Land South of Stansted Mountfitchet and North of Birchanger

Up to 150 private and 150 affordable on the Stansted Mountfitchet site.

Up to 90 private and 90 affordable on the Birchanger site.

The mix has not yet been decided, but it is likely to be a mix of affordable rent, shared ownership and discount market homes. At the public consultation there was a preference for homes for people with local connections.

The Government’s Plan for Change seeks to deliver 1.5 million new homes this Parliament to address “an inherited acute and entrenched housing crisis”.

Uttlesford has a recognised housing affordability problem. The Uttlesford Housing Market Report, December 2024 states that property prices in Uttlesford are higher compared to the average for the Eastern region due to the district’s proximity to London and Cambridge. For example, the average price of a new build house is £453,457 for the Eastern region compared to £768,571 for Uttlesford. The average property price in Uttlesford in December 2024 was £564,920, while the median income of residents is £31,156. The government recognises that the supply of housing must be increased in order to make it more affordable.

There are over 1,400 households on the waiting list for an affordable home in Uttlesford, and this has increased by 34% over the past six years.

The introduction of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings will make the key junctions safer, and will also ease the flow of traffic leaving Forest Hall Road and Birchanger Lane onto Stansted Road. The provision of pedestrian and cycle routes and amenities such as a shop on the Stansted site is designed to encourage people out of their cars.

Uttlesford District Council’s new Local Plan is nearing adoption, but currently there is a housing shortfall in the district. Sites in sustainable locations like South of Stansted Mountfitchet and North of Birchanger can help the council deliver high-quality new homes in the short term to help reduce this deficit.

These sites fit into the new category of sustainable sites, known as Grey Belt, which the Government supports, but only if they meet certain criteria:

• To provide at least 50% affordable housing.
• To provide the necessary infrastructure improvements.
• To create or enhance accessible public green spaces.

The larger amount of affordable housing on these sites will help address the council’s rising housing waiting list of over 1,400 households currently, an increase of 34% in the last six years. The new market housing will help provide for the general housing shortage whilst also giving more choice to local people.

In February 2022, UDC was ‘designated’ by the Secretary of State as an authority not adequately performing its function of determining planning applications. As such, applicants could choose to submit major applications to the Planning Inspectorate. In accordance with this, City & Country sought pre-application planning advice from the Planning Inspectorate in early 2025 for development proposals. The Inspector concluded that the sites were considered to be Grey Belt, and that ‘if sites A and B [Birchanger] were to be developed then the remaining Green Belt would still adequately serve its five purposes in a meaningful way even considering the proposal for Sites F and G [Stansted Mountfitchet]’.

The schemes propose building on a small area of land that was registered as green belt in the 1990s. Uttlesford has 3,810 hectares of Green Belt land, and these proposals plan to build homes on 0.4% of this land. The land that is proposed for housing is screened by existing mature hedgerows and the view of the Planning Inspector is that building in these locations will not reduce the overall quality of the green belt.

City & Country owns 177 acres of land between Stansted & Birchanger, and are proposing to build homes on 22% of the land, on parcels adjacent to Stansted Mountfitchet and Birchanger respectively. The rest of the land between the settlements will be retained as landscape. Part of the land will be used to provide new cycle and pedestrian links between the two settlements, however the majority of the land will be turned into a habitat bank. A habitat bank is an area of land set aside for ecological improvement which is legally protected for a minimum of 30 years. This will prevent the settlements merging.

Building on one part of the green belt does not automatically open the door to building on the rest of the green belt.

Essex County Council’s Education department will be consulted on our applications and using their forward planning and forecasting tools, will confirm whether or not financial contributions and / or land will be required from City & Country to provide for additional school places. There is currently capacity in the local schools, as detailed below:

Birchanger Primary School

• Currently Birchanger Primary School has 97 pupils, with a declared capacity of 117 pupils. View source.
• A standard one form entry school would accommodate 210 pupils (7 classes x 30 pupils).
• In addition, St Mary’s CofE Foundation Primary School currently has 262 pupils with capacity for 315, and Magna Carta Primary Academy currently has 201 pupils with capacity for 210.
• Our Birchanger proposals include up to 180 dwellings. Essex County Council apply a multiplier of 0.3 additional primary school pupils per new house, so this would equate to 54 new pupils. This would bring the total to 150-170 children (depending on whether you add to the current pupil numbers or the declared capacity of 117). Either way, that additional number is well within the 210 pupil threshold of a one form entry school.
• In terms of size of site, the current school site is c.1ha.
• There isn’t any guidance on size of a 1FE primary school, as they are not encouraged by Department of Education. As a guide, a 2FE school (for 420 pupils) is generally 2.1ha. so, proportionately, 1 ha would be able to accommodate full size one form entry school of 210 pupils. Nevertheless, our proposals include safeguarded land for expansion of the school if required.

Forest Hall Secondary School

• Forest Hall School has capacity for 660 pupils (four form entry), but currently only has 472 pupils (equivalent of three form entry), therefore there is a surplus of 188 pupil places. View source.
• The Department of Education preference is for secondary schools to be a minimum of four form entry (for viability and to offer a reasonable curriculum)
• In addition, there is Helena Romanes School at Great Dunmow which currently has a surplus of 339 pupil places and the new Avanti Grange Secondary School at Bishops Stortford (3km from Birchanger) which has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 297 pupils currently on roll.
• Essex County Council apply a multiplier of 0.2 additional secondary school pupils per new house, so this equates to 96 places for both the Birchanger and Stansted sites combined.
• Forest Hall School could comfortably accommodate all secondary school pupils from the Sites, and that is without parental choice and children going to private school being factored in; or the new school for 1200 pupils proposed at Takeley.
• The school site is c.5.5ha, which is currently over the size required for a four form entry school. Nevertheless, our proposals include safeguarded land for expansion of the school if required.

Uttlesford District Council, in consultation with other bodies such as Essex Country Council and the NHS, will attach conditions to any planning permission to ensure the commitments made in our applications on aspects such as design, highways improvements and provision of open space are enforceable within set timescales.

In addition, a Section 106 Agreement which is legally binding will secure things such as financial contributions towards healthcare, education, and strategic highways improvements, where they are deemed necessary by the relevant authorities.

No, quite the opposite. The proposals will restore lost hedgerows and woodland significantly enhancing the wildlife corridors on the site. Ancient woodland will be protected and not affected by our proposals. The proposals also include a Habitat Bank on top of the 20% plus net gain in biodiversity on the site. Overall, the scheme will significantly improve both wildlife corridors and biodiversity on the sites.

No, quite the opposite – national policy means we cannot allow water to run off the sites at a greater rate than in their current state, and in fact we have to reduce the run-off rate further to allow for future increased rainfall as a result of climate change. This is assessed as part of the planning application, and the introduction of landscape features to retain water and regulate its release into the wider network ensures that there is no increased risk of flooding.

An earth bund up to 10m high has been positioned adjacent to the motorway to screen the development from the noise of the motorway. This will be shaped and extensively planted to create a landscape feature. Air quality is assessed within the planning submission documents, with no adverse impact. The Stansted Airport flightpath runs parallel to the site therefore aircraft rarely pass directly over the site.

The addition of more homes adjacent to Stansted and Birchanger will help support the existing cafes, pubs, shops and other businesses in the area by bringing in new customers. The shop and cafe proposed in the Stansted sites are a direct response from feedback at public consultation for the need for such facilities on the southern edge of Stansted. In addition, the proposed office space would provide the opportunity for people to work close to home in shared workspaces. The local schools currently have capacity, and additional pupils may attract increased funding for improvements. Any improvements required to healthcare, education or community facilities to accommodate additional users from the developments would be determined by the relevant authority and secured by the S106 agreements. Stansted is one of the very few villages of this size not to have a village hall, and allocating land for one to be built could really help with community events and functions.

From historic origins, the sizes of both Stansted & Birchanger have changed significantly in tandem with new transport and employment opportunities. Stansted for instance trebled in the second half of the C19 and then trebled again in the C20. Birchanger has 1960s and 70s development which dictate the character of the village, infilling between the old farmhouses and church.

Stansted has distinct character areas based on the core settlements that have coalesced into the modern village. The Bentfield End, Chapel and Street areas have come together and are set apart from the Stansted Hall and Burton End settlements despite extensive recent development. The currently proposed development is set well clear of Stansted Hall which is well clear of the core settlement around Lower Street so will not have an impact on the character of existing settlement. The Birchanger development is set to the NW of the village and will not affect Birchanger Lane from the Cottage to the listed barn.

The new development is clustered as per the original settlement pattern of the area so grows out of the local vernacular and will not run into existing settlements in any way, physically or visually.

Our proposals include walking and cycling routes to discourage car travel to the railway station. The station can accommodate 12-coach train services, and currently an average of 17.6 passengers uses each service, meaning the station ranks 696th of 1,735 stations for passenger to service ratio.