East Herts Conservatives call for new Princess Alexandra Hospital ahead of thousands of new homes for district

East Herts Conservatives have called on the Labour Government to press ahead with plans for a new Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) as the district braces for thousands of new homes.

Last month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed that work on a new medical campus for East Herts and West Essex, costing up to £2 billion, would not start until at least 2032.

The ageing Harlow hospital already has an extended catchment area of up to 500,000 potential patients.

This month, East Herts Council (EHC) published the results of its ‘call for sites’, a crucial part of updating the District Plan.

Landowners, developers, agents and site promoters identified 282 sites they believe are suitable for housing and employment, community facilities, habitat creation and enhancement, and infrastructure.

The locations – including 21 in Bishop’s Stortford and 12 in Sawbridgeworrth – will be scrutinised by the council as it updates its housing and employment strategy to accommodate around 19,000 new homes between 2028 and 2043.

The Conservatives said the list of potential development sites had raised serious concerns.

Cllr John Wyllie, the EHC member for Bishop’s Stortford Thorley Manor, said: “Many residents feel that our communities have already taken their fair share of development in recent years.

“While not all of these sites will be built on, we must ensure that any development is appropriate for our area and accompanied by significant investment in local services.”

The EHC Conservative group acknowledged the need for more housing nationally to help people onto the property ladder. However, the Tories argued this could not mean unchecked development at any cost.

They stressed the importance of protecting green spaces and ensuring that infrastructure – including roads, schools and healthcare facilities – were delivered alongside new homes.

The group is also urging the Government to lift the pause on the “much-needed” new PAH in Harlow, which they say is “critical” to meeting future healthcare demand.

Cllr Bob Deering, leader of the Conservative group, said: “Many Green and Liberal Democrat councillors, who now run East Herts, stood for election on a promise to limit development in our area.

“If the number and location of these sites are anything to go by, combined with their failure to guarantee a five-year housing supply, those Green and Liberal Democrat councillors look set to break their promise to voters.”

He said his team would engage with residents and oppose unsustainable development. Their message, he said, was clear: “No new homes without new infrastructure.”

The council’s Green and Lib Dem cabinet is due to discuss the call for sites at a meeting on Tuesday evening (Feb 11).

Ahead of the meeting, Cllr Chris Wilson, a Bishop’s Stortford Lib Dem member of EHC and its executive member for resident engagement, issued a statement on social media.

He said: “East Herts is at the very early stages of looking at a new District Plan.

“Under the new national Government’s plan, we will as a district be required to build more housing.

“The very first stage in identifying possible places for this housing is to ask landowners to come forward with proposals.

“There will be a technical assessment of these proposals by council officers and a lot of them will inevitably be judged as unsuitable and any chance of them being included in the new plan will end there and then.

“Even if a site makes the initial cut, that does not mean it will then be in the plan.

“It is not now the time for public input as this would be premature and, in many cases, a waste of time for the public and the council given how many sites will be rejected.

“There will be time for extensive public engagement and consultation in future and I and others will let residents know when that is and what you can contribute.

“To set expectations, when we do get further down the line, there will be more development in East Herts and that is not something we can stop.

“The new Government has altered some of the rules so there is greater bias in favour of development, so if a site meets planning criteria it will be difficult to refuse planning permission.

“The thing we all want to know, how infrastructure will be delivered, remains unclear to me. When I know more I will detail this, but it is something of great concern to all your councillors of all parties.”