Bloor Homes have announced details of their plans for building new homes on land east of High Lane.
A planning application is expected to be lodged at the planning department at Uttlesford District Council in the next few months – one of two housing projects the house builder has for this part of the village.
On land near the B1383 roundabout at High Lane, the developer plans to construct 57 homes, 35% of which will be reserved for affordable housing.
The plan could include planting initiatives to biodiversity, the creation of an amenity area for residents to socialise and maintain active lifestyles, improvements to the pavements and the reduction of speed limits along High Lane.
Two Local Plan sites
Uttlesford District Council is currently drawing up a Local Plan. This document determines, among other things, where house building should happen in the district until 2033.
Planners have identified two sites in Stansted Mountfitchet for new housing.
The first area is land near the existing Walpole Meadows development, and the second is the land east of High Lane, detailed above.
Bloor Homes will be submitting applications for both.
Consultation event
Bloor Homes held a consultation event about its Walpole Meadows 2 Project in April last year and, we understand, will file an outline plan with UDC soon.
Since then, the house builder has prioritised the construction of new homes at High Lane.
They are holding a consultation event about this project on Thursday, 13 February at St Theresa of Lisieux, the Roman Catholic Church Hall on High Lane, from 3-7pm.
At the event you will have the chance to raise questions and your concerns about this project.
SMPC & house building
Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council as a lower tier local authority has no statutory powers regarding planning matters. Its role in this regard is confined to being a public consultee.
In practice when a housing application is registered with a planning department, the parish council is asked for its opinion on the project, but its views are non-binding on either the developer nor the local authority.
We have no means to block a planning application outright.
Community gains
What the Parish Council can do is to request a developer commit to delivering community gains. So other than new homes, a project might come with better pavements and street lighting in an area, or some new open spaces or land set aside for new public facilities such as a cemetery.
In relation to the Bloor Homes project at High Lane we are seeking better pavements and preferably the construction of two pelican crossings along High Lane, while at Walpole Meadows 2 we are pushing for land for a community building.