HARLOW Council’s planning committee got tough with planners when they made it plain that a community centre must be built as part of plans for new houses in Newhall.

Harlow Council approved two applications for 38 and 26 houses respectively at a development management committee meeting on Wednesday night.

But chair of the committee, cllr Mike Garnett was insistent on there being no more delays for a community centre.

He said: “It is time we used more stick than carrot”

Together the homes and planned new shops will form the “local centre,”  which will be part of Newhall,  a new neighbourhood in Harlow built on land originally part of Soper Farm.

According to a design and access statement, the two sites are underused and  contain no plants or trees, rather soil from nearby developments under construction.

A section read: “Newhall Projects Ltd have set out, from the beginning, to develop in full, a high quality development. The resulting proposal was conceived on the basis of sound urban design principles and architectural approach to create a safe, secure and delightful development that fits comfortably within and compliments its Newhall setting.

“We have benefited from the constructive input and positive feedback of the public, council officers and consultees to design a scheme that we believe can deliver a highly appropriate, responsive development that makes a positive contribution to the wider community of Newhall.”

In addition to the homes, full planning permission was granted for 199 square metres of flexible commercial space and additional car parking, as part of the first application.

For the second, detailed permission was granted for the access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale of the homes, as well as car parking and infrastructure works.

The plans were first considered by the committee in December 2021. But since then, there have been more negotiations regarding the provision of affordable housing and the completion of community buildings. There was also a need to update the proposed link between the two parts of the local centre.

Six affordable homes will be provided as part of the first application, the report continues.