Conservative councillor sets record straight over Fennells Field
News / Wed 18th Apr 2018 pm30 04:27pm
A CONSERVATIVE councillor for Sumners and Kingsmoor has set the record straight over work taking place on Fennells Field.
Drainage work has been taking place on Fennells Field near Parndon Wood but Conservative councillor Nick Churchill claims a leaflet is suggesting that it is part of planned building work.
Cllr Churchill said: “The drainage work is part of a project to prevent flooding…and the bund in Fennells Field is to provide a temporary water storage point.
“Harlow’s Labour Council has listed a number of recreational fields, hatches as possible housing sites in the Local Plan that is currently going thorugh a consultation…..any possible building work has to have planning permission”.
Cllr Churchill is seeking re-election on May 3rd. The other candidate is Labour’s Aidan O’Dell.
Aiden
2018-04-18 17:08:31
To add further commentary, Harlow's Labour Council is forced to produce the local plan by the Conservative Government. All sites identified will go through consultation and planning. Just because they have been identified does not mean they will or will not be built on. Part of the reason for the local plan needing to exist is due to there being relaxed rules on property developers sitting on land for a large amount of time to increase its value. More information here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-plans Aiden O'Dell Labour Candidate for Sumners and Kingsmoor
NickChurchill
2018-04-18 17:39:47
Well it was a Labour Government when the last local plan was forced on Harlow in the early noughties, in that plan Harlow's Labour Council earmarked the showground in the town park for housing. So Aiden lets just say that successive governments have required ALL councils to produce a local plan shall we? The sites identified went to consultation 4 years ago...problem is Harlow's Labour Council kept that consultation so quite that no one knew it was happening....well there was 30 responses, a massive difference to the Epping Consultation that was publicised and received in excess of 3000 responses. The fact that Harlow's Labour Council did a u-turn on development of West Sumners, Katherines East and Latton Priory and now supports those developments on our border when it will not give any benefit to Harlow and now wants to build on recreation fields in our ward (Sumners and Kingsmoor) beggars belief. Do you support the loss of these green field sites Aiden?
Aiden
2018-04-18 18:09:47
I do not know what happened in the consultation 4 years ago, so I'll have to trust you on that one... Although I have to ask, How many of the sites identified in Sumners and Kingsmoor have actually been built on? None. To answer your question, being a resident of Sumners and Kingsmoor, I unequivocally do not support Sumners West and would do all I can to prevent Epping Forest from continuing. It will provide no benefit to Harlow except increasing traffic and associated issues. Looks like we agree on this one!
tenpin
2018-04-18 19:51:16
These are crocodile tears from both Conservative and Labour Councillors and candidates. This is a reminder of the facts from The Harlow Alliance Party, who were set up a few months ago to challenge just such a lack of transparency. The Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) Local Plan which includes the building of 3000 plus houses to the south and south west borders of Harlow, was agreed by the Labour Party in Harlow in March 2017.It finally became public to those living in the EFDC area on 15 December and residents were given just 6 weeks to put in objections. The Harlow Conservative Party could have done so but chose not to. Despite Aiden's comment, he can do nothing about it I am afraid.The Harlow Alliance Party however HAVE made a formal objection, along with 990 other individuals and organisations! The same lack of transparency exists with what should be called Harlow Council's Local Plan but is being called the Labour Party's Local Plan in it's election literature. Our website has been flagging this issue up for some weeks and will be objecting to a number of the proposed sites, including the one at the Fennells, where we have had a petition against the proposal on our website to which dozens of residents have already signed up to. Quite frankly this whole process has been a disgrace, residents living next door to these proposals have not been consulted and if they remain on the Local Plan list planning permission will be a formality so they will certainly be built on in the next few years.
JerryFromQueens
2018-04-18 20:03:38
The Harlow Alliance Party. Or as I like to call them the H. A. P.-less Party.
JerryFromQueens
2018-04-19 05:06:42
The thing about Harlow Tory councillors is that they swing from position to position and so (a) you don't know where they are and (b) where they'll finally end up. Agreement on something such as this would be beneficial though.
SplittingHares
2018-04-19 10:34:55
Its funny how hearing the truth about the lack of transparency from the existing parties forming Harlow Council who were consulted on the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Local Plans of Epping, East Herts and Harlow Council's brings out the sarcastic comment as a form of defence. Do not insult others or the residents of Harlow. They know whether they were consulted about development close to them that will effect their daily lives. They will know who was the first to bring it to their attention the lack of consultation.
tenpin
2018-04-19 11:12:20
Throwing insults at The Harlow Alliance will not detract us from setting out the facts in this matter, which an earlier contributor chooses to ignore. The fact is that Labour's Cllr Purton has led this whole Local Plan process, he and fellow Labour councillors spoke in support of the plan in the Council chamber on 29 March. It now seems that the Labour candidate is speaking against the plan for land adjacent to The Fennells and of course makes no mention of the land adjacent to Sumners which EFDC want to see 1000 house put on it. This can only be a cynical attempt to gain votes. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that just because a site that remains on the Local Plan list, it might not be built on, a subsequent planning applications will be about type and layout of the site, not about whether homes should be built or not.
NickChurchill
2018-04-19 14:43:59
My only response to you then Aiden is if you are against the West Sumners development, hopefully the Latton Priory and the Katherines East developments as well, and you are against the Harlow local plan assigning Fennels Field and the Field behind the Islamic Centre to Housing then why are you standing for the party that wants to assign housing onto the recreation fields and the party that has U-turned its decision to object to development to the South and West of Harlow and now supports these developments against the wishes of the residents in Sumners and Kingsmoor, Staple Tye, Great Parndon/Katherines and Harlow Common all of whom will be effected? As the other commentators are hiding behind a pseudonym despite the editor asking that people identify themselves in the interest of clarity during the election period I will make no comment. Cllr Nick Churchill Conservative Candidate Sumners and Kingsmoor Ward
tenpin
2018-04-19 15:26:02
In response to Cllr Churchill's comment, I was not aware until now that the editor had made such a request. The comments made by tenpin come from me, Nicholas Taylor, Leader of The Harlow Alliance Party.
tenpin
2018-04-19 17:23:45
I have been lucky enough to have received this weeks Harlow Star, which has a four page advert by Harlow Labour which includes the statement that 30% of the 16000 new Harlow houses will be affordable and many council owned. This statement seems to take a lead from Gavin Barwell, a previous Conservative Housing Minister who said in a speech that 'breaking down resistance (to the building of new homes) would rely on design, quality and infrastructure so it's going in upfront and also thinking about who those new homes are going to go to, because if people feel their kids will get the homes, they're more likely to support new housing". The fact is, (1) 11000 of these 16000 homes will be in the Epping Forest District Council area, (2) the term affordable means 80% of market rents or purchase price and (3) less than 500 will be on land owned by Harlow Council and from what has been said already at public consultation meetings held by Harlow Council about two green field sites, no-one can guarantee that any of the houses will be owned by the Council. Only the Harlow Alliance Party have being clear and up front all along on these matters, we have formally objected to the EFDC Local Plan and to building on a number of sites in Harlow.
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