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JUNE 2010 UPDATE -THE END OF HARLOW NORTH IN SIGHT?

The new coalition government has confirmed it will introduce a bill to:

· Abolish Regional Spatial Strategies

· Return decision-making powers on housing and planning to local councils

... and since East Herts council and Herts County council have always declared their opposition to the Harlow North proposition then that should spell the end for the developers. Moreover on 1 June Eric Pickles (the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) said

"The previous government gave a green light for the destruction of the green belt across the country and we are determined to stop it. We've promised to use legislation to scrap top-down building targets that are eating up the green belt, but I'm not going to make communities wait any longer to start making decisions for themselves. I have written to all councils to let them know that from today they can make planning decisions in the knowledge that 'Regional Strategies' will soon be history. It will no longer be possible to concrete over large swathes of the country without any regard to what local people want."

However the East Herts Local Development Framework does include reference to Harlow North (because it was being prepared in line with the East of England Plan) and we have to demonstrate again that local people do not want this blight. So please watch out for SHN communication later this year on how you can comment on the LDF in general and on the Harlow North prospect in particular.

Please visit www.stopharlownorth.com for full background and information on STOP Harlow North group’s campaign - research, views, actions and the overall timetable of events.