NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN UPDATES

Respecting our Heritage, Defining our Future (2025-2041)

We summarise progress in the development of the revised Felsted Neighbourhood Plan (FNP), which was originally published in 2020, and needs updating in line with Government planning policy.
The two developments agreed in the original made plan are due to be completed by end 2025:

• Bury Farm development, (on West side of Felsted), is under construction including the new Health Centre / Surgery.
• Sunnybrook Farm development, (on East side of Felsted), is under construction including 90 space carpark for meet & greet at Felsted Primary School.

Future development:

• Uttlesford District Council (UDC) has advanced its Local Plan which suggests the district will NOT be forced to increase the number of homes prescribed to each parish by the new Government’s Housing Targets. However, the original quota for Felsted has been revised from 95 to 104 new homes to be built by 2041.
• The FNP Drop-in Meeting held 15/16th March 2024 was attended by 150 residents. Information included map displays indicating various sites assessed by UDC as suitable for possible development and residents were invited to indicate preferences. Also, indicative support was sought for a possible new site for an enlarged Lindsell local shop and Post Office.
• Bearing in mind the current developments in Felsted, (and Little Dunmow, which is outside the FNP remit), the FNP Steering Group has agreed to seek to delay any future development for at least 5 years. Based on the results of the recent Housing Survey, the emphasis will also be on smaller houses and Social Housing with the support of a Housing Association together with housing suitable for retirees.
• It is agreed that although Felsted has a target of 104 new houses, this can be reduced by “Windfall Sites” ( for example, a private house demolished and replaced by 2 or more houses / development within larger house properties).
• A Traffic Survey has been commissioned by ECC along Station Road.
• The Felsted United Reform Church has agreed to pass over the ownership and management of their Burial Ground in Chelmsford Road to FPC which will result in ALL Felsted Parishioners having access for future burials for many years to come.
• It should be noted that since the introduction of the FNP, developers have not attempted to introduce their own proposals because the power of the FNP influences the decision of local Planning Authorities,(for example, a recent proposal for 50 homes at Hartford End was rejected by UDC).
• For more updated information, the Minutes of each meeting and other relevant details including the results from the recent Housing Need Survey, are published here on the Felsted Parish Council website.
• There is also a map showing the Felsted boundary.

March 2024 – Drop-In Sessions

The Neighbourhood Plan Review Group held 2 drop-in sessions on the 15th & 16th March 2024.

Over the two days of the drop-in sessions at the Memorial Hall, the Review Group met 137 parishioners who viewed and commented on the 18 information boards and the maps of the sites the Group was proposing as possible sites for the 95 additional new homes the parish is obliged, by Uttlesford District Council  (UDC) to accept between now and 2041.

The unanimously expressed opinion was that Felsted ‘had enough’ and any further development was undesirable anywhere in the parish. However, it was also accepted that if Felsted had to have more homes, planning where they should be, what they should look like and defining the need they should meet was infinitely preferable to allowing developers free reign.

The drop-in invited parishioners to consider 12 sites, all of which have been put forward by landowners to UDC as being available for development, and to put coloured dots signifying either their support or objection to each site. Members of the Review Group had well-informed and engaged conversation with many of the attendees, while others were content just to read the information boards and make their decisions.

The Review Group also asked where, if necessary, the shop could be relocated and are grateful for the consideration this issue was given.

The next step for the Review Group is to analyse the choices indicated and to combine the results with the outcome of the independent Housing Needs Survey.

Three points have emerged as recurrent concerns:

1. It is important to know the Felsted parish boundaries. For example, the large developments west of Priory Bridge on Station Road are in Flitch Green and Little Dunmow parishes, outside of Felsted Parish and are therefore beyond any control or influence Felsted might have through its current neighbourhood plan.
2. There is a consensus that the kinds of home that are being built are often not what local people want. There are too many large ‘executive’ homes and too few, smaller but nevertheless high quality, spacious homes for downsizers or homes for younger entrants to the housing market. The Review Group will very carefully consider these comments alongside the outcome of the Housing Needs Survey, which is expected towards the end of April.
3. There was a broad consensus that development should be phased over the 17 years between now and 2041 and not front-loaded. These comments are in alignment with the Review Groups current thinking, insomuch the group thinks that the housing need will change over the plan period and should be met incrementally after further Housing Needs Survey’s at five year intervals. The group will now investigate how phasing can be structured.

The Review Group thanks everyone who came along, for their kind words and for sharing their passion for keeping Felsted a wonderful place to live.