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Garden Town Director, Naisha Polaine, has welcomed the news that both Harlow Council and Epping Forest District Council have adopted cross-boundary master planning guidance for over 3,000 homes in East of Harlow.
1 of 4 neighbourhoods proposed for the garden town, East of Harlow will feature 2,600 homes on Harlow Council land and 750 across Epping Forest in addition to a 14-hectare health and wellbeing campus plus supporting infrastructure.
The adoption of the East of Harlow supplementary planning document (SPD) gives it material planning consideration status, meaning future site developers will have to follow the guidance around placemaking and building quality homes in order to secure planning permission.
A new sustainable community
Naisha Polaine, Garden Town Director said:
We’re delighted that the East of Harlow SPD has been approved by our council partners as it embeds our vision of well-designed homes and creating a brand new sustainable community that will give the residents there a great quality of life in the future.
The East of Harlow SPD is a huge piece of work for the garden town project because it negates future risks like a piecemeal development that isn’t held together by a cohesive masterplan or designs that don’t tie in with our wider principles around quality placemaking.
Wide range of community facilities
With local residents and stakeholder groups inputting into the SPD last year, East of Harlow is set to incorporate a wide range of community facilities, including nursery / pre-school facilities plus 2 new primary schools and a secondary school alongside the 3,350 homes.
Much to be excited about
Naisha Polaine continued:
We realise that new communities like East of Harlow can make people feel nervous because it brings a level of uncertainty and change and that’s something we recognise.
But there’s so much to be excited about around East of Harlow and the other Garden Town communities proposed for Gilston, Water Lane and Latton Priory.
The SPD has allowed us to prioritise the things that people are passionate about like safeguarding landscape features and the importance of green wedges, part of Harlow’s existing character, and a key sustainable transport corridor to improve accessibility to cycling, walking and bus services.
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