Letter to Editor: Harlow doesn’t need another council leader chancer playing PR games
Your Say / Sun 30th Nov 2025 at 10:46am
Dear Editor,
I JUST wanted to take a moment to applaud Councillor Dan Swords — truly, Harlow’s hardest-working man when it comes to finding a camera.
Every time there’s a ribbon to cut, a pavement to point at, or a Facebook post to write about “delivery,” there he is — sleeves rolled up, smile fixed, and ready to take the credit for something that may or may not have actually happened.
Time and again, we have seen headlines and social media posts full of self-promotion, yet very little real delivery for local residents. Whether it’s housing, town centre regeneration, or community services, the promises are endless — but the outcomes are thin. What we seem to get instead is more photo opportunities and carefully worded press statements, while the everyday issues that matter to ordinary people remain unresolved.
The town centre still looks like it’s waiting for a miracle, housing plans drift in and out of PowerPoints, and everyday residents are left wondering when all these “transformational” projects will actually transform anything beyond Councillor Swords’ social media feed.
Harlow doesn’t need another council leader chancer playing PR games. We need someone who can stop talking about delivery and actually deliver. Until then, perhaps Councillor Swords could consider a career in modelling — for hi-vis jackets, perhaps.
Yours with only mild despair,
Mr Jamie Warr
Harlow Resident for 47 Years.
Scotth
2025-11-30 12:40:34
Dear Editor, I think this is rather well put though am prepared to believe that the councillor does probably care for Harlow almost as much as for his future political career. However, the cult of personality is a bit much (there are 27 Tory councillors (at the moment!) after all) and you’d be entitled to worry about his lack of experience particularly in running multiple large building projects all at once, on the public’s dollar. He’ll say it’s central government grant funding of course….but in the end, it’s essentially coming from the taxpayer…aka the Tory money-tree.
Ted
2025-11-30 16:43:49
James Warr. Are you walking around with a blindfold on. Bushey Croft , Staple Tye, The Woodleys, Little Brays. All new properties already built.
New Town Dreaming
2025-11-30 17:29:18
Imagine how many people work at Harlow Council and bring projects to life. Imagine how much the cult figure of Dan Swords could do without them. Why does he have to make every single aspect of the town and The council’s work about him? How much of our money has he spent on videos of himself? It’s weird. He’s not even from Harlow. He doesn’t get the spirit of the town. Such self important arrogance.
Mr George
2025-11-30 18:32:56
He's quick to ignore difficult questions too, the supposed asylum hotel debacle. Ah well, let's hope that he does manage to improve the town... one day. And not leave Harlow in too much debt to pay for it.
Nicholas Taylor
2025-11-30 19:32:34
Ted, I am not here to defend Labour, but the fact is most of the new developments were in Labour's Local Development Plan of December 2020. As for Little Brays, well this was built on ECC land and Dan Swords said if I remember rightly, he would lay in front of the tractors rather than see this site built on. The council has increased it's debt, it is spending £7 million repaving Broadwalk and Market Square, it bought Market House for another £7 million and it will be spending tens of millions of pounds leaving the town with one of the smallest theatres in the East of England, New council homes are of course welcome, but they are building the wrong sort, in the wrong location, in numbers which just squeeze more people in an already densely populated town.
New Town Dreaming
2025-11-30 20:00:02
Thank you Nicholas Taylor.
Brooks
2025-11-30 23:04:57
I understand the ongoing transformation of Harlow which is much needed & appreciated but what l cannot understand is the total chaos & disruption being caused by starting them all at once, yes it may double the time to get the projects to be finished but it could have avoided so much time, misery, confusion & frustration trying to get around & through Harlow
Alan
2025-12-01 00:49:44
I see the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" brigade are out in force in these comments. "When will all these promises of regeneration become reality" And when they do "why is there so much disruption trying do get it all done so quickly"... "their building the wrong type of house, in the wrong places".. "The theatre's to small..."... "when will they do something about all these derelict buildings in town".. "oh not like that, why are you buying these derelict buildings to renovate them"... People have to much time on their hands and nothing but the will to complain.
D Clark
2025-12-01 10:31:04
Mr Warr, are you afraid that Mr Swords will achieve something that no other council has before him, are you afraid that the people of Harlow will want to keep Mr Swords and the conservative majority in power because the town has improved drastically in every way and will continue to improve therefore proving people like you wrong. Keep up the good work Councilor Dan Swords as a Harlow man I am very pleased with the changes completed and those due for completion over the next few years.
Pete
2025-12-01 13:02:41
Dan shows an energy and willingness that seems to be have been absent in the town for many years. Of course he isn't perfect and perhaps some things will go tits up but achievements such as buying the Harvey Centre seem to have worked well. One failure is not bringing M & S to the town despite the various pronouncements but wasn't it Labour that refused them the opportunity to keep a presence in the town (Tony Durcan Oct 2014). We also shouldn't forget that Harlow council tax hasn't increased for a few years. Nicholas Taylor, you say that most of the new developments were in Labour's plans, would they have actually been built under them?
Jamie Warr
2025-12-01 13:06:14
D. Clark: I’m genuinely pleased that you feel the town has improved and that some of the changes happening now are having a positive impact on your life. Whoever is in charge, what ultimately matters most is Harlow people seeing real improvements on the ground. However, being pleased with progress doesn’t mean we, the public, should stop asking tough questions. I’m not “afraid” of Cllr Swords, but it’s up to people like us to scrutinise decisions, challenge where we believe things could be better, and speak up for residents who don’t feel listened to or who aren’t seeing the benefits you describe. That applies no matter which party is running the council. When I raise concerns, it’s not because I want Harlow to fail or because I’m “afraid” of being proved wrong. It’s because I want every decision to stand up to scrutiny and to deliver the best possible outcomes for residents now and future generations. If Cllr Swords and the Conservative administration are making good decisions for Harlow, they shouldn’t fear scrutiny — and neither should you.
Nicholas Taylor
2025-12-01 16:06:40
Lets not forget that the council has been given tens of millions of pounds by the Government to improve the Town AND borrowed £40 million during during 2024/2025. In addition, the council has limited land on which it intends to build homes. What I and others have asked is, will this money be spent wisely, is the land being put to best use? Many people think not and as the Leader of the only political party not wedded to Westminster, I and other members of the Harlow Residents Alliance (HRA) have been attending council meetings since 2019 and asking councillors questions relating to their policies and practices. As a former Housing Manager with Harlow Council, I know that the homes the council are building are of the wrong sort and in the wrong place. As I said earlier, Labour would have built the homes we now see being constructed, indeed Labours plan helped by the Conservatives would have seen numerous green spaces built on had HRA not taken action which stopped this. As examples, does anyone really think that spending £7 million on repaving Broadwalk and Market Square (again) is a good use of money? Only by my asking the council how much did this work cost did it come into the public domain. And what of the tens of millions of pounds spent between the Town Centre and the Rail Station, does anyone really think this will do anything to reduce congestion on the roads in that area?
TonyB
2025-12-02 00:16:49
I think it was mentioned under the Harlow and Gilston plan that 3,000 homes were to be built to the East of Harlow, and within the site, many more Council houses would be built. The road to junction 7a has been built, unlike Fifth Avenue. Why has demolition Dan not built on the site? Instead, he’s jammed six houses into Woodley's garages, at the same time selling off over 60 garages in Mark Hall North to a secret buyer and proposing to turn the whole of Mark Hall North into a “red zone” restricting parking from Felmongers to the Stow and beyond to Quarry Spring. There was already nowhere to park before demolition Dan started as his builders for Woodleys new housing estate found out as they parked on the pavement.
Ted
2025-12-02 19:45:34
Alan . Great post. If the council do everything perfectly , all these moaners , including Nic Taylor who was once a housing manager as he likes to keep telling us , about as many times as Chris Vince tells us he was once a school teacher, they would still find something to complain about. Because they are all professional moaners. Keep up the good work Dan.
Matt
2025-12-02 22:05:08
Too right Ted and Alan, the professional moaners of the town, one in particular, could see Jesus walk on water then complain it's because he's afraid to swim. Every regeneration project must be exactly as per their vision or it's wrong.
Nicholas Taylor
2025-12-04 12:16:32
Well Ted, Matt and Alan, the fact is that my work in council house mamnagement has given me a 44 years insight as to what this town needs rather than people making sweeping comments about subjects of which they have no experience. The Harlow Residents Alliance has dozens of members, many have decades of experience of working in Local Government and running local businesses. On the other hand we have a council Leader who has little if any such experience. Lets just take one subject ..... there are now only just under 1000 housing applicants in Harlow of which 111 are looking to downsize (up from 53 just a couple of years ago). The problem is, the council are building just a handful of homes which those downsizing would give up their family sized home for, despite the financial incentives given by the council.. Building houses with rents of over £1000 per month does little to help anyone, building decent modern homes for older residents does. An article in the press earlier this week from a major provider of homes for older people supported this view and is one that providers of social housing should take heed of.
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