Published: 02/09/2010 16:00 - Updated: 02/09/2010 11:52

DUNMOW’S mayor has spoken of her relief after fiercely-contested plans for 190 more houses on the town’s north-western edge were shown the door.

Chelmsford developer Wickford wanted to build the homes on farmland to the north of Parsonage Downs secondary Helena Romanes School – but despite officers’ recommendations of approval, Uttlesford’s planning members refused to allow it.

Although the firm had promised to complete the town’s long-awaited bypass, which would let traffic from the west join the northbound B184 without driving through the town centre, councillors rejected their proposal in order to protect the scenic site.

This week, first citizen Cllr Wendy Barron praised their decision, saying the loss of 10.8 hectares (26.7 acres) of green land was too high a price to pay for the bypass.

She said: “I was happy that it didn’t get through – they seemed to be saying ‘okay, well you give us this and we’ll give you that’ and on terms I wasn’t happy with.

“It would have been nice to have the bypass, but not on those conditions – Wickford would have done the work, but it was ransom money. They’re supposed to start working on it when the 651st house is finished, but they seem to have slowed down to building about 20 houses a year.

“The application was also outside the town’s development limits and if you allow one project, you open it up for all developments to come and have a go. I’m glad they didn’t get a chance to set that precedent.”

If approved, Wickford’s plans would have formed the so-called “Sector 4” of its ambitious Woodlands Park development in north-west Dunmow, which centres on Woodlands Park Drive and Willow Road to the north of the town’s Tesco supermarket.

Some 406 houses granted under an earlier phase of the scheme have already been built, while others are still under construction on surrounding plots – but while the company is legally bound to start building the bypass once 651 are up, it built just 16 houses in 2009.

According to estimates put together by volunteers and town councillors for Dunmow’s Town Design Statement, at that rate the bypass will not be finished until 2024.

Under its latest proposal, Wickford would have demolished the existing Brookfield Farm and built up to 190 two- and three-storey dwellings across 6.2ha (15.3 acres) of the estate. Just over two acres of the remaining land would have been converted to parkland.

Despite pledging some £40,000 to create extra recreational facilities within the centre of Dunmow, the developer met with fierce opposition from cycle charity Sustrans, the Essex Wildlife Trust, Helena Romanes School, the Dunmow Society, and Great Dunmow Town Council.

Several residents of nearby Little Easton also complained, saying the project would merge the village with Dunmow and destroy its individual character. Only Dunmow’s Chamber of Trade and Commerce spoke out in support, saying it would create jobs.

According to Uttlesford District Council planning policy, if a proposed site is outside urban development limits then “the countryside is to be protected for its own sake”.