Cllr Alan Dean

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Stansted North on Uttlesford District Council and former Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Learn more

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Your village needs you!

by Alan Dean on 1 March, 2016

If you are distressed about today’s traffic chaos on Cambridge Road near Tesco and are concerned that the current planning appeal proposals for development on the land behind Tesco will make the situation worse, please read this letter and make your own representations to the Planning Inspectorate. Your Village Does Need You! Write by Monday, March 7th!

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To Residents of Stansted Mountfitchet

27th February 2016

Dear Fellow Residents of Stansted

MARCH 7TH DEADLINE TO RESPOND ON AN APPEAL AGAINST REFUSAL OF PLANNING PERMISSION AT THE FORMER YOUR FURNISHED SITE BEHIND TESCO AT 14 CAMBRIDGE ROAD, STANSTED

 

I am writing to you as someone who has taken an interest in the future of our Cambridge Road area and the various developers’ attempts to gain planning permission – of the wrong type for this location.

You have until next Monday, March 7th to tell the Planning Inspectorate what you think about the appeal against last November’s refusal by Uttlesford of planning permission at 14 Cambridge Road, Stansted for 10 houses and 9,020ft2 of commercial space.

Would you please write to the Planning Inspectorate on their planning portal at: https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk or by email to: teamp1@pins.gsi.gov.uk . Alternatively, THREE copies of letters and documents can be posted to: The Planning Inspectorate, 3/09 Kite Wing, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol BS1 6PN.

The appeal reference is: APP/C1570/W/15/3141191. The reference of the refused planning application is UTT/15/1666/FUL if you wish to look up the details on UDC’s website at http://www.uttlesford.gov.uk/applicationsearch.

As a minimum, please write to say you stand by your original representation or fully support the objections contained below. Better still write about your concerns. The following are my thoughts on what I will be telling the Inspector:

 

WHAT IS THE DAMAGING EFFECT OF THIS REFUSED APPLICATION?

The impact of increased vehicular traffic leaving the site between the existing Tesco store and the proposed new shop would increase dangers to pedestrians and motorists because sight lines are poor. Drivers’ ability to see pedestrians will be blocked by the wall of the Tesco store. The visibility of moving vehicles on the busy B1383 road is frequently obscured by large delivery vehicles in the delivery bay outside Tesco and by other vehicles legitimately parked on the roadside.

WHY WOULD AN ALLOWED APPEAL INCREASE THE LEVEL OF TRAFFIC COMPARED WITH PAST USES OF THE SITE?

The appellant wants to over-develop the site by building 10 homes and two commercial premises of 9,020 ft2 floor area. A traffic level assessment has shown that the appealed scheme will generate 199 daily traffic movements compared with 64 under the previously authorised use; over three times the amount of traffic driving in and out. This scheme would be an over-development (too much crammed into the site) that would cause the higher traffic levels that would lead to a higher safety hazard.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER DEFECTS IN THE APPEALED DESIGN?

Yes. There are only about half the number of parking spaces needed to serve the commercial development. Many of the spaces are in tandem; i.e. one space behind another so that they would be used inefficiently and would be inconvenient to use. The people who live in the houses are likely to find that commercial visitors park outside their houses, so they will be blocked in and unable to leave their homes. Alternatively, the commercial workers and business visitors will park on Cambridge Road where they will aggravate a congested parking area; or they will take spaces in the adjacent public car park that has not been designed for use by new developments that are not self-sufficient with their own parking spaces. There is no designated disabled parking provision. The arrangements would be totally unsatisfactory and would lead to further congestion and chaos beyond that which I am sure you experience regularly.

SHOULD ANY DEVELOPMENT ON THIS SITE BE OPPOSED?

No. It is important that the site is regenerated with acceptable developments of the right design and scale and with adequate on-site parking provision.

SO IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE TO ALLOWING THIS APPEAL?

Yes. The site owner should employ a developer who will work with the local community, including the parish council, to design a scheme that will overcome as many of the traffic dangers and the chaos in Cambridge Road as are possible to achieve. This should include a one-way system for vehicles into the site from Cambridge Road but not back out at that hazardous point by Tesco. Vehicles could exit the site via the Crafton Green car park, which belongs to the parish council, and Chapel Hill. This would also allow a relief for existing parking congestion and disorder on Cambridge Road by providing a simple and ready access to the public car park for shoppers and others. By jointly redesigning both the appellant’s land and the parish council’s land a viable win-win scheme should be achievable that would bring sustainable, long-term benefits to this area of Stansted. [This is just one of the ways this could be achieved.]

You only have until 5 p.m. on Monday March 7th. If you agree that Your Village Needs You, your individual support is needed. Please write to the Planning Inspectorate by the deadline!

Yours sincerely

 

Alan Dean

Member for Stansted North, Uttlesford District Council

 

 

   10 Comments

10 Responses

  1. Matt Corbett says:

    Dear Planning Inspectorate,

    Please do not allow this appeal.

    APPEAL AGAINST REFUSAL OF PLANNING PERMISSION AT THE FORMER YOUR FURNISHED SITE BEHIND TESCO AT 14 CAMBRIDGE ROAD, STANSTED

    The appeal reference is: APP/C1570/W/15/3141191. The reference of the refused planning application is UTT/15/1666/FUL

    Please do not allow this appeal. It is already unsafe with the the extra traffic and parking problems and the problems and objections I list below. I see this everyday when I leave my house and go to work, if you allow this appeal then it will be much, much worse.

  2. Christian French says:

    To whom it may concern

    As a resident of Stansted who walks to Tesco on Cambridge Road, Stansted every day, it is of great concern to see that the land behind the Tesco is proposed to be utilised for 10 dwellings and mixed commercial use.

    My reasoning behind this concern is the lack of parking outside Tesco and the Co-Op which leads drivers to take some unnecessary risks when stopping for their shopping.

    I regularly see motorists parked at all sorts of angles in the loading bay outside Tesco and on the markings to the pelican crossing which is placing pedestrians, including a lot of schoolchildren, at unnecessary risk. I’m sure you are aware there is a bus stop opposite where schoolchildren alight. Additionally, when articulated lorries are delivering to Tesco & Co-Op they would obscure the junction of the proposed development for egressing traffic.

    An addition of vehicles from the residential area and traffic from the proposed commercial element to this already strained location is concerning from a safety point of view.

    I see that there are CCTV cameras Opposite Linden House adjacent to Chapel Hill and Bentfield Road, and again outside Wood Grill on Cambridge Road.

    I am sure you have access to the council CCTV and these cameras are capable of observing the traffic situation and can see the issues to which I am referring.

    There is an application for a Sainsbury’s at the old Barclays Bank, this will further aggravate the issue.

    Are we to wait for another child to be hurt or killed before we take notice? This is not a village’s residents making objection for the sake of it, we have genuine concerns for safety.

    There is a significant amount of dwellings to be constructed at Walpole Farm, we’re not short of construction projects to warrant such shoehorning of dwellings and their associated vehicles into an already strained location.

    Best Regards

  3. […] Have you told the Planning Inspectorate about your experiences on Cambridge Road and what you think should be done with this appeal? Details can be found here about what to do. […]

  4. derek says:

    There should not be anything done to make the main road to connect to this new site,there are lots of parking on this road,at all times of the day,and even in the bus stop,and the road outside the shops,and even the crossing.
    This so called building site should have a road entrance from the back next to the car park that is already there at the back of the shops already!,and not have any entrance at all on the main road!!.

  5. keith says:

    Having been involved in several refusals of this site, and personally won a planning appeal, I think I have done enough on this site.

    Residents demonstrated their gratitude for my efforts last May when I was not re-elected so whatever happens subsequently is a matter of some indifference to me.

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