Published: 01/09/2008 00:00 -
Updated: 24/09/2008 14:49
Supermarket shock for eco-town battlers
By Sinead Holland
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THE spectre of a supermarket-sponsored new town just three miles from Bishop's Stortford emerged yesterday (Monday, September 1).
Campaigners against the Fairfield Partnership's plans for an eco-settlement with more than 5,000 dwellings on farmland between Henham and Elsenham fear Tesco may have turned its attention to their villages after it was forced to abandon its bid to build a similar scheme at Hinxton on the northern border of Uttlesford late last week.
The startling suggestion that the grocery giant was considering such a switch came from Henham parish councillor Don Sturgeon, as he briefed Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Lembit Opik in a special meeting at Elsenham Memorial Hall.
THE MP for Montgomeryshire had earlier toured the area with Liberal Democrat district councillors for both villages Catherine Dean and David Morson to see for himself the damage large-scale development would bring to rural Uttlesford and neighbouring East Herts.
The politician then attended a meeting of the joint parishes steering group, both to lend his support to the protest by pledging to ask questions in parliament and offering advice on the best battle strategy against both the Fairfield eco-town scheme and a scaled down proposal from the same company to use the same site for 3,000 homes in a a bid controversially backed by Conservatives at Uttlesford District Council, but vigorously opposed by Henham and Elsenham residents.
For more about Mr Opik's visit and all the latest eco-town news, see this Thursday's Observer.