UPDATE: please follow this link to see the submission made by your Parish Council. You have until Friday to make your submissions, which do make a difference. Remember you do not need to reply to every question. If you only have a single point to make against a single question then please do so.

Original message:

Following on from our earlier news item about the Uttlesford Local Plan, and the possibility of 10,000 houses being build on agricultural land adjoining the Parish, we have been asked to provide some additional guidance to help people respond to the consultation.

Documents:

The web page with all information can be found here.

The detailed consultation document is here.

The word document to insert your responses can be downloaded here.

How will Felsted Parish Council respond?

We are finalising our detailed response to the consultation. This will be finalised for approval at the full council meeting on 2nd December. Key to our response will be the following points:

In response to question 10, we believe that the principle of Uttlesford building one or more new settlements of up to 10,000 houses in providing for the future development needs of the District is wrong.

Following on from this, and in response to question 16, we shall be objecting to the single new settlement, as outlined in ‘Scenario A’, and supporting ‘Scenario D’, where smaller developments are sited around the District to support local housing needs.

Central to our submission is our response to Q11, detailing why we believe that building a garden village in Area 9, adjoining Felsted Parish to the north, would be wrong.

We will highlight that  Area 9:

• Potentially joins on to a site identified as a part of the Braintree Local Plan ‘call for sites’. If both are adopted then Felsted would be in the shadow of a major development and joined to Rayne by a new Garden Village.
• Will irreparably damage the cultural and unique heritage of Felsted, destroying what makes it an attractive place to live
• Will result in increased traffic and congestion in Felsted Parish and village
• Has poor access to rail networks via Braintree and Chelmsford
• Has limited access to the A120 due to a restricted access junction
• Has grade 2 agricultural land that should be protected
• Will require more infrastructure, specifically GPs, of whom there is both a national and local shortage
• Will not deliver the necessary employment opportunities. Despite statements that employment will result, it is likely that most residents would commute to existing centres of employment. This could result in Felsted centre being used as a commuter route into Chelmsford.

What can you do?

Your Parish Council has a voice in the consultation, and so do you.  It is vital that we all add our individual responses to make sure we are heard. If we, as residents, don’t spend 30 minutes to add our personal responses, then we cannot guarantee that we will be heard.

If you agree with the Parish Council, please do not simply copy the above points, as multiple ‘copy and paste’ responses risk being viewed as a single submission.

Remember, whilst the word document asks many questions about different aspects of the Local Planning process, you do not need to answer every question. If you have a single point to make on a single question then you can submit just that point, simply leave the other boxes empty.

Please download the word document above, add your comments and send to this email address: planningpolicy@uttlesford.gov.uk.

It is your Parish, have your say.

Uttlesford District Council is required to produce a Local Plan, which identifies areas for future housing development.

This process should not be confused with the Felsted Neighbourhood Plan, which is defining a vision for all aspects of Parish life, and which will provide vital input into the Uttlesford Local Plan on behalf of the Parish.

The Issues and Options Consultation for the Uttlesford Local Plan has now started, link here. In the document, ‘Area of Search 9’ has the potential for a significant impact on our Parish.

Braintree District Council is also producing a Local Plan. They have released more detailed information about the area encompassing ‘Area 9’. Zoom in on the map here, as illustrated below, and you will see that the development extends across the Felsted Parish boundary, as part of a major proposal being submitted in Braintree for 10,000 houses.

Should this area be adopted by the Uttlesford and Braintree Plans,  it will result in a New Town development of 10,000 houses, attached at its boundary to Gransmore Green, with a clear impact on the independence and character of the Parish.

Felsted Parish Council has joined forces with neighbouring Parishes, to ensure that we adopt a coordinated approach to preventing this development.

It is also important that individuals have their say to ensure that all voices are heard alongside the input provided by your Parish Council.

There will be an opportunity to put questions about the Local Plan process and consultation to district councillors and council officers at three public meetings. The most local to Felsted is at 7pm, Thursday 12 November, at Helena Romanes School.

The consultation closes at 4:30pm on Friday 4 December. You don’t have to answer all questions, so please don’t leave it for everyone else to say what you are thinking.