The following letter from my colleague Iris Evans and me has been distributed to businesses in the Lower Street area of Stansted Mountfitchet.

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To businesses in Lower Street, Stansted

Dear Sir/Madam

UTT/2384/11/FUL Stansted Medical Centre, Lower Street, Stansted

You will probably be aware of a planning application for the above proposal that is currently being considered by Uttlesford District Council. The application is for a building that will contain retail space and flats in addition to the medical centre and doctors’ surgery.

An issue has come to light about the likely need for a pedestrian crossing in Lower Street since the application was submitted by the intended developer. Essex County Highways has written to Uttlesford Planning Department to say that the Highway Authority had requested that pedestrian crossing facilities are incorporated into any design on Lower Street. The location and amount of on-street parking will be affected. The Highways Authority want the crossing facilities to be incorporated into the proposed highway design. They want consultation undertaken to assess the feasibility of the loss of on-street parking prior to determining the planning application. They have asked that a detailed junction arrangement (which includes a mini roundabout at the junction of Lower Street with Chapel Hill and Church Road) should be made available to the council and public with drawings that include a crossing facility on Lower Street and that also show the extent of loss of on-street parking. These details are not yet available to us or the public.

The application will be discussed tonight (Wednesday, January 18^th at 7:45 p.m. at a meeting of Stansted Parish Council in The Day Centre at Centre Crafton Green, Chapel Hill, Stansted. The public may attend this meeting and can speak at the start of the meeting. A public meeting on the project has been arranged by a group of residents at the Free Church Hall in Chapel Hill on Friday this week, January 20^th at 7:30 p.m.

At the time of our writing to you it is not clear whether the application will be revised or whether a decision will be made by Uttlesford on February 8th. As things stand, representations have to be with the district council by January 30th . We suggest that if you have an opinion on the prospect of loss of on-street parking in Lower Street, that you send in a written representation now by email: Planning@uttlesford.gov.uk; or by letter to: Planning Department, Uttlesford District Council, London Road, SAFFRON WALDEN, Essex CB11 4ER or directly on the council’s website by going to the following URL: http://planning.uttlesford.gov.uk/portal/page/portal/plan/search  and then search for the application by inserting the reference UTT/2384/11/FUL. THIS REFERENCE MUST BE USED IN ALL CORRESPONDENCE.