Government inspector to review plan for 14,000 new homes in north Essex
Plans for more than 14,000 new homes across north Essex towns are set to be submitted to the Government for approval. Uttlesford Council is set to submit its local plan to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate in the coming weeks. The proposals, which will cover development across the borough over the next 20 years, include 3,738 additional homes on strategic sites and 900 through non-strategic allocations compared to previous plans for 14,741 homes from 2021 to 2041.
The major plans include 715 homes in Great Dunmow, 1,506 homes in Takeley, 325 homes in Stansted Mountfitchet, 110 properties in Elsenham and 879 homes in Saffron Walden. The plans for Saffron Walden also include a new primary school, expansion to secondary facilities and nurseries, a new link road between Thaxted Road and Radwinter Road, green open spaces, new healthcare and leisure facilities, and improved bus services.
It came after the latest round of the council’s public consultation closed, and 506 responses were received, with more than 2,000 individual comments. The council will discuss submitting the major proposals at a meeting on November 19. If agreed upon, they would be submitted in December. Then, they would be examined in mid-2025 and adopted by the council in mid-2026.
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Two proposed Uttlesford Local Plans were submitted to the Secretary of State in 2014 and 2019, but neither progressed to adoption. In both cases, the inspectors considered the plans unsuitable for adoption, even with modifications. John Evans, portfolio holder for planning, said: "We are on track to submit the local plan to the Secretary of State before the end of December, along with supporting documents, which will also include all the 500 or so responses received in the most recent public consultation. This is the next stage in the process leading towards examination of the Local Plan by the Planning Inspectorate. The onward timetable will then be a matter for the Inspector to set.
"It is crucial that we get a new local plan in place so that we, as the district council, can once again take back development control locally and prevent the speculative development which has come about because of the absence of an up-to-date local plan. This latest plan looks to respect the important landscape and heritage qualities and features of the district whilst providing for the housing and employment locations, open spaces and other infrastructure required over the next two decades, but seeking to do so with carbon reduction and climate considerations taken into account."