Published: 09/09/2010 09:00 - Updated: 08/09/2010 17:35

UTTLESFORD residents can breathe a sigh of relief this week after the immediate threat of 4,200 new homes was lifted.

The district council’s environment committee voted unanimously to return to the drawing board and review the scale of future building before then looking at the best locations.

The move effectively shelves the Conservative authority’s three-year backing for 3,000 new homes between Henham and Elsenham.

While residents were pressing for a categorical scrapping of the controversial scheme, after Tuesday’s meeting (September 7), campaigner Bill Bates told fellow Save Our Villages protesters: “Maybe the 'Sword of Damocles' has been removed and been replaced by a 'penknife'.”

However that view was not shared by Steve Biart, director of land at The Fairfield Partnership which is promoting the new settlement, who said the company would still press ahead with its proposals. 

He said: “One of the key merits of our landholding is the versatility of Elsenham to provide for a range of scales of development in a sustainable manner and its ability to provide for a phased development over time.  We are confident that these attributes will continue to be recognised as the need for new housing in Uttlesford district remains.”

The committee’s decision to look again at its local development framework was prompted by the new coalition Government’s decision to scrap new building targets for councils and allow local rather than region-led decision making.

Before reaching their conclusion, members heard an impassioned speech from Henham parish councillor Nick Baker, who has led the campaign against the so-called Option 4 to build on farmland between his village and Elsenham.

He made it clear how much residents have already suffered – and how continuing doubt about the scale and location of future housing would prolong their agony.

He urged: “We would like to see the present LDF scrapped altogether as a discredited process.  We would like to see a housing appraisal completed as soon as possible and then some sensible proposals of how we, the parish councils, town councils and district council can work together to find solutions that will keep the essential rural nature of Uttlesford intact.”

And he had a plea for the ruling Conservative administration and the Liberal Democrat opposition who have been at loggerheads over the LDF: “Work together to heal the divisions that have opened up so badly over the past three years.”

The council estimates it will be able to consult with residents on revised housing figures in the autumn of next year.

After the meeting, Stansted Liberal Democrat councillor Alan Dean voiced his dissatisfaction with the new approach. 

“The key message from elected members seems to be that Uttlesford will repeat its recently discredited comparative assessment process by deciding first what answer it wants and then finding someone who will come up with the evidence to back it. Yet the report from officers said that process in future will be open and transparent. That’s not the way it felt last night,” he said.

• Countryside Properties this week announced it is bidding to develop further land at Priors Green in Takeley.

Details of the application to Uttlesford District Council are not yet available, but the company said building of 87 units could begin as soon as November with properties on sale next Spring.

Chris Crook, Countryside’s subsidiary managing director, said: “We are confident that the new development will appeal to a vast range of potential purchasers.”