Kelly's damaging Proposals
4th November 2006
November
update from STOP Harlow North
15th October 2006
Land to
the north of Harlow- Actively Managed Countryside
10th September 2006
STOP
PRESS: Respond to Ropemaker's glossy
8th September 2006
September
2006 SHN update
13 July 2006
Meet in
the Middle (again)
30 June 2006
Independent
Inspector's Report
8 May 2006
STOP Harlow
North continues the fight
23 February 2006
STOP Harlow
North delivers “unsustainable“ message to the Examination in Public
30th December 2005
Thanks for
your support and Happy New Year from STOP Harlow North
November 23rd 2005
STOP Harlow
North appears at Examination in Public
August 10th 2005
STOP Harlow North asks you to send the
Government a message about Green Belt
30th May 2005
July 3rd STOP Harlow North- step forward
13th April 2005
Thanks from STOP Harlow North
7th Feb 2005
STOP HARLOW NORTH -WRITE NOW Newsletter
30th Jan 2005
STOP HARLOW NORTH
Consultation update
January 15th 2005.
STOP HARLOW NORTH NEWLETTER
11th
December 2004
Public
consultation on East of England Plan goes on despite EERA vote
12 May 2008
East of England Plan Published
We
are deeply disappointed by the publication of the East of England Plan.
The
proposals for Harlow North have been included despite massive public opposition
and without addressing the many serious planning flaws we have highlighted.
We
have always argued that the plans for at least 10,000 houses north of Harlow
were fundamentally flawed, unnecessary, unsustainable and undemocratic.The
independent Inspector agreed with our planning arguments and rejected these
proposals at the Examination in Public after studying all the evidence. The
Government has overturned this decision without providing a good reason.
It
may be necessary for the courts to rule on whether the Government's actions are
lawful. We will be consulting with others on the next steps.
At
the launch Barbara Follett, MP, Minister for the East of England, likened the
Plan to one of Baldrick's "cunning plans". We would like to remind
the Minister that, as anyone familar with Blackadder will know, Baldrick's
plans were usually unsound and led to utter chaos.
Our
campaign goes on. There are still many ways of defeating this plan.
If
you can make a contribution to our fighting fund please send cheques payable to
'STOP Harlow North', c/o Yewtree House, High Street, Hunsdon SG12 8NT
Regards
Nigel Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North
30 April 2008
Ropemakers bail out from Harlow North
Land Securities and Places for
People today announced the formation of a 50:50 joint venture which will
acquire in excess of 2,400 acres of land to the north of Harlow. The majority
of the 2,400 acres will be purchased from Ropemaker Properties for an
undisclosed sum and is subject to the site's inclusion in the final East of
England Plan which has yet to be published.
This changes nothing for our
campaign. We have fought Ropemaker Properties Limited for 15 years and have now
finally defeated them. They have withdrawn from the battle battered and
scarred. They have offloaded a millstone round their necks. The endless rounds
of proposals and studies must have been a significant drain on their resources
over many years. Land Securities and Places for People may have bitten off more
than they can chew.
We will be fighting every step of
the way. We will continue to make our arguments against the unsustainable
proposals for development north of Harlow; the lack of infrastructure (water,
sewage, rail, roads, schools and hospitals) and lack of jobs.
Our communities have been under
threat since Maplecroft was first proposed in 1993. We have successfully fought
every plan to build on these green fields. We expect the land north of Harlow
to be green fields for the next 15 years and beyond.
Regards
Nigel Clark,
Secretary STOP Harlow North
24 February 2008
New flight path proposals reduce noise from Stansted – unless you live at
Harlow North
In February 2008, the National
Air Traffic Service (NATS) issued proposals for a widespread rearrangement of
flight paths into and out of
'I don't think they could
have designed a route more directly over the proposed location of Harlow North'
said
'To deliberately place at
least 10,000 new homes in such a location , where they will be subject day and
night to the noise, inconvenience, pollution and potential danger from a
rapidly increasing number of low flying aircraft, is not only unsound planning
practice but would be irresponsible
Issued by
Secretary STOP Harlow North
Feb 2008
Notes to editors:
1. A previous study has
indicated the problem of over flying:
A Study of the relationship
between Transport and Development in the London-Stansted-Cambridge-Peterborough
Growth Area. Colin Buchanan and Partners & GVA Grimley, August 2004
commissioned by ODPM
'10.10.4 There is no minimal impact land around
2. In its
response to the Harlow Options Study the Government Office concluded in
relation to land to the north of Harlow that:
'Any development of additional runway capacity and/or operational
measures to reduce flying over
GO-East response (dated
3. In their submission to the Examination in Public
Herts County Council stated:
'Noise
levels will cause disturbance and the implications of a second runway are not
known.' and
'Development northwards would be under the landing flightpath of
15
February 2008
Two years on and still no water cycle study
Two years ago STOP Harlow
North went to the Examination in Public confident in their arguments that
proposals for Harlow North were flawed. We had great public support in the
gallery.
As we left a developer
turned to us and said 'You've won'. He was right. The independent Panel threw
out development north of Harlow.
In Dec 2006 the Government
undermined the whole planning process, the first public consultation and
Examination in Public by rejecting the Panel's recommendation. Undaunted we
have generated over 5,500 responses to the public consultation on the proposed
changes (March 2007) and over 6,500 responses to the last public consultation
on the further proposed changes (Dec 2007).
However, more significantly
the Environment Agency stated two years ago at the EiP:
'The rivers in this
sub-region are characterised by low flows and already receive significant
discharges of treated effluent from existing development. There is effectively no additional capacity
available from existing sewage treatment works'. They also stated 'New
development would need to be accompanied from the beginning by the necessary
new infrastructure. We are not
confident that this could be achieved in all locations proposed by the Plan and
by other participants.'
The independent Panel asked
the Government and relevant agencies to prepare a note urgently on possible
ways forward on the water and sewerage issues around Harlow. Two years later
the necessary water cycle study has not yet started and funding is even not in
place.
Building north of Harlow is
unnecessary, unsustainable and undemocratic.
Nigel Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North
6 January 2007
Thanks for your support; 2008 will be an interesting year
As we start a new year for
the campaign I would like to thank you all for your support in 2007.
We started last year with a
consultation on the draft East of England Plan and finished it with another.
Thank you to all of you who sent in your responses twice!
We held another successful
Meet-in the Middle rally in the summer and stepped up our media activity. We
were featured in articles in the Times and Daily Telegraph and had appearances
on national news programmes. Local news coverage was a good as ever. We even
started our own Facebook group. Our summer letter writing campaign to
Government Ministers took our case directly to
2008 promises to be an
interesting year.
The Government will try to
publish the East of England Plan. However the flaws in both process and content;
especially on environmental issues including water supply and sewage treatment
may lead to a judicial review. We will continue to need your support.
In the meantime Lorie
Woodland, a BA Hons in Interior and Architectural Design, is writing a
dissertation on the role architecture plays in shaping communities. She has
chosen to focus on Harlow New Town and the proposal for Harlow North. She is
interested in people's opinions of the effect that Harlow North will have on
existing communities in Harlow and East Herts. She has constructed a
questionnaire which is on our website. If you have views please participate.
All the best for 2008
Regards
Secretary STOP Harlow North
15 November 2007
Council rejects development plan for north of Harlow
Dear All,
Thank you for your support during
the public consultation on the East of England Plan. The consultation closes at
5pm on Tuesday so there are just a few days left if you have not reponded. Please
visit our website to do so.
On Friday we delivered the first
batch of over 6,500 separate responses to GO-East in Cambridge. They have
already received hundreds of postcards from our supporters. We also presented
our formal response with a consultant's technical report which concludes that
"the Plan is unsound and not capable of being delivered."
We have worked closely with East
Herts Council throughout the planning process and welcome their response to the
Plan (copied below). With the residents, parish, town, district and county
councils in Hertfordshire united against this development the Government would
be foolish to ignore such a weight of opinion and concrete over our
countryside.
Over the three public consultations
on the Plan since 2004 an ever increasing number of responses opposing Harlow
north have been submitted to the Government ; 3,500 in the first, 5,550 in the
second and now well in excess of 7,000.
The independent Inspector rejected
buliding north of Harlow in the summer of 2006. We now hope the Government will
also do so in the spring of 2008.
Regards
Nigel Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North
December 14, 2007 EAST Herts Council
has reiterated its total opposition to government plans to develop land north
of Harlow.
The development proposal is
included in the East of England Plan which allows for at least 32,000 new homes
in East Hertfordshire including up to 20,000 north of Harlow and 12,000 in the
rest of East Herts. The final version is due to be published early next year
and will run until 2021.
The council has called on the
government to remove the proposals for land north of Harlow from the Plan and
reconsider them, following more detailed studies, in the next Plan that will
run to 2031.
This is in part because the
council believes the government has failed to carry out an infrastructure study
into how the Rye Meads water treatment plant would cope with the massively
increased demand.
The council has also said it
believes the Plan will have adverse effects on sites of European and
international importance for nature conservation, in particular the Lea Valley
Special Protected Area. The response to Government has been made as part of a
further eight week consultation, which ended on December 18, about protected
habitats.
The council's comments come
after the government published its further proposed changes to the Plan in
October.
Mike Carver, East Herts
Council's Executive member for planning policy and transport, said: "We
have tried to be helpful in our response to Government. We've focused our
objections on the north of Harlow, rather than other parts of the Plan. We
still maintain our opposition to the development north of Harlow, and we don't
see how that area can even be considered for development without a relevant
infrastructure study."
ENDS
Note to editors: The council's comments, which come in the form of
recommendations, are due to become council policy on Friday, December 14. They
are then subject to a five day period during which they can be called in for
re-examination, on the request of at least four councillors, by a scrutiny
committee.
The full report can be found
at http://www.eastherts.gov.uk/ by following
the links from Council and democracy to Executive non key decisions.
1 November 2007
Further Harlow North public consultation- please respond
The Government has published further Proposed Changes to the East of
England Plan for public consultation
The Government continues to ignore its own Inspectors' well-founded
recommendations to reject building north of Harlow!
You now have a further opportunity to tell them they have got it wrong.
How can you comment?
responses to be received no
later than
Thanks again for your
support
Regards
Secretary STOP Harlow North
P.S. You can now join our
Facebook group. Just search for STOP Harlow North. It would be great to see you
on-line
Why do I
need to respond again?
The East of England Plan is
the document that sets out the strategy to guide planning and development in
the East of England to the year 2021. It will affect your quality of life for
decades.
The independent Panel
appointed by the Government rejected building north of
The Government is now consulting on further changes in an attempt to
comply with environmental legislation which it omitted to do earlier. We
believe the work has been inadequate and incomplete and will result in serious
environmental harm.
The Government continues to ignore its own Inspectors’ well-founded
recommendations!
What do I need to do?
You need to tell the Government AGAIN that you:
Will it make a difference?
The first public consultation resulted in over 3,500 responses on this issue
alone and ensured the Inspector listened to our case at the Examination in
Public.
The second consultation resulted in over 5,000 responses on Harlow North
and forced Government to try and paper over the cracks in its plans. We need to build on this success.
Now we need Hazel Blears, Secretary of State, to hear our message again
Make sure your voice is heard before
5 October 2007
Have your say on Harlow's development
Harlow Council is
consulting over the new version of their Local Plan, now know as the Local
Development Framework (LDF). The LDF will guide the future development of
Harlow and YOUR VIEWS are very important.
An outline of the questions
is below but you need to complete the forms on line or download them and use
the FREEPOST facility to return them.
The forms are here:
http://www.harlow.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=9428
There is a general survey
and one about transport. Please complete both.
You could explain that you
want a 'better not bigger Harlow' and that the Green Belt should be protected.
You could raise the issues of water supply, sewage treatment, lack of
infrastructure, congested roads or overcrowded trains
Please speak up.
If you have any difficulty
downloading the forms please let me know and I can send them to you.
Regards
Nigel Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North
Outline
of questions (Please respond via link above not by reply)
LDF General
Questionnaire
1. What are the best things
about Harlow and what aspects do you feel need improvement / change?
2. Harlow will be growing,
what housing issues do we need to address?
3. Where should new homes
be built?
4. What types of jobs in
Harlow will benefit local people?
5. How can we make the most
of our Green spaces?
6. How can we improve
Harlows transport network?
7. What do you want Harlow
to be like in 10 years time?
8. What can be done to
improve the quality of life in Harlow?
Transport
Questionnaire
The survey
starts with some demographic questions and then asks:
7. If we could only afford
one major transportation improvement affecting Harlow what would you like it to
be and why?
8. What improvements would
make your journeys around Harlow easier?
9. If we build more
footpaths/cycleways in Harlow would you use them? Yes/No
If you answered Yes above what improvements would you like to see? If you answered No above, would any other particular improvement encourage you to walk/cycle more?
10. If the bus services
were improved would you use them? Yes/No
If you answered Yes above what improvements would encourage you to use buses more? If you answered No above, what would encourage you to use the buses?
11. If the train services
were improved would you use them? Yes/No
If you answered Yes above what improvements would encourage you to use trains more? If you answered No above, what would encourage you to use the trains?
12. There are proposals for
more houses and jobs in the Harlow area. What transport proposals should
accompany these developments?
13. Do you have any other
general comments on transportation issues affecting Harlow?
2
October 2007
STOP
Harlow North update October 2007
Dear All,
It has been
some time since we last updated you on the STOP Harlow North campaign but as we
enter our 4th year it is time to take stock.
Earlier this
year over 5,500 people objected to the proposals for Harlow North during the
public consultation on the East of England Plan. In June the Government
announced a delay to the publication of the Plan as it needs to do more work to
ensure compliance with the EU Habitats Directive. The earliest publication date was to be this autumn. Autumn is
here but the Plan is not. Why?
Our experts
indicate that compliance with the Directive is likely to be problematic and
requires considerable work. We have
also learnt that the water cycle study ? a study of where the water for all
these houses will come from and how the sewage will be treated ? has not yet
started. The government is arguing about who should pay!
Debate is
also raging about solving
There seems
to be a theme emerging. The Government can't afford its own plans.
It may be
that the Plan will not be published until the Comprehensive Spending Review is
complete- ie when all the Government departments have agreed how our taxes will
be divided up. Or until after an election!
Whenever it
is published it is not likely to go unchallenged.
Over the
summer you have responded magnificently to our request to write to Government
Ministers. Over 500 letters were sent in. The generic response is on the front page
of our website ? the various ministers declined to respond individually. Still
this kept the issue of Harlow North alive in their in-trays.
The frontline
parishes have also been busy. Both Eastwick and Gilston and Hunsdon are
building their parish plans and Sawbridgeworth Town Council has launched a town
plan initiative. These plans ? which are built from grass roots feedback ? are
a way for the communities to make their own input into the planning process and
to promote our vision for
Locally there
has been much speculation about an organisation, Places for People (Making
Places), agreeing to buy land north of
So the work
goes on and we continue to need your support. We don?t have formal membership
fees but ask for a £10 donation each year to help fund our ongoing work. We now
need money to prepare our technical and legal challenges to the Plan.
Please send
cheques payable to 'STOP Harlow North' to Treasurer SHN, c/o Yewtree House,
High Street, Hunsdon,
Thank you for
your support.
Best wishes
Nigel Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North
18 June 2007
SHN
campaign continues with a rally on June 24th
Dear All,
I would like
to thank all the STOP Harlow North supporters for responding to the public
consultation on the draft East of England Plan earlier this year. Last week GO-East announced a further delay
in publishing the Plan as some basic environmental work had not been done;
something we pointed out some time ago.
Our campaign
continues with a rally on June 24th in the centre of Eastwick at 1pm. We are
encouraging people to enjoy the countryside and to walk from their villages on
the public footpaths to “Meet in the Middle” for a family BBQ and picnic for
the third year running. All are welcome; please join us there even if you can’t
make the walk. We will be launching a mass letter signing initiative to keep up
the pressure on the Government.
Mark Prisk,
MP and others will address the rally in the early afternoon.
I hope to see
you next Sunday
Nigel Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North
27 May 2007
Come and join the STOP Harlow North rally on Sunday June 24th
Please
join our rally to protest against Ropemaker’s damaging proposals for 25,000
houses north of Harlow. This development could engulf our villages, destroy our
quality of life and threaten the regeneration of Harlow. Come and enjoy the
beautiful countryside that is still under threat from developers.
Although
the independent Panel report on the draft East of England Plan recommended that
Harlow North be rejected Ruth Kelly, MP reinstated the proposals last December.
Thousand of our supporters responded to the public consultation this spring and
we still await news of the final outcome. We need you to demonstrate your
continuing opposition to these proposals
We
would like you and your friends and family to join us in walking from your
village to "Meet in the Middle" at Eastwick at around 1pm on June
24th. Please use the public footpaths and enjoy the fresh air.
We
will be holding a BBQ and picnic at the end of the walks in the centre of
Eastwick village opposite the Lion pub. Feel free to bring your own food or buy
from our BBQ.
Even
if you can’t join a walk please join us in Eastwick at 1pm on June 24th
A
number of speakers will address the rally in Eastwick in the early afternoon.
If
you can help on the day with the BBQ, stewarding or leading a walk please let
us know.
You
may also want to attend a debate organised by the faith community at St Paul's
Church, Harlow Town Centre on Friday 8th June 2007 at 7.30 pm. The meeting will
be an opportunity for all who are interested in the proposed development in
Harlow North to come together for an 'extended conversation' about the
potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats presented by the proposal
We
are currently in discussion with a documentary film maker to televise both
these events. Please come along; you may become a film star!
Regards
Nigel
Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North
If
you want more details of walks from each village for "Meet in the
Middle" please contact your local rep on:
Eastwick
& Gilston
eastwick&gilston@stopharlownorth.com
High
Wych
highwych@stopharlownorth.com
Hunsdon
hunsdon@stopharlownorth.com
Much
Hadham muchhadham@stopharlownorth.com
Sawbridgeworth
sawbridgeworth@stopharlownorth.com
Widford
widford@stopharlownorth.com
10 March 2007
5,000 local residents object to Harlow North development
Stop
Harlow North have estimated that over 5,000 individual objections had been
submitted to GO-EAST as part of the consultation on the East of England
Development Plan by the deadline of 5pm March 9th
Speaking
on behalf of Stop Harlow North, Nigel Clark today commented:
We
are greatly encouraged by the outpouring of support for the campaign to halt
this unsustainable and ill thought through development.
Thousands
of local residents expressed their concern over:
The
way the independent inspector's recommendations were rejected;
The
lack of infrastructure for road, rail, water and sewage treatment;
The
destruction of vast areas of green belt land;
And
the damage the proposal will have on the long term regeneration of Harlow.
We
don't see the Government paying the £1 billion infrastructure bill to deliver
this scheme, and these costs will undoubtedly be passed on to local taxpayers
and local industry.
This
development is neither sustainable nor deliverable, and will not address local
housing need. The government needs to go back to the drawing board.
Efforts
will now step up to promote Gilston Great Park as an alternative to these
massive housing plans which would bring concrete, congestion and chaos to
Harlow and East Herts.
Thanks
go to everyone of our supporters who made their own individual contribution to
the campaign.
Yours
Nigel
Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North on behalf of the whole team
2 March 2007
Last chance to speak up for a "better not bigger Harlow" and to
protect your green spaces
All,
We have had a marvellous response to
our campaign; over 2,200 people have responded on line and we believe over
1,500 postcards and other coupons have been returned to GO-East. The opposition
to building 10,000 or more homes north of Harlow is growing day by day and we
will win this battle.
There are just 7 days left before
the public consultation closes on March 9th and I have a special request.
Could I ask each and every one of
you to get at least one more person to submit a representation via our website?
http://www.stopharlownorth.com/response_2.htm
What about your kids, granny,
nephew, cousin, neighbour, work colleague, old school friend, the list you use
to send those amusing things you find on the internet?
We have had responses from China to
Cornwall. Every one is welcome. If we all get one more person we could double
our impact.
Have you done everything you can to
stop this unnecessary and unsustainable scheme?
If you still have questions please
read the press releases on our website or get in touch. You can read what other
people think below.
Best wishes and thanks for all your
support
Nigel Clark
Secretary STOP Harlow North
http://www.stopharlownorth.com/