NEWS

Felsted Church Tower Open Day

Saturday 5^th May 2018

10am – 1pm

Climb to the top of the tower and see the bells

Watch the bells being rung

Have a go at ringing a bell

A lot of ringers were killed in The Great War.  One hundred years later it seems entirely appropriate to recruit some more.

You could be one of them!

The date of the Annual Parish Assembly has been changed to Thursday 26 April. The venue is unchanged, in the URC Hall at 7.00pm.

Come along and hear what has been happening in the Parish over the last year and tell the Council what you think we should be focussing on in the coming months and year.

Further to our previous news item here,  concerning the application from Stansted airport to increase passenger numbers to 43million, from the current level of 25million, Uttlesford District Council has extended the planning application comments deadline to 30th April.

You therefore still have 5 days to submit your comments.

Felsted Parish Council has objected to the application. You can read our submission here.

Our objection continues to be based on arguments that Stansted airport’s expansion plans must receive national determination against national air traffic plans and  environmental targets. It is wrong for this to receive only District level review and wrong for Uttlesford to determine an application in which they have a financial interest.

Furthermore, we continue to argue that the airport must first resolve the noise nuisance problems caused by the flightpath changes made in 2016, and which have resulted in a 20 fold increase in noise complaints.

We are also concerned about the hidden clause on the 2,900 page application, which allows Stansted airport to lobby for increases in night flights.

Comments can be submitted via UDC’s website here.

Please see the important message below from the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group about forthcoming presentations on the 13th (7pm) or 14th April (10am) at the Memorial Hall.

Over the last three years your Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group has been working hard to produce a genuinely ambitious Neighbourhood Plan that delivered everything you have asked for during our consultations.  For many months now most of our policies have been completed and we have been ready to bring the plan forward to a pre-referendum consultation.  As we hope you know, pivotal to our ambitions has been our efforts to deliver a Community Hub that would alleviate the congestion in the centre of the village and ensure access to amenities – like the doctors and the village shop – for the next 20 years and beyond.

However, despite our strenuous efforts, we have been unable to gain control of a suitable and accessible site close to the centre of the Parish that enjoys sufficient support from all the key stakeholders.  We are sorry and I am personally disappointed to say that we are therefore unable to deliver the Hub that we believed would have been an exciting and lasting asset to our community.

It may be, given more time, that we might have been able to secure a suitable site but, all the time we wait developers and landowners are coming forward with proposals for housing that we don’t support and which the Parish Council is powerless to resist because the Uttlesford Local Plan has been rejected and an acceptable 5 year housing supply pipeline cannot be identified.  If the Neighbourhood Plan is in place we have sound policies that at least offer some chance to control development in our parish.

So, with great reluctance we have been forced to abandon the Community Hub element of the Neighbourhood Plan.

We are now going quickly to bring forward a revised plan that offers protection against over-development in Felsted.  In so doing, we have been mindful of the pressure on the Parish through UDC for additional housing.  Our NP cannot prevent all development in the Parish, but our hope is now, by accepting some limited development,we will have met UDC’s needs for more housing and still have achieved some material gains for our community.

Please come along to the presentation on the 13th (7pm) or 14th April (10am) at the Memorial Hall to hear more.

Kind regards,

Roy A C Ramm

Chairman

Felsted Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group

Further to our earlier news items, we have now written to Uttlesford District Council, calling for the expansion application to be reviewed at national level, against national planning and environmental targets and for us to be given time to consider the thousands of pages of documentation.

You can read our letter here.

We are calling for more time to allow due consideration of the thousands of pages of documents submitted in support of the application. UDC has currently allowed only 6 weeks to submit comments, which also includes the Easter Holiday period. We have argued that this is little more time than would be allowed to consider a loft extension, and cannot be right for a major infrastructure project, resulting in a 44% increase in air traffic when compared to today’s levels.

Comments can be submitted via UDC’s website here.  There are also drop in events organised by the airport, details are here.

These events are timed to give, in the case of the final event, only one working day between the event and the deadline for submission of comments.

We have again objected to this undue haste to process the application. Even Highways England have said that they cannot meet the required deadline, and will not respond before 25th May.

However, without confirmation of a reconsideration by UDC of the process, we must assume that comments will close on 3rd April and anyone wishing to make a comment should therefore do so before this date.

Felsted Parish Council will be  making a submission that Stansted airport’s expansion plans must receive national determination against national air traffic plans and  environmental targets. It is wrong for this to receive only District level review. Furthermore, we shall state that the airport must first resolve the noise nuisance problems caused by the flightpath changes made in 2016, and which have resulted in a 20 fold increase in noise complaints.

You can also read more here on the SSE website, also calling for national determination of the application.

The popular Green Waste skip service is due to begin on 8 April.

As with previous years, the skip will operate at Bannister Green on Sundays between 9-10am.

The service will run through to 25th November 2018.

Further to our previous news item here, Stansted airport has now formally applied to increase passenger numbers to 43million, from the current level of ~24million.

Felsted Parish Council will be  making a submission calling for the airport to resolve the noise nuisance problems caused by the flightpath changes made in 2016, before undergoing any further expansion. To date the airport has made not a single proposal to mitigate the noise nuisance, nor has it responded to the 20 fold increase in noise related complaints.

The current application is also designed to come in at just under a level requiring central central government scrutiny. We will argue that this decision is too important to reside at UDC level, and must be referred to the Secretary of State for Transport.

We would urge all those impacted by the noise problems to do similar, every voice makes a difference and silence will only lead to an assumption that everyone is happy.

Uttlesford District Council has released the following announcement:

NOTICE UNDER ARTICLE 15 (1A) OF THE DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE ORDER 2015 (AS AMENDED)OF APPLICATION FOR PLANNING PERMISSION ACCOMPANIED BY AN ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT – UTT/18/0460/FUL

Proposed development at: Stansted Airport

I give notice that Stansted Airport Limited is applying the Uttlesford District Council for planning permission for  “Airfield works comprising two new taxiway links to the existing runway (a Rapid Access Taxiway and a Rapid Exit Taxiway)six additional remote aircraft stands adjacent Yankee taxiway); and three additional aircraft stands (extension of the Echo Apron) to enable combined airfield operations of 274,000 aircraft movements and a throughput of 43 million terminal passengers, in a 12-month calendar period”

That application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement.

Members of the public may inspect copies of the application at the Council Offices London Road Saffron Walden CB11 4ER during office hours 8.30am – 5pm Monday – Thursday and 8.30 – 4.30pm on Fridays until 13 February 2018 and online and online at www.uttlesford.gov.uk/airportapplication

Members of the public may obtain copies of the Environmental Statement from: Planning Department, Stansted Airport, Enterprise House, Bassingbourn Road, Essex, CM24 1QW at following charges:-  Electronic copy (USB) of full Environmental Statement £25.00, Hard Copy of Non-Technical Summary £10, Hard Copy of Environmental Statement £300.00

Anyone who wishes to make representations about this application should send them to Uttlesford District Council Council Offices London Road Saffron Walden CB11 4ER or make them online at www.uttlesford.gov.uk/airportapplication or by email to ku.vog.drofselttuobfsctd-39c5b1@noitacilppagninnalptropriadetsnats  by  3^rd April  2018 Quoting reference UTT/18/0460/FUL. All representations must include the name and address of the person or organisation making the representation.

Signed: Gordan Glenday On behalf of Uttlesford District Council 22nd February 2018

The Council is presently considering the above planning application. The plans and any other documents accompanying the application may be viewed via the Council’s web site: www.uttlesford.gov.uk/airportapplication or inspected during normal office hours 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday; 9am to 4.30pm Friday) at: – The Council Offices, London Road, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB11 4ER

Any comments you have about the application may be made on line using the above web site, emailed to ku.vog.drofselttuobfsctd-65d1d2@noitacilppagninnalptropriadetsnats  or may be sent to the above address by:-

3rd April 2018

Please note all comments made will be made public and will be posted on our website. Anonymous representations will not be accepted therefore please include your name and address including postcode.

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Felsted Parish Council continues to fight plans to build a New Town of up to 13,000 houses to the north of Felsted.

We believe the plans to be ill-conceived, poorly thought out and an inferior solution to delivering the housing needs for the district. They will drain resources from the area and add upwards of 30,000 cars to our existing congested road system, with the route south straight through Felsted.

We are working with a Planning Consultant alongside other Parish Councils and residents groups in the area, including from Great Saling, Bardfield Saling, Rayne,  Stebbing, Shalford, Great Bardfield and SERCLE to fight the proposals.

A representative from Felsted Parish Council will be speaking at the Inspector’s review into the plans on 25th January.

A flier has been produced to support the fundraising process, which can be downloaded  here.

Following on from our earlier news item regarding the Local Plan presentation events, specifically concerning the ‘West of Braintree’ New Town,  the event scheduled for Rayne was cancelled due to poor weather.

A new date has now been announced.

Rayne Scout HQ, Station Road, Rayne, CM77 6RX, 10th January 4pm–8pm

This is your last chance to learn more about the plans for the new town, of up to 13,000 houses, and to respond to the consultation. There are forms at the events, or you can submit comments online here. The consultation closes on 22nd January.

We, as the Parish Council, shall continue to object to the proposals for the West of Braintree New Town based on the impact it will have on the Parish from traffic and draw on resources. We have also asked to speak at the Inspector review of the overall plan. It does however remain important for residents to also make their views known.

Did you know that you can recycle your real Christmas tree after the holidays by taking it to one of the local recycling points provided by Uttlesford District Council?

Refuse vehicles will be made available at a number of locations around the district – simply take along your Christmas tree for disposal. Other green waste can also be disposed of at the same time.

The recycled Christmas trees and garden waste can be turned into good quality compost or soil conditioner, or into chippings.

The refuse vehicle service will be available at Bannister Green from 11.30am-12.30pm on Sunday 7th January.

With our best wishes for a Happy New Year from all of us at Felsted Parish Council.