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 |Message from Nick Baker | Rally in London - End of Consultation Period| E.C.C. Slams Eco Town in Elsenham |New Judicial Review Launched | Jonathon's great Power-point Presentation |CLG Web site | Bits and Pieces| Eco-Con |East of England Plan | E-Petitions| Eco-Town in Elsenham |Limehouse | The NIMBY |
(Note - many of the items that have previously appeared on this page have been transferred either to the Archive page or the History page.)

Tonight 10.30pm 23rd July - BBC 2 Newsnight - Nick Baker has been interviewed regarding ECO- towns
 
Read what the Campaign to Protect Rural Essex have to say -

"COUNTRYSIDE campaigners have a launched a stinging attack on proposals to build an ‘eco-town’ at Elsenham. Campaign to Protect Rural Essex has strongly condemned the way the plan has been presented and said it will be forced on the local community and not part of a local development framework or regional spatial strategy."

Click here to read on

‘Eco-town’ dash is unacceptable' says the East of England Regional Assembly - Click here

Stop Stansted Expansion against 'Airport Town'

 Click here to view their representation to the Department of Communities and Local Government Consultation.

Click here to see the 'On Line' Herts and Essex Observer account of the weeks events -
Go to Page 5 and click the left mouse button to zoom in

 

Message from Nick Baker - Chairman of Joint Parishes
Monday
14th July 2008

Hi All,

A quiet week this week, still recovering from the consultation period. The only news of some substance was published in the magazine Building under the banner 'Eco-towns under threat as more bidders withdraw. The article says

' The Fairfield Partnership admitted that it was reviewing how to proceed with it's plans. the partnership has the support of Uttlesford council for a smaller, 3,000 home development on the site. A source close to the scheme said, "Fairfield is trying to decide if it would be better to submit the scheme under the normal system - they'd rather have 2,000 - 3,000 homes with authority backing." Stephen Biart, strategic land director for Fairfield, admitted the proposal was under "constant review" and abandoning it was an option, but he denied it was owing to "dissatisfaction" with the government. He said it would cost £1.5m "or maybe more" to work up the eco-town planning application'

So what does this mean. We have seen a number of developers get cold feet about bidding for the Eco-towns. We are already down to 11 from the original 15, and a further one is considering it's options.

This makes it even more important that we continue to press UDC to complete it's consultation and reject Option 4, making way for a distributed building programme throughout Uttlesford, including affordable houses, enabling people to live in their villages/towns of birth. We know that Sir Alan, Cllr Barker and Cllr Ketteridge had a meeting with Caroline Flint on 30th June. We still have not been told either the agenda or the outcome of this meeting, despite asking for details on two occasions. All we ask is that everybody representing this community, are open and honest with the community and inform us of any changes in the situation.

Nick Baker

Chair JPCSG

 
 
Monday 30th June 2008 - The end of the Consultation period and Rally in London
 
On behalf of the Joint Parishes Steering Group I would like to thank everyone for your magnificent response to the Department of Communities and Local Government Consultation. As you are well aware, Chris Bush from Elsenham and I from Henham have been collating copies of all the letters you have been sending to the Consultation Team, The Rt. Hon, Caroline Flint. M.P. Minister for Housing and Planning, and the Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Haselhurst M.P. our member of Parliament.  The quality of your representations has been of the highest standard and those receiving them cannot fail to have been impressed.

With the approval of the J.P.S.G. Chris and I made additional copies of your letters.  Whilst we recognise that we have not received copies from every one, on the morning of the last day of the consultation we had well over a thousand plus a hundred or more from outside our villages.  Every one condemned the plan to build the eco-town.  Additionally, we felt that because this plan had been devised on the back of the notorious 'Preferred Option Four' we decided that the D.C.L.G. should have copies of the letters you sent in to the Uttlesford Consultation earlier this year as well.  These we had bound into 32 spiral backed volumes.  In total between the two consultations well over two thousand letters.

Led by Nick Baker and armed with the letters, the petition you have all been signing, plenty of banners and in good voice, fifty of us from Elsenham and Henham set off for London at 9.00am on Monday 30th  in a coach supplied by Uttlesford District Council to attend a national rally of campaigners against the now 14 short-listed eco-town sites.

Photo opportunity outside the shops in Elsenham
About to set off
 
Outside Parliament
on arrival
We reassembled outside the Houses of Parliament and then, consistent with the average age of the group, like a bomb-blast headed off in various directions in search of loos and cups of tea.
   
Other groups began to arrive on College Green and we were joined by our M.P. Sir Alan Sir Alan with our protesters and others
Sir Alan et al
   
Various representing M.Ps
Could this be a 'sitting' of MPs
MPs representing other affected areas arrived and it began to get noisier and noisier with each group trying to outdo each other.
   
The press were out in full force and many interviews were given.  Unfortunately the TV coverage later in the day was to say the least disappointing.

Click here to see the BBC's response

Press out in force
say something Terry
   

promises promises
Grant Shapps M.P. the Shadow Housing Minister arrived and addressed the meeting.
   
At just before 1.00pm we all went into Parliament through quite heavy security to attend a meeting chaired by Grant Shapps.  It is a long time since I had been inside the seat of our Government and I like everyone could not but feel impressed.

Here Chris and I are holding two of the ten ring binders holding your letters.

Bill and Chris
thank goodness no more copying
   

very impressive room
We all assembled in a very imposing Committee Room 14.  Originally they were only going to allow in about 120 but many more squeezed in.  Grant Shapps stated that the Conservatives would not support the Eco-town proposals and called them 'Eco-Spin' and Eco-Con' .  'They were anything but Eco-Friendly'.
   
All of the six MPs spoke (except Sir Alan who was engaged elsewhere on House business) and members of the audience were encouraged to ask questions and make statements.  Two of our District Councillors, Howard Rolfe and David Morson contributed. At the end of the meeting all your letters were collected by representatives of the Department of Communities and Local Government and the petition was taken to Downing Street and handed in by Alan Hatherway.  Whilst we were making our way home, Don Sturgeon and Petrina Lees attended a meeting with Caroline Flint together with other representatives of the campaigning groups. Don and Petrina had met Ms. Flint last week in Uttlesford.  She recognised them and invited them to sit at the front.

Of the meeting, Don said,

'It was very clear that the rest of the group were up for a fight and the meeting did get a bit aggressive and negative. The questioning was very subjective and repetitive, causing the Minister at one stage to slap her hand on the table in front of her! Due to the low quality of the meeting, Petrina decided against asking a question and I kept the question I had to a general issue relating to the role of David Lock with the Government and with the developers. I acknowledged that we'd had a constructive meeting with the Minister last Thursday with our main concern being that UDC continued to treat LDF Option 4(strongly in favour) and the Eco-Town (strongly against) as separate issues when everyone involved in the process is fully aware they are inextricably linked.'

   
Where to we go from here?

Firstly, may we thank all who wrote letters, came to London, donated money (we have had a great response from the latest membership scheme) prepared posters and banners and a special thanks to Gary Willis at Millways for providing the binders, paper and printing facilities for the letter copying, Ken Forbes for spiral binding our option4 letters and Jonathon Leech and Margaret Shaw for contributing pictures.

Secondly, we have a Joint Parishes meeting on Wednesday and we will take stock.  Nick Baker will be sending out a message via this site in the very near future, outlining the next stages of the process and how we are going to tackle it.  In the meantime well done everybody.  We are getting there.  - BB

   

Caroline Flint MP the Housing Minister visits Uttlesford and Look East Visits Elsenham - Thurs 26th June

In anticipation of a eco-site visit to Elsenham by the Housing Minister Caroline Flint a BBC Look East camera team came to interview her. However, she was delayed at another nearby visit and Look East so they had to put up with interviewing the locals.  A very sympathetic piece appeared on the lunchtime programme and longer pieces in the evening and late news. Unfortunately, in editing the interviews they chose one interview which could have been easily mistaken for an audition for 'Grumpy Old Men.'  Fortunately, at the time of writing the repeat on the Look East Web page is not working.

Petrina being interviewed
   
At lunchtime, Ms. Flint went to the District Council Offices at Uttlesford and and received a presentation from Fairfield and then attended a private meeting with our MP, Sir Allan Haselhurst, the Deputy Director of the D.C.L.G. Councillors David Morson and Catherine Dean, Don Sturgeon and Petrina Lees.  John Mitchell and Roger Harborough were observers.  Don has described the meeting as very constructive and came away with the impression that an Eco-town in Elsenham was by no means a 'Done Deal'.  Don continued,

"Our dispersement proposals for housing in line with Sir Alan Haselhurst's Parish Council's meeting, and in particular the affordable housing, was clearly a welcome part of our initiatives and very well received by the Minister. We have been given access to the Deputy Director of the DCLG with whom we intend meeting in London within the next two weeks.

The Minister did confirm that she has concerns about the economic situation and developers financial commitment. She also made it clear that although the airport is there, this proposal for an eco-town at Elsenham and Henham should not be considered as an airport town."

David Morson who was present at the earlier meeting summarised as follows, "

At today’s first Meeting with Caroline Flint the following 4 outcomes were apparent.

John Mitchell made it clear that Uttlesford was working well within its capacity to deal with its housing issues and politely implied we have no need of an Eco Town.

The Fairfield Partnership failed badly to convince anyone about the suitability of the road infrastructure and how they proposed to provide 50% the town’s employment at the site in their presentation.

Caroline Flint warned Fairfield that she would need to see evidence of their active engagement with the Community over their proposals by September.

The worry is that there could be some reduced Eco type Settlement with the 3,000 houses allocated in Option 4 of the LDF, instead of the Eco Town of 5,000. The Minister was impressed by how briskly Uttlesford had got on with the LDF in comparison with other Local Authorities!!

Essex County Council Slams Eco-town in Elsenham

Click here to view a damning report

Judicial Review Launched

'The campaign group against the proposed Middle Quinton eco-town outside Stratford-upon-Avon has formally lodged its application for Judicial Review of the eco-town process.

The Better Accessible and Responsible Development (BARD) campaign is seeking a declaration that the government's eco-towns programme is unlawful and should be halted until proper and full consultation has taken place.

It is the first application of its kind by any of the campaigners against 15 short-listed sites'

 It is based on the consultation, etc. Interesting!. Timetable as before, 2/3 months to see if it has merit. Full hearing 8/9 months. I think it's value lies in the fact that the Gov. knows it has been taken to JR.

Nick

Just Received - The early comments of the Eco--Challenge Committee
Click here to view - Elsenham is on page 19
 
Listen again to Westminster Hour broadcast at 10.00pm on Sunday 22nd June -
Includes an item on the proposed eco-town at Ford in Sussex and Caroline Flint, Housing Minister is interviewed on the subject of Eco-towns
 
Click here to see powerpoint presentation Click on the picture to see a splendid presentation by Jonathon Leech, a Henham Resident

Uttlesford District Council Environment Committee
7.15pm Tuesday 17th June 2008

See and hear the speeches through Herts and Essex Video - Click Here

Minutes now available - click here

A good representation from Henham and Elsenham attended a meeting of the Environment Committee at the U.D.C Council Chambers, Saffron Walden where two items on the  agenda were of considerable interest to our villages. Prior to the meeting, two speakers, Tasmin Lees, a schoolgirl from Elsenham and Jason Barlow, a journalist from Henham addressed the committee members.

Tasmin speech, (click here to view) concentrated on two main points. Firstly, the Overview of Representations Received, (introduced in item 7 of the agenda see below) failed to produce 'real figures' and seemed to imply that only residents of Henham and Elsenham had objected to option 4.  Secondly, she was critical of U.D.C. in that whilst they had stated their opposition to Eco-towns they had left it until two weeks before the consultation closed before circulating a leaflet asking people to respond but giving no guidance as to "why the proposal is nonsense." She finished by pleading to U.D.C. to support their objection to an eco-town by removing option 4.

Jason was far more direct and critical about the U.D.C. and likened the situation they had created as worthy of a 'Tom Sharpe' novel.  He concluded by saying,
'Surely a District Council which is genuinely committed to stopping an eco-town being built on its own territory would declare Option 4 as unworkable and withdraw it.' (click here to read a draft of his speech).

The meeting then commenced and it was some time before Item 6 was reached, viz.

To decide U.D.C's 'Response to D.C.L.G's Eco-town Consultation'.  To this end, Roger Harborough,  Head of Planning, had produced a Briefing Paper  to which he spoke at length.

A prolonged discussion ensued about what should be included in the response.  Pleas to remove option 4, (including an excellent representation from Councillor David Morson), were rejected on the grounds that the full process of evaluating the LDF had not been completed.  The main fear was that the Council felt that they might be liable to legal challenge should they do so at this stage. However, apart from this, for the first time there were signs that the represented political parties were beginning to work together. The original wording of the response had been centred about U.D.C.'s opposition to eco-towns per se rather than concentrating on the Elsenham proposal, it being a Planning Department opinion that this was an early stage in the proceedings and that a more 'site specific' responses could be introduced later. Councillor Catherine Dean proposed a number of amendments however, which included stressing that considerable local opposition had already been received to building on the site, that it was a green-field site and not a brown-field one and that there were serious doubts about the public and private transport infrastructure.  There was a unanimous vote on the item, the full wording of which we may see in due course.
 

Item  7 was on the 'Core Strategy Preferred Options Consultation', and was to provided councillors with an overview of representations received.
(Please see a 35 page Overview of Representations Received).  Roger Harborough defended its content and lack of detail.  He stated that a fuller report would be available for the Autumn meeting.

Thanks to all those who attended.  A senior Councillor said that a good public turnout had made a lot of difference to the quality of the debate and its outcome. We left the meeting at 10.10pm. - BB

The NIMBY

The following is taken from the Daily Telegraph book, ' People Power' where a passage from The New Statesman 2004 is quoted:

"The NIMBY is not the enemy of progress but its begetter. In a land, and increasingly a world where democracy is bought and where global triumphs over local every time, the NIMBYs, - those prepared to defend what they know and love against the depredations of the disengaged - are the true heroes.  It is they, not the house-builders and their tame ministers, who represent the best of what democracy is about"

Brief Bits

bullet Click here to view an interesting Sunday Times Article (15th June) about Eco-towns
bullet

Communities and Local Government Web site have have published a page on , . concerning - Eco-towns: Short-list of potential locations (by region and scheme names) Make sure you click on Elsenham to see - 'Elsenham A New Market Town' (click here)

bullet

Caroline Flint's Speech 4th June to the new Local Government Network.
Contains a fair bit about her views on Local Development Frameworks and Eco-towns (15 pages)
- Click here

bullet Communities and Local Government Web Site on 3rd June - How each of the original nominations for Eco-towns scored - Click Here
bullet  Latest Limehouse figures below - Check your entries

Fund Raising Event

Sunday 1st June -a very successful Rally Rounders Tournament at Woodend Green Henham, raising a magnificent £610. Click here to see details and more pictures.

Out of sight Pauline

Bits and Pieces

The Sunday Telegraph of 24th May, click here to read Ben Fogle's article on Eco-Towns

You and Yours on Radio 4 on Thursday 22nd May
The Chief Executive of the Environment Trust was interviewed about and concluded that the whole pressure by developers and Government towards Eco-developments was "complete madness" there were so many cities and urban areas in UK that could make good use of the investment that would otherwise go to Eco Town developments. He also made the point that as regards social housing the Government would be picking up the service charges which would put a huge future charge on the State very much similar to PFI.
Click here to read a transcript of what was said.

Info from Chris Bush

ECO-CON

I unreservedly believe that that attaching the prefix 'Eco' to government planning initiatives is a complete and utter confidence trick.  We all understand the need to address global warming, properly conserving energy and the the discipline of re-cycling waste. However, in the midst of the proposal to build a so called eco-town in Elsenham/Henham, we find that we have in Henham perhaps one of the most advanced eco-friendly houses in the country.  This house was built at approximately 30 - 40% above the cost of what an average similar sized house.  How is it possible that our government could believe their own spin and that of developers that an eco-town, and in particular the proportion of low cost affordable housing, is in any way financially viable?  This is just an excuse to appropriate nearly a square mile of prime arable land for building houses close to Stansted Airport; land which has contributed to feeding this country for well over a thousand years and is more than ever needed now.  It is nothing less than vandalism of our countryside on a huge scale. How can it in any way can the proposal be contributing to making our planet a better place?

On Tuesday 13th May. Simon Lee, the owner of the aforementioned house, addressed the full council meeting of Uttlesford District Council on the subject. Please click here to see what he said. - BB

East of England Plan

The Revision to the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England has just been published.  There is no apparent specific reference to Elsenham or Henham, but under Section 3 - Spacial Strategy at para.  3.5 et seq. the document does talk about Growth Areas, Growth Points and Eco-Towns and mentions the Department for Communities and Local Government consultation document ‘Eco-towns – Living a greener future’. mentioned below

Click on picture for Document
(131 pages)

E-Petition

Please visit the on-line petition to 10 Downing Street, viz:-

'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Abandon plans to build an Eco Town in Elsenham & Henham.'

which you can find by going to:-

 Abandon plans to build an Eco Town in Elsenham & Henham

Please forward this to all your friends and family so they can sign up as well

Eco Town in Elsenham and Henham

On Thursday 3rd April we were devastated to hear that the land to the north-east of Elsenham (most of which is in the Parish of Henham) had been put on a short list of 15 locations to be developed into Eco Towns (click here to view). The scale of the proposed development is far beyond what was envisaged by Option 4.  Later on this year the list will be reduced to a final list of ten. 

The announcement was made by Caroline Flint, the Minister for Housing and Planning.  The Department of Communities and Local Government have published a document called 'Eco- Towns, Living a Greener Future' which may be viewed by clicking on the picture.

The Joint Parish Council Steering Group met on Thursday 10th April when the matter was high on the agenda.  We will be holding public meetings on Wednesday 16th April (see above for times, etc.) Clearly, we are now fighting on two fronts.  The application for the Eco-Town is based on the U.D.C's preferred Option 4.  However at a press call on Friday 4th April at Elsenham station car park (which overlooks the blighted landscape), Uttlesford Conservative Councillors turned out in force together with our MP, Sir Alan Haselhurst, to state their total opposition to an Eco-Town in Uttlesford.  How can they U.D.C. Councillors still be in favour of their preferred Option 4 whilst being against an Eco-Town in the same place? 

A little while ago, Fairfield Partnership supplied a 44 page document called 'Elsenham - A Strategic Master Plan Vision (dated January 2008) to Parish Councils. I have received permission from them to reproduce it on this site with a reminder that all diagrams maps etc are subject to copy write and must not be reproduced without permission.  This is the basis of their submission to the Government.  Click on the picture to view it.

It is our opinion and that held by others, that the only way Uttlesford District Council can dig themselves out of this mess is by admitting now that Option 4 was a mistake. 

Limehouse

It seems that  our letters are now on the system

However, we need you to check your entries to see whether they have been recorded correctly.  Please click here to go to Limehouse. When you get there, click on the 'Search' button on the menu and enter your surname in the Search field. 

If you are not happy with how your views have been represented, please let the Planning Policy Team at Uttlesford know at planning@uttlesford.gov.uk  and if you so wish, copy your complaint to us at saveourvillage@live.co.uk.

As at 2nd June the following figures had been recorded against each option
(thanks to Diane Bush for compiling the totals)

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4
Objections 78 228 376 1208
Support 263 70 12 134
Support with Conditions 12 32 13 32
Observations 32 13 5 8
Other 0 1 0 2
Total of Responses 385 344 406 1384

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 Bill Bates