YESTERDAY, news broke that Harlow has secured the arrival of a new IKEA store on Edinburgh Way. The Leader of Harlow Conservatives, Dan Swords, hailed the announcement saying “we are on a mission to secure investment for Harlow’s future and that this is ‘yet more proof we are delivering.

However, many residents feared the news was an April Fool’s joke given the day. Many residents also questioned whether the Harlow Conservatives’ pledge to bring an ‘all singing and all dancing’ Marks and Spencers back to Harlow would be delivered. 

Dan Swords has responded to both matters:

“Today is 2 April and the news still stands – later this year IKEA will open in Harlow. This is incredible news for our town, not just because of our love for flatpack furniture or Swedish meatballs, but because it shows that we are delivering our mission to secure investment for Harlow’s future. It shows, alongside major announcements from the likes of Kao Data and David Lloyd that they are investing hundreds of millions of pounds, that Harlow is the place to investment because we are turning the tide of decline that the old Labour council left.

“And I absolutely stand by the pledge we have made to bring M&S back to Harlow. I provided an update on this just before Christmas and look forward to the big announcement soon. 

“I know so many people doubt whether we will deliver our promises but I would suggest looking at our record. We said we would freeze council tax, we have for four years in a row. We said we would rebuild the town centre and we have the biggest regeneration programme of any district council in the country. We said we would build council homes for Harlow families and we’re building more than in the last 30 years combined. We said we would stop Newham Council buying a major development and we did. We said we’d create more parking spaces in estates and we’re delivering 1,500 new spaces this year.

“When we make a promise, we keep it and these investments are yet more examples of that. Just contrast that with the record of Harlow Labour – they increased council tax every year, allowed our once great town centre to decline, drove M&S out of town, allowed London Councils to dump their people here and were named the worst council in Essex during the pandemic. 

“The Harlow Conservatives have a clear plan for Harlow and we are delivering it.”