Local Plan
The new Uttlesford Draft Local Plan (Regulation 18) has been issued for public consultation.
The consultation runs from Friday the 3rd of November until Monday 18th of December.
Whilst we celebrate the fact that Easton Park has not been included in the sites allocated for development, the even better news is that the draft plan documentation has identified a Strategic Opportunity to create a new Country Park for the district at Easton Park.
In July 2020, SEP published a vision document “A New Country Park for Uttlesford” in which we set out our vision for the restoration of Easton Park through the creation of a new country park for Uttlesford. In the 2021 call for sites for the current local plan, we submitted Easton Park as a potential site for a new country park and over the last few years we have been promoting the proposal with UDC at every opportunity.
The outcome is that UDC have included Easton Park as a site for a potential new Country Park within their “Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy”. The strategy sets out how Easton Park has the potential to relieve some of the pressures faced by Hatfield Forest and contribute to improving the provision of open space for a growing population in Great Dunmow and Takeley along the A120 corridor.
You can access and read the UDC Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy Document by clicking on the link below. The Easton Park section is contained in “Strategic Opportunity 8” on page 93. It is also worth reading some of the other strategic opportunities to see how a restored Easton Park will link with and enhance them to create a coherent green strategy.
THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TOWARDS FOR THE LAST 7 YEARS! THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE THE RESTORATION OF EASTON PARK AND PROTECT IT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS!
If we don’t seize the day now to protect Easton Park for future generations, parties threatened by the current proposals will encourage UDC to use Easton Park as an alternative solution leading to the risk of future housing development. It is therefore vital that we support the creation of a new country park at Easton Park in the current plan.
We would encourage all our supporters and anyone else who would prefer to see a restored Country Park at Easton Park rather than 10,000 houses to take part in the consultation and give their support to the Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy and in particular to Strategic Opportunity 8 – A New Country Park at Easton Park.
