This again was very well attended by residents of Henham and Elsenham especially to hear Item 4 on the agenda, instigated by four councillors including David Morsen,  viz.

Again well attended by Elsenham and Henham residents,

Agenda - Minutes

Appointment of officers etc.

Terms of Reference agreed

Called to discuss the commencement of the Consultation Period.

Petrina Lees and her 12 year old daughter Tasmin addressed the council prior to the meeting (and were subsequently interviewed next day) on Radio Essex.

In recent weeks The Herts and Essex Observer had been trying to discover how many councillors had actually visited the proposed sites for the developments outlined in their options, particularly their preferred Option Four.  Their enquiries revealed that many, particularly the Conservatives who had introduced the option, had not done so.  As a result a coach trip was organised to tour the Henham, Elsenham and Stansted areas which would be affected.  Of the 44 councillors individually invited, only 25 bothered to reply and 4 accepted.  These four were all Liberal Democrats.  In spite of this the trip went ahead with plenty of room for television crews from the BBC and ITV on the coach. 

The guide for the occasion was Comedian Ed Byrne accompanied by Top Gear editor Jason Barlow, both Henham Residents. The route took in not only a circular tour of the affected villages and countryside but also of the totally unsuitable road infrastructure connecting the proposed development to the M11 and included the difficulties of Grove Hill and Chapel Hill in Stansted.  The event concluded at The Cock in Henham where the bus was met by actor John Savident also a Henham resident.

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. 

Item 4 on the Agenda was:-

To receive a petition stating as follows:-

"We the undersigned residents hereby petition Uttlesford District Council’s Scrutiny Committee to undertake a review of the procedures and processes relating to the Local Development Framework (LDF) and the Local Development Scheme on information and evidence, consultation, and public involvement, and make recommendations so that future work on the LDF by the Council is carried out in a more thorough and effective manner."

Both meetings were very well attended.  They were both chaired by Nick Baker, the chairman of the Joint Parishes Steering Group.  Although the agendas were the same at both, owing to overlapping engagements the speakers in some instances differed. At the Henham meeting, Cllr. Morson spoke about the Government proposal for Eco-towns and stated that we were currently in yet another consultation period which would end on 30th June.  This would be followed by a 'Sustainability Appraisal' from July to October and a decision on the final 10 proposals somewhere between November and February.  As yet it is still unclear whether Uttlesford would still have to build 4,200 houses in addition to the 5000 proposed in the Eco-town.  He stated that of the 5000, 1800 would be 'affordable' homes and that 60% on people living in the town would supposedly be employed locally.  David's speech contained many point included in his latest newsletter which can be seen by clicking here.  Cllr. Alan Dean spoke at the Elsenham meeting whilst covering many of the points made by David, he stated the Lib Dems were going to move an amendment at the full U.D.C. Council Meeting on 22nd April (see above) to Susan Barker's motion which related to the dropping of option 4.  Ray Gooding, our Essex County Councillor stated that E.C.C.  were totally opposed to Eco-towns as well as a second runway at Stansted.  He believed that whilst BAA were denying it, the two proposals were inextricably linked, particularly in relation to the alleged additional 13,000 jobs the new runway would support.  He questioned the Government logic of supporting a highly polluting airport expansion whilst next door also supporting a  supposed zero carbon building project.  Don Sturgeon (Henham) and Petrina Lees (Elsenham) spoke about the work of the J.P.S.G. and that we were still fighting on two fronts, option 4 and the Eco-town proposal.  In relation to the Eco-town and how we can best fight our corner the  were working hard to seek the best planning and legal advice and on our own research to see how we can best fight this new campaign.  Until we know more both Don and Petrina asked that residents initially do nothing.  This was much the same advice given in the early days of fighting option 4.  At the earliest possible moment we would call another meeting to advise residents on how best they can help. At both meetings Don urged residents to donate as much money as they could to the fighting fund.  He stressed that to get the best planning and legal advice for the Eco-town campaign we would have to find a lot more money.  At both meetings Nick took questions from the floor.  Many good suggestions were made and he promised that they would be followed up

Full Uttlesford District Council  Minutes

There was a good turnout of Elsenham and Henham residents who filled the public seating in the main chamber, the gallery and an over-spill into the annex.  The reason was to hear items 13 and 14 on the Agenda.

However, prior to the meeting starting, John Savident, a resident of Henham gave an impassioned speech surrounding the paradox that the Conservatives were tabling a motion that the council was totally against the concept of an Eco-town in Elsenham and Henham yet still supported Option 4 in the same location.  He urged that the council consider that as a result of the consultation there was ample evidence to now abandon Option 4 and work with their electorate to prevent the Eco-town development.  He stated that if they did so, the allegations of hypocrisy and duplicity would 'magically disappear'. He received a rousing ovation from attending residents which apparently is not 'good form' for a council meeting.  A copy of John's speech can be viewed by clicking here. Also read what the Herts and Essex Observer has to say by clicking here and going to page 9. (click once on the page to zoom in)

here then followed a number of questions and observations from Councillors and in particular from Councillor Morson who wished to know when Uttlesford were first aware of a bid by Fairfield to build an Eco-town in Elsenham/Henham, especially in the light of a document called Land North-East of Elsenham - Eco-town and Expression of Interest, dated October 2007.  It had apparently been lodged with the council in October/November 2007.  He particularly asked Councillor Barker when she had first become aware of it and she replied that she was not aware of it until 'this evening'.

Councillor Alan Dean asked about the selection of Option 4 being the subject of Judicial Revue and Councillor Ketteridge, the leader of the Conservative majority, responded that an application had been made to a judge and that at this time there was no Judicial Revue.

Following the formal opening of the meeting Councillor Catherine Dean, the Chairman of the meeting moved quickly to Item 13 on the agenda. which was in the hands of Mr. John Mitchell, the Acting Ch. Exec. and Chief Planning Officer, viz. -

'To receive the attached report on the Department for Communities and Local Government consultation document ‘Eco-towns – Living a greener future’.

Mr Mitchell talked to a circulated document.  This can be viewed by clicking here. Whilst I cannot attempt to summarise Mr. Mitchell's presentation, on the first page of the his document was a reference to the alleged fact in the Eco-towns - Living a greener future report,  Uttlesford had 3,954 on the waiting list, whereas Mr. Mitchell stated it was in fact about 1200.  (Interesting to note that later in the following debate Councillor R. Chamberlain gave a further informed breakdown of of the 1200 figure which indicated that Uttlesford's real housing need was considerably less than this).

Item 14 on the agenda then followed.  It was:-