Despite the huge reduction shown in the latest statistics from the Office of National Statistics about the number of new households required to be built in and around the town, Harlow Council have chosen to ignore these figures and have decided to continue with the joint Plans of Harlow, Epping and East Herts to expand the town and allow the building of thousands of homes during the next decade on huge swathes of Green Belt land on Harlow’s borders.
The Government appointed Planning Inspector of the proposed Plans of Harlow and Epping Councils recently wrote to each Council pointing out that the most recent statistics showed that less than half of the proposed new homes need to be built and asked them to explain why they thought that the green belt should be built on.
Harlow Council has responded to the Planning Inspector saying that they wish to forge ahead with their Plan, which as part of The Harlow and Gilston Town Plan will see much of the land surrounding Harlow being built on.
The Harlow Alliance Party are the only Party which have formally objected to these Plans in the past and is therefore the only Party which is being consulted about the new statistical information and the council’s response. It is clear that very few of these new homes will be available to those most in housing need who will never be able to afford a new home or will be homes which older residents would be prepared to downsize to, releasing their homes for larger families.
We believe that every home that Harlow Council build in the next 10 years should make best use of the resources available and build bungalows and other accommodation suitable for older residents, freeing up larger council homes which would then be occupied by families on Harlow Council’s Housing Register. It is now clear that these Plans are all about housing greed (on the part of house builders and property investors) not about housing need