Tory Housing Plans Delayed By A Year

7.33.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 17th Mar 2008

The Conservatives' incompetent and arrogant conduct of the planning process is turning Uttlesford into a developers' paradise.

On Tuesday 11th March, Uttlesford District Council's planning officers told the Council that its housing Core Strategy would not be presented to the Council until the first quarter of 2009. The Council has been inundated with hostile responses to the consultation on its housing strategy. At the meeting, the Conservatives confessed that their previous claim of a 'government-dictated timetable' was untrue.

Cllr Alan Dean, Liberal Democrat Chairman of Uttlesford District Council's Scrutiny Committee, said, "The Council's Conservative leadership rushed to complete the consultation over Christmas in order to meet a non-existent deadline. It seems incredible now that it is going to take a further 12 months to come up with a definitive housing strategy. It was blindingly obvious that the Conservatives' madcap scheme to dump 3000 homes in Elsenham would generate a massive response."

Uttlesford Council's capacity to make good quality planning decisions has been diminished since its planning supremo John Mitchell was made Acting Chief Executive in addition to his planning job. New settlement proposals are now escalating beyond manageability. A scoping proposal for a new settlement in Boxted Wood near Stebbing has already submitted, with the prospect of a full planning application later this year.

Cllr Mark Gayler commented: "Now that the Conservatives have let the idea out of the bag, similar proposals to that for Elsenham now threaten to engulf the area around Dunmow. The Council should have taken heed when the Liberal Democrats called for a more measured approach back in September."

Cllr Peter Wilcock, Leader of Uttlesford Council's opposition Liberal Democrat Group, summed up: "We have consistently pointed out that the consultation was too early and that sufficient work had not been done on alternative schemes - particularly with regard to traffic impact, accessibility, schools, clinics and shops. The Government Office for East of England, Essex County Council and the Environment Agency have criticized the Council for the poor quality of its proposals. It will now cost local taxpayers more because the Council's Conservative leadership did not listen. The current mess was easily avoidable and is now escalating out of control."