East of Harlow

East of Harlow is located across the administrative boundary between Harlow District and Epping Forest District.

Collectively, the East of Harlow area will provide around 3,350 new homes as part of new development within the Garden Town (2,600 will lie within Harlow District and 750 will lie within Epping Forest District).

The new development will incorporate community facilities, including nursery/pre-school facilities, and new primary and secondary schools.

An area of land on the north-eastern part of the site has been identified by Princess Alexandra Hospital as the preferred location for a brand-new health campus.

Full funding for a new, state-of-the-art hospital for Harlow was confirmed by Government last year.

Development of this site also provides the opportunity to resolve flood risk issues, both onsite and off-site, downstream and upstream.

The site will be connected to Harlow Town Centre and the wider Garden Town by safe and attractive pedestrian and cycling routes as well as a rapid bus transit service which will run along a dedicated corridor.

July 2023 saw Harlow Council launch their consultation for the draft East of Harlow Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The document provides guidance to assist the future site developer in producing a masterplan for the area, acknowledging all ‘high-level’ matters that will need to be considered while aligning to the district-wide Local Plans of the two local authorities, Harlow and Epping Forest.

Based on the responses from the public and stakeholders, a revised SPD has been produced and will be adopted by both Councils in early Summer.

The masterplan, once produced by the developer, will set out the detailed framework for the site – based on the guidance in the SPD – and will be used for subsequent planning applications for the site.

The masterplan will need to be consulted upon by the developer and approved by both the two councils.

When producing the masterplan, the developer would have to demonstrate that all views received have been considered.