East Herts Council faces judicial review over consent for 10,000 new homes as part of Harlow and Gilston Garden Town scheme

East Herts Council (EHC) faces a judicial review over its planning permission for 10,000 new homes.

The authority has confirmed the prospect of a legal challenge to its go-ahead for two separate outline planning applications: one for Places for People for 8,500 homes across six villages and the other for Taylor Wimpey for a seventh village of 1,500 homes.

The schemes are part of the wider Harlow and Gilston Garden Town (HGGT) - a partnership between East Herts, Harlow and Epping Forest district councils and Herts and Essex county councils to deliver 16,000 new homes over the next nine years.

The villages were approved in principle in February and March 2023, when EHC was under Conservative control, and given final approval in January this year by the authority’s Green and Liberal Democrat administration.

Cllr Vicky Glover-Ward, EHC’s executive member for planning and growth, said at the time: “We are pleased to issue the planning permissions for the delivery of 10,000 homes and associated infrastructure in the Gilston area. This is a major milestone and an important step in achieving sustainable growth in East Herts, and the wider Harlow and Gilston Garden Town.”

The Indie asked the cabinet member to comment on the legal threat, but she did not respond.

The prospect of further delays in delivering the 10,000 new homes piles on the pressure for the council, which is currently unable to deliver a five-year housing land supply. That makes the authority vulnerable to speculative developments.

An EHC spokesperson confirmed: “As the planning authority for the Gilston development, we can confirm that a claim has been submitted for a judicial review of the council’s decision to grant planning permission for both outline applications.”

The Indie understands the claim has been submitted by a resident. The Hunsdon, Eastwick and Gilston Neighbourhood Plan Group (HEGNPG), representing the parish councils of Eastwick & Gilston and Hunsdon, said it was not behind the move.

At the latest meeting of EHC, Cllr Glover-Ward was quizzed about the district’s housebuilding strategy in general and specifically about HGGT by Sawbridgeworth’s Cllr Eric Buckmaster.

According to a planning inspector who overruled EHC and allowed a 350-home development on the outskirts of Buntingford, the council no longer has a five-year housing supply.

Cllr Buckmaster asked if the council had undertaken a proper assessment to understand the scale and risks of more speculative applications not allocated in the District Plan.

He said that it had taken two years to produce the decision notice for the Gilston villages and that developers said “there will be no spades in the ground for five years”.

Other developments were progressing slowly, he said, and the council was unlikely to have a five-year housing supply before the next district elections in 2027.

As the council embarks on a new District Plan, Cllr Buckmaster asked if Cllr Ward-Glover was negotiating terms with the Planning Inspectorate to enable a review which did not add further development pressure in the interim.

Cllr Glover Ward confirmed EHC’s planning team was talking to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about updating the District Plan and that she hoped East Herts would be a “front-runner authority” to expedite that process when new legislation is introduced.

Meanwhile, the council’s planning department was doing everything possible to ensure existing sites were deliverable within the next five years. She hoped to be able to issue an update on the council’s five-year status in “the next month or so”.

While the council does not have a five-year housing supply, the authority is subject to a “tilted balance” - which means there must be compelling reasons for planning permission to be withheld.

Cllr Glover-Ward said that “without a crystal ball” it was impossible to predict speculative applications. She added that a 300-house increase in the authority’s annual housing target by the Government did not help.