Last night’s meeting of the parish council backed the application at Elms Farm, Stansted. I previously reported on this planning application. Similar reservations and requests for assurances were expressed to my own representation back in March: an assurance that Stansted Park will be protected from further housing growth an assurance that the view of the […]

A week ago saw two refusals of Stansted planning applications. One was in Lower Street for a building for health centre/retail/apartments and the other was behind Cambridge Road for a housing enclave. I spoke against both applications; not because redevelopment won’t be good on both sites, but because both were the wrong type of development. Both sites are due for regeneration. We desperately […]

Reports on two planning applications in Stansted Mountfitchet have been published in advance of the planning committee’s meeting next Wednesday, May 30th. Both have caused much controversy. The health centre application has created enthusiastic support and vigorous opposition. This report is silent on the views Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council as they came to UDC too late for […]

English Heritage has asked Uttlesford DC not to approve the proposed health centre/shops/apartments building in Lower Street, Stansted owing to its impact on the conservation area and Mountfitchet Castle. Their letter can be read here.

My constituents don’t know what changes to local recycling will happen when. Much is afoot, but I struggle to answer questions about whether garden waste sacks will be kept and when glass can be added to green recycling bins. Conservative cabinet member Susan Barker said in yesterday’s Saffron Walden Weekly News that “she had received […]

The future of garden waste collections in brown bags remains uncertain. People who currently use the brown bag service were being told by the council this week that the service will end in March. That’s wrong. Uttlesford still hasn’t worked out with Essex County Council whether or not it can continue this service. It is very popular with people […]

My contribution to the March edition of Stansted’s “Link” magazine follows: A medical centre: Last November’s planning application for a medical centre plus a retail floor and residential apartments at 2 Lower Street is still being evaluated.  A decision is unlikely before March. April is possible. The delay is because the developer had not provided […]

Today’s “Sunday Telegraph” lists Uttlesford DC as a council planning a stealth tax on gardeners: “Environment Minister Lord Henley wrote to councils earlier this year ordering them to stop backdoor bin charges. They said that such measures can encourage fly-tipping and burning in back gardens. “But four further councils have announced plans to introduce new […]

Gardeners in and around Stansted have produced a massive raspberry for Uttlesford District Council. Only one gardener in eight wants Uttlesford to impose garden wheelie bins on residents from next April. Out of forty-one people surveyed on Saturday and Sunday in Stansted, only five want the new service. The other thirty-six people said they want the fortnightly garden waste skips at […]

The pledge by the Conservative administration at Uttlesford that cost cutting would not reduce the quality of services has been broken. A revised garden waste service has been announced. The new bin collection service is planned to serve fewer than 10% of households. A fifth of homes in Stansted Mountfitchet will be denied the service completely as […]