Old River Lane opponents to reveal alternative proposals for Bishop's Stortford town centre site
Campaigners are promising a "better vision for Old River Lane" which they will reveal at a public meeting in Bishop's Stortford later this month.
The Cross-party Working Group on ORL has been working on a six-point alternative to the Causeway scheme put forward by East Herts Council's (EHC) development partner, Cityheart, which members say will offer constructive proposals for a "deliverable, viable and sympathetic" development.
They want the council's Conservative leaders to "radically review their promise of an arts centre".
The coalition of Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green Party members will present their scheme at the meeting at The Bishop's Stortford High School on Sunday February 19 (from 2.45pm) along with a critique of Cityheart's planning applications.
The developer wants to knock down the council's Charringtons House office block and the United Reformed Church Hall in Water Lane as part of a blueprint for a new public square, pedestrian-friendly streets, 150 homes, 75 "extra care" dwellings, 1,000 sq m retail space, 3,500 sq m office space and a landmark £15.5m cinema-led arts centre.
So far, 160 objections have been lodged with EHC with just one supportive response.
Labour's David Jacobs, secretary of the ORL cross-party group, said: "The more we look at this half-baked scheme, the more it unravels."
The group has pinpointed what it believes are critical flaws in Cityheart's submission.
The campaigners believed the outline planning application could even be invalid as it encompasses part of Waitrose's car park, which is leased until May 2042. However, they say the supermarket was not formally notified as an affected landowner.
The Friends of Water Lane Hall group, campaigning to save the community hall, wrote to Waitrose and was told the John Lewis estate manager responsible for the store had had no discussions with Cityheart or the developer's architect.
In a letter to EHC on January 24, Yvonne Estop on behalf of the cross-party group wrote: "As we understand it, serving notice on an owner of part of the application site, who has a lease with at least 7 years to run, is an absolute requirement if a planning application is to be valid."
On Monday (Feb 6) she received a reply from EHC saying that it had raised the matter with Cityheart and the applicant had confirmed it had not served notice, which it is now doing, and that as such the application was currently invalid.
"To avoid confusion to the public at large we are not going to make it so (as it would be removed from our website automatically) but an updated application form and notice will be uploaded in due course," said the council.
The group also highlights Cityheart's bid for a maximum height plan, which states "up to six storeys" but which gives measurements that the group fears could enable eight storeys.
Other concerns include East Herts' capital spending on the proposed arts centre, which could be revised by any change in administration following the May 4 local elections, and unconfirmed proposals once Charringtons House closes to use Bishop's Stortford Town Council premises as a substitute service desk on one day a week.
The public meeting will be chaired jointly by Cllr Mione Goldspink and Labour's Elif Toker Turnalar, who chairs the working group.
Cllr Goldspink leads the Lib Dem opposition on EHC. Shortly after she was elected in 2019, she tabled an unsuccessful motion to halt the Old River Lane project pending proper consultation with the public and the town's arts community.
