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MEDIA RELEASE
Issued: February 11, 2016
Parish council receives official confirmation that Hastingwood waste site plan has been scrapped
North Weald Bassett Parish Council has now received official confirmation from Essex County Council that a site off the M11 junction 7 roundabout at Hastingwood has been removed from a list of allocated sites for a waste facility.
The parish council was told unofficially last month that the location, next to the McDonald's restaurant, had been dropped as a possible site for open-air disposal of inert construction, demolition and excavation waste.
Essex County Council said it had taken the decision because the site is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and any proposals would be rejected unless very special circumstances apply.
The council states: "Following further consideration of representations received it is no longer clear that the waste use amounts to very special circumstances. Given this uncertainty this site is no longer included in the RLWP (Replacement Local Waste Plan)."
The parish council has welcomed the decision after it branded the idea "completely unacceptable".
Parish council chairman Cyril Hawkins had said that the site - near housing, St Clare Hospice, Harlow Garden Centre and the restaurant - was “completely unacceptableâ€.
The parish council had feared the waste use could have seen eight lorries entering and exiting the site every hour every day of the year.
Epping Forest District Council’s overview and scrutiny committee had said the plan should be rejected amid concerns that the use would increase traffic congestion around the junction 7 roundabout.
Welcoming the county council's announcement, Mr Hawkins said: "The parish council is delighted to have received this official confirmation that the site is no longer under consideration.
"This news brings to an end a period of great uncertainty for the parish as we feared that such a use could go ahead despite the wishes of the parish council and local residents."​
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