Harlow and Gilston Garden Town focus on quality of life at latest board meeting
Business / Mon 13th Feb 2023 pm28 02:55pm
IMPROVING residents’ quality of life and green infrastructure were on the agenda at the latest Harlow & Gilston Garden Town (HGGT) board meeting.
The meeting, which was held in the Civic Centre last Tuesday night (7 February), was attended by Councillor Russell Perrin, the Leader of Harlow Council, and Councillor Mike Hardware, portfolio holder for regeneration and strategic growth.
HGGT Board meetings are held monthly. With the HGGT partnership having demonstrated the very best of civic leadership since its inception in 2017, governance of the Garden Town was discussed at the meeting with the aim of strengthening these foundations even further ahead of delivery.
The partnership is committed to a joined-up approach that will make Harlow & Gilston a great place for existing and new residents and a go-to destination in the southeast.
Recommendations from last summer’s Your Quality of Life survey were reviewed, with the partnership fully supporting opportunities to give local people across the community a voice in shaping future plans, be that online or in person.
The survey found that 73% of people in Harlow felt a strong sense of belonging to their neighbourhood, beating the national average of 65% from the government’s Community Life Survey in 2021.
With the local area designated a Garden Town by government, green infrastructure was also discussed with a focus on how ecosystems and biodiversity contribute to healthy and thriving communities in Harlow & Gilston.
Councillor Russell Perrin, Leader of Harlow Council, said:
“The Garden Town is the next exciting evolution of Harlow’s journey and, by working closely with our partner councils, we are now taking meaningful steps toward the delivery of the project. Our priority is to ensure that Harlow and its residents directly benefit from the Garden Town, and that Harlow’s environment and residents’ quality of life is improved. Following on from the recent survey residents will continue to be given a voice to shape the plans for the Garden Town.”
Councillor Mike Hardware, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Strategic Growth, added:
“The Garden Town will be a gamechanger for Harlow’s regeneration. We are all committed to ensuring that Harlow’s infrastructure is improved, and that the Garden Town creates real opportunities for residents. We are working hard and closely with all five councils to bring housing, job and leisure opportunities to the area, aligning with our regeneration plans for Harlow town centre.”
Ends
Tony Durcan
2023-02-13 20:41:36
It’s a shame that these meetings are not held in public if the main topic was about residents quality of life. Just a thought.
Save our Stort
2023-02-13 21:13:16
Hggt Harlow Council start point has been to trash the ecology of the Stort River Valley with a raised road with a massive carbon footprint that'll likely cause more frequent flooding called the Eastern Crossing and then conspire to direct all traffic through the East of the town to create the ideal conditions for gridlock. Hardly a way to improve the green infrastructure or the quality of life. Add to that the plans to overload the town with tens of thousands of new houses and high rise flats.
Chris
2023-02-13 21:16:16
These meetings would never be held public,there would be blood ahead if the real truth of people's views know that had not already been censored to meet the narrative of the the project. You only have to attend any meeting that hggt attend and recognise the failure of any of their questions by genuine residents about the current encapsulation of Harlow as it currently stands. They're only interested about new people coming to the town
Nicholas Taylor
2023-02-13 22:15:01
Bearing in mind the recent revelation that Places for People can no longer meet the obligations they gave with regard to affordable housing numbers and the provision of new infrastructure to the north of Harlow and the similar concerns expressed by Harlow Council and the Conservative Party about Latton Priory why are Harlow Council still sitting around a table with other members of the HGGT board? These Councillors are supposed to represent those who elected them. the fact is, very few residents have supported the HGGT proposals on these pages, yet thousands of people have objected by way of petitions etc.
Charlie
2023-02-13 22:23:33
Are these people for real? There should be no development on the green belt full stop. But without the promised(?) new hospital being even started, it is madness to have any sort of development across the town.
Mike
2023-02-14 00:40:04
Love the way they use the term Garden Town. Concrete Town would be more like it.
Phil
2023-02-14 08:46:34
Bless what a lovely picture!! However, back in the real world Harlow already has a lot of quality of life issues that need dealing with. People living in damp houses, pot holes, a hospital that cannot cope and is not fit for purpose......... How about we deal with some of these first. The council has lost its way completely and needs to be fixed quickly. Look at the recent departures within the cabinet. Sackings, disappearance of Councillor pothole and batman. Its a joke. 4 County Councillors sitting in the wings remaining very quite over pot holes. So come on, you all read this, lets hear from some of you. County Councillors, "when are the pot holes going to be fixed"? All Cabinet members and Councillors "Its gone on long enough, what really is the problem? how are you going to fix it? and when?" Full truth and facts, straight to the point. What we have is broken you cannot deny it. I wait patiently for the answers which will tell me how to vote next time. No answers, means I already know!
Arthur Pike
2023-02-14 11:09:25
Tony Durcan - HGGT’s Quality of Life project was a collation of residents feedback on the local area from last summer, the document is on their website
David Forman
2023-02-14 12:27:29
I notice the trees getting cut down today alongside Fifth Avenue as part of the new infrastructure plans. New research from University College London shows mature trees lock-up nearly twice as much carbon as originally thought. You would think more would be done to keep the existing stock to tackle climate change. See research at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221220113042.htm
Mr Grumpy
2023-02-14 16:11:06
"residents’ quality of life and green infrastructure". Swathes of green infrastructure being buried under bricks and mortar. Need I say more?
Chris
2023-02-14 19:20:54
If you want a chuckle of disbelief investigate how much is being spent to move the station roundabout a couple of meters away from the station to facilitate the extra lane and the money being spent to divert services.. Then look at how much of that could sort out the pot holes in Harlow several times over, and then offset that with the benefit (?) The new high speed metro link between town and station... Then you realise how much this hggt "award winning" team has fudged.
Kim Oconnor
2023-02-14 19:31:03
Quality of life 😂 😂 When your done with destroying our wet lands and our river stort valley, and you speak of Quality of life, HGGT, and you councils have allowed our green belt, our river stort, to be and will be destroyed in abundance, wildlife habitat, our trees, a whole ecco system destroyed by your hands , and your hands only. And when we flood, you will reap what you sow. People didn't just sign a petition, people know what's going to happen down there, we will FLOOD. FRENDS OF LATTON ISLAND , SAVE OUR STORT.
Nostradamus
2023-02-15 09:48:32
Tony most of us reported it as spam or fake news: they didn't take one jot of notice of the 6000 plus residents who constructively protested against them trashing the natural nature reserve and ecology of the River Stort Valley and produced a two reports 1. From a recognised and experienced ecologist about the impact of transport planning 2. From experienced engineering people, using the ignored evidence from hggt's own consultants pointing out effective, lower cost, lower carbon footprints and lower emissions alternative traffic and infrastructure plans. Any hope that hggt pfp would take seriously any return from a survey, especially one conducted after the major determinant infrastructure and planning permissions had been obtained is infinitesimal. All blood soaked fur coat and no knickers. Harlow Labour and Conservative parties have totally let the residents down, both totally fooled. The Gilston estate development only benefits East Herts and Epping Councils in reaching artificially high housing targets, Harlow just gets more flooding contaminated with sewage from hggt development, more pollution and emissions, the decimation of mature trees and money being wasted on non sustainable transport corridors. Obviously some key Cllrs in Essex and Herts are perhaps too close to property developers, brown envelopes and a tax dodging corrupted government or just plain ignorant of the relationship between green development good mental health and a good quality of life. To think that these changes will improve the quality of life here is pie in the sky.
Nostradamus
2023-02-15 09:59:27
Hggt pfps campaign of greenwashing continues. Also getting more than fed up of their claims that literally leach on features the town already has like the park, pets corner, the museum and the sculpture trail implying and telling us these are somehow due to hggt whilst pushing forward on plans that will totally overload Harlow with no a single benefit to residents. Total joke.
Dave Benson Phillips
2023-02-16 15:43:17
Well, this all a load of Jackanory isn't it.
James Leppard
2023-02-18 14:44:18
HGGT only makes sense if its boundaries are expanded wider and a new single Unitary authority is created incorporating HGGT, Ware, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop’s Stortford. This will be a more logical grouping, facilitating improved coordination, budgets and development planning.
16 Comments for Harlow and Gilston Garden Town focus on quality of life at latest board meeting: