Stort crossing backed by councillors
The campaign against the crossing was led by Friends of Latton Island
A scheme to build a four-lane bridge over the River Stort at Harlow has been approved by councillors.
The scheme, known as the Eastern River Stort Crossing, is linked to Harlow and the proposed Gilston Garden Town and aims to link housing development at Pye Corner in Gilston with Harlow’s River Way.
When built, the flyover will provide a direct route from the garden town to a new junction 7a of the M11. The 30ft-high road will be built on an area of wetland and floodplain, impacting particularly on the community of Latton Island.
Campaigners battling the road said it would wreck “an area of pristine natural beauty and historical significance to the north of Harlow”, adding it would make “an attractive asset for the developers to promote the new project, whilst providing no positive benefit for the residents of Harlow”.
It is thought that the new crossing will help allow the creation of the 10,000-property ‘garden town’.
The council’s development management committee met on Wednesday, February 23, and supported the proposal to improve the existing Stort Crossing and create a new Eastern Stort Crossing.
A spokesman for developer Places for People said: “The decisions made by our garden town partners, East Herts and Harlow District Councils, are the first steps in our placemaking process.
“We are committed to doing the best that we possibly can for new and existing residents plus the generations that follow.
“We recognise the strength of feeling from some parts of the community about these applications, but this new infrastructure will contribute significantly to local housing needs and play a part in attracting new investment to Harlow & Gilston Garden Town over time.
“As a local authority partnership, we look forward to working with our developer partners in delivering our vision for the garden town and our legacy for the future will be to ensure we always achieve biodiversity net gain for local flora and fauna when development takes place.”