NEWS

An important part of the developing Felsted Neighbourhood Plan is a housing needs survey.

The survey has been posted through every door in the Parish, and nearly a third have been returned, a higher rate than might normally be expected. Thank you to everyone who has taken the 10 minutes needed to complete the form.

Read more about the survey here and how, if you haven’t yet returned your form, there is still (just) time to have your opinion counted.

An outline planning application has now been submitted by Catesby Estates Ltd (UTT/16/0287/OP)  to build 55 houses on the site to the south of the B1417, Braintree Road, Felsted.

The Parish Council Planning Committee considered the application at their meeting last Thursday and will be submitting an objection to the application. Any residents wishing to submit their own comments on the application to UDC should either write to UDC Planning Department quoting the above reference or can submit comments online via the UDC website. The deadline for comments to be received is 10 March 2016.

In an emergency a defibrillator can save someone’s life. There are a number of defibrillators sited around the village (Doctors surgery/Linsells shop/School Medical Centre) and a further one will soon be installed outside Linsells shop so that it is available 24/7.

You do not need to have received training to use the machine, as the machine ‘talks you through’ the process when it is in use. However a training session has been arranged so that people can become familiar with the procedure and are therefore more likely to use the defibrillator in an emergency situation.

The training will take place in the Smylie Hall (behind the Church) on 16 May at 7pm. Places are limited so if you would like to attend please contact Richard Silcock and book your space (linsells@btinternet.com  or in person in Linsells shop).

The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group have reported that over 25% of households have already retuned their completed Housing Needs Surveys to the RCCE.  This is an excellent start.   If you have not yet retuned your survey, you have until February 21st to do so.

Do not miss the opportunity to have your say on future housing needs within the parish.   It is important that as many voices as possible are heard on this very important topic.

Emergency repairs to a collapsed manhole are being carried out in the village centre this weekend. This will necessitate a three way traffic light system at the village centre junction and will result in additional parking restrictions. It is hoped that these emergency repairs will be completed by Sunday evening but they may have to be extended into Monday or Tuesday, depending on what is found once the area is excavated.

Uttlesford Frontline, a local community initiative initially targeted at health professionals, has proved to be so successful that it has been funded by West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group and Essex County Council to enable the public to benefit from the service.

For people who are worried about a friend or family member, or need help themselves, it’s important to be able to find out what support is available locally – however unless they know a service exists it can be difficult to know where to start looking. By visiting www.uttlesfordfrontline.org.uk and searching under a particular section, such as older people, families or mental health, a user can easily find out which organisations are offering relevant services within the local area and even request a call back from many of the services.  The system also allows people to comment on a service or chat with someone if they can’t find what they need.

Find more information on Uttlesford Frontline here, or call:

• Kirsty at Uttlesford Council of Voluntary Services on 01371 878400 or;
• Kate at Uttlesford Citizens Advice on 01799 526557.

Alongside responses your Parish Council has made to the Local Plan processes in Uttlesford and Braintree, we are also responding to the consultation phase for the Chelmsford Local Plan.

We are particularly concerned with 2 aspects of the consultation, being:

• The lack of a strategic review of Green Belt policy, which results in development sites being pushed towards the North and East of the Chelmsford region, notably from our perspective, towards Great Leighs.
• The consideration of the Great Leighs racecourse, offered by the owners under the ‘call for sites’ process, for housing development of up to 2000 houses. We feel this will have a particularly bad impact on Willows Green should it be adopted.

You can see the consultation site here. The deadline for submissions is 21st January. You can still have your say and you do not need to respond to all questions, just those against which you have an opinion you would like heard.

Don’t leave it for others to have your say, they may not agree with you…

By 2017 Uttlesford District Council is required to produce a Local Plan, which will identify areas for future housing development. The initial consultation phase, looking at overall strategy for the plan, is now closed and you can read the comprehensive Felsted Parish Council response here.

As part of the next stage, the locations of c400 sites across Uttlesford, put forward by interested parties  for possible development in response to the ‘call for sites’, have been released.

An interactive map of all 400 sites can be viewed here.  By zooming in you can view the 28 locations within the Parish of Felsted. A separate list of all areas can also be viewed here.

It is recognised by Uttlesford District Council that releasing this level of detail is likely to generate concern within communities. However, it is a part of their Local Plan process to make public all sites being offered for development, irrespective of the likelihood of any specific site being adopted.

There is at this time no consultation stage to respond to, nor does this stage of the Plan generate any specific planning applications on which residents, or the Parish Council, can comment. The Plan process does not however preclude individuals from submitting a planning application at any time in the usual manner.

The next stage in the Plan process is for Uttlesford District Council to published a draft of the  Strategic Land Availability Assessment (SLAA).  The Council can only conclude whether a  proposed site is suitable once the Council has reached a view about the overall development strategy for the District. It is anticipated that the SLAA assessments will therefore be finalised once the draft Local Plan strategy is published, hopefully in autumn 2016.

The District Council will then open a further consultation phase on the interim assessments. Comments made will be reviewed against each assessment and used to adjust the conclusions as necessary.

Felsted Parish Council remains vigilant and closely engaged with the Local Plan process. We have responded to the initial consultation phase and are a part of a cross District group of Parish Councils from Uttlesford and Braintree, established to share information, specifically in responding to the potential for a large scale development to the north of Felsted village (area 9 in the consultation). 

Separate from the Local Plan process, the Parish Council will continue to publicise and review any planning applications received, against Planning Policy, the principles established in the Felsted Parish Plan and those being defined within the emerging Neighbourhood Plan.