Category: News

Within days of the Residents Association at Waterhouse Moor hearing about their successful application to Harlow Council in respect of land at St Andrews Meadow, residents at Wellesley have heard that their application in respect of land adjacent to their estate has also been accepted by Harlow Council.

A CRB would give residents the opportunity of purchasing this land (priced in it’s present condition), in the event that Harlow Council decided to sell it to the house builders who are looking to build hundreds of homes just over the Harlow border in the Epping Forest District Council area. The land in question forms a green ‘buffer’ between the Harlow and Epping area, one which residents wish to see continue to exist in the future.

With the help of The Harlow Alliance Party, The Residents Association at Waterhouse Moor have succesfully applied to Harlow Council for a CRB in respect of land adjacent to St Andrews Meadow.

Much of this land was earmarked by Harlow’s Labour controlled Council as a site on which homes were to be built in the next few years. Little or no notice was given to residents about this plan until they were presented to residents at a public meeting to discuss the Elm Hatch development nearby.

Despite the fact that the site was removed from the Local Plan by the Government appointed Inspector on 18 December 2019, residents felt the need to ensure that if the Council ever decided to sell the land for housing to be built on it, they would like to be given the chance to purchase the land for themselves and thus retain it as a public open space.

This is yet another really good example of what a group of residents can achieve when they come together to form a Residents Association.

Assisted by the Harlow Alliance Party residents in Church Leys have successfully registered a Community Right to Bid (CRB) for an open grassed area within their estate.

This means if the Council ever decided to sell this land for development they MUST give the community the chance to buy or lease the land, which makes it unlikely that it would ever be built on.

The latest CRB made on behalf of residents has seen the Council accept the application made in respect of the field at Radburn Close, an area which the Labour Party’s Local Plan would have seen turned into a housing estate.

Readers will be aware that on 18 December 2019 this area was taken out of the Local Plan by the Government appointed inspector. Despite this, it was felt that a CRB application should still be made, in case the Council ever decided to sell this land to a speculative developer.

This is the latest of 10 sites which HAP have helped residents give open green areas around the town some protection from being built on on the future.

The Harlow Alliance Party is reaching out to Harlow residents to get their views on issues around the town. Help us get your opinions heard.

Our first survey only takes about 5 minutes to complete and can be found HERE

The long awaited document outlining the proposed improvements to the transport infrastructure within Harlow has just been published and can be found HERE

The consultation period runs for 6 weeks, concluding at 5 pm om 13 March.

HAP are of the view that :

• This is not really consultation but information.
• It has been taken as read that all these developments around Harlow will take place, before any final decisions have been made.
• It is likely that much of the work needed will be done after many thousands of homes have already been constructed, causing massive congestion on Harlow’s roads … just look at the delays at The Gates’ roundabout.
• The document is dated 2019, so could have been consulted on a year ago.
• Promises about a better and more extensive bus service really fall on deaf ears when you bear in mind the service residents in the town have had to put up with for years.
• Very little has been done to consult with residents.

Please do complete the consultation at the end of the information provided by the Garden Town developers.

Despite the best efforts of the Harlow Alliance Party, the government appointed Inspector has decided that this area should remain on the Labour Party’s Local Plan as a site on which new homes will be built.

However

Back in November, with the support of 21 residents, Party Leader Nicholas Taylor made a Community Right to Bid to Harlow Council in respect of the garage site and green area behind the shops at Pollard Hatch. The Council had a deadline of eight weeks in which to respond and almost at the end of this period they have written back to say this application has been agreed and will be put on the Council’s register of such requests.

So what does this mean? Well if the Council ever decided to sell this land they MUST give the community the chance to buy or lease the land, which in effect means that it could never be built on. This is the sixth site to have been put on the Council’s register.

The Harlow Alliance Party believe the Council will never have the resources to build hundreds of council homes in the space of two or three years unless they sell off some of the sites identified in their Local Plan, hence the action the Party is taking now.

With the help of the Harlow Alliance Party, another three applications will be made in the coming weeks on behalf of residents living at Radburn Close, St Andrews Meadow and Barn Mead.

Christmas has come early, and it will be a Happy New Year, for all those living in or near:

FENNELLS
JOCELYNS/BROADWAY AVENUE
DEER PARK
RADBURN CLOSE
MAPLES/MILWARDS
ST ANDREWS MEADOW
BARN MEAD/FIVE ACRES

The announcement by the Government appointed Inspector on 19 December that Harlow District Council (HDC) will need to make changes to it’s Local Plan has been welcomed by The Harlow Alliance Party (HAP) as well as hundreds of residents living in homes that have effectively been blighted by the proposals to build on fields near them. An early Christmas present and one that will last for many years.

Readers will recall that the Labour Party’s Harlow Local Plan put forward 21 sites on which it proposed to allow homes to be built in the next 10 years or so. HAP held five public meetings early in 2019 to see what residents thought of these plans and as a result they were the only Party to raise objection, noting that little if any consultation with residents had taken place by HDC.

Many of these sites are green field sites and HAP made it’s objections about eight of these sites known to the Inspector. By objecting, HAP were able to participate at the five day examination of the Plan (the Conservative Party did not make any formal objection thus could not participate in the Examination).

Of the eight sites, the Inspector has said that six sites should be removed from the Local Plan, with a seventh, adjacent to The Maples being deleted as well. The inspector suggested amongst others things that the Fennells site be included as a small area in the Green Belt, the land at Deer Park and St Andrews Meadow be retained as green wedge and that the case for new homes at Barn Mead had not been clearly established.

Despite not winning any seats at last May’s Local Elections, what HAP have been able to achieve in getting these sites removed just shows what can be done when a political Party engages with residents.

GET THINGS DONE ….. VOTE HAP AT NEXT MAY’S ELECTIONS

The Community Right to Bid made by a HAP member in respect of the land south of Hawthorns has been agreed by Harlow District Council and will now be placed on their register of such applications.

The outcome of this is that if the Council decide to sell this land at any time in the future, to be developed for housing, then they will have to give the community six months in which they can put together a residents group who would like to buy the land. If successful, this would then mean it would never be built on.

This application shows what the community can do when residents come together, free from political interference from political parties wedded to Westminster.

This application is the fourth successful application made by local residents assisted by HAP, with others to come in the new year.

The Community Right to Bid made by a HAP member in respect of the play area between Jocelyns and Broadway Avenue has been agreed by Harlow District Council and will now be placed on their register of such applications.

The outcome of this is that if the Council decide to sell this land at any time in the future, to be developed for housing, then they will have to give the community six months in which they can put together a residents group who would like to buy the land. If successful, this would then mean it would never be built on.

This application shows what the community can do when residents come together, free from political interference from political parties wedded to Westminster.

This application is the third successful application made by members of HAP, others will be following in the coming weeks.