On Tuesday’s Uttlesford DC voted No to my proposal “….. in the event that Parliament cannot reach an outcome (on Brexit) … that will give a high confidence of maintaining or improving the wellbeing of local people, Council calls on Parliament to conduct ….. a People’s Vote to confirm the present will of the people.” […]

The linked letter has been sent to The Rt. Hon. James Brokenshire MP calling on him to call-in the decision of Uttlesford District Council’s Planning Committee to expand the throughput of Stansted Airport. I told local newspapers this week: “The decision was made on national party-political grounds. It should have been based on local planning policies, […]

Over two days this week, seventy-eight people spoke to Uttlesford’s Planning Committee. I was one of them. They were giving their views on whether or not Stansted Airport Limited (STAL) should be allowed to lift the existing passenger cap of 35 million per annum (mppa). Needless to say there were passionate speeches in favour of […]

I am writing this post wearing the hat of the chair of Uttlesford DC’s Scrutiny Committee. For those not familiar with local government structures, clause 6.3.8 of UDC’s constitution says that one of the Scrutiny Committee’s functions is to “question members of the executive (cabinet)….about their decisions and performance”. I am not writing today on […]

Conservatives and Liberal Democrats backed the draft Local Plan at 4 minutes to midnight last Tuesday night. The meeting lasted from 7 p.m. for just shy of five hours, with the first 90 minutes used by members of the public, who mostly were opposed to Garden Settlements on their own doorsteps near Great Chesterford, Little Easton/Great […]

I wrote to the local press today:- Something is wrong at the heart of Uttlesford District Council as it struggles to complete two major exercises that are important not only for this district. The first is a critically important Local Plan for the future of the district. If UDC does not publish an updated plan […]

I wrote the following article in March for the April edition of Stansted’s magazine The Link. The full article can be read here at page 22. NEWS FROM UTTLESFORD DISTRICT COUNCIL Cllr Alan Dean writes: The long-awaited planning application from the airport to raise the limit on passenger numbers was received by UDC in February. They […]

As a P.S. to my post of yesterday I provided a link to Stop Stansted Expansion’s press release and letter to the Secretary of State about Stansted Airport Limited’s (STAL) planning application for an increase in the airport’s capacity. The SSE letter provides some worrying allegations about the way in which Uttlesford District Council has been […]

The following press release as issued today (PDF): Uttlesford’s Liberal Democrat group leader, Cllr Alan Dean, says “Uttlesford must step up to the mark over airport expansion at Stansted. Its approach so far has been too laid back and opaque. UDC has given the impression that the airport’s application to have 43 million passengers a […]

Consensus or conflict? Take your pick from last Thursday’s Full Council Meeting at Uttlesford. There was near unanimity on the budget for 2018/19. A 2.99% council tax (CT) rise was agreed with little dissent, though I did tell the finance portfolio holder (who agreed) that there needs to be a clearer explanation, perhaps pictorially, of […]