Old River Lane: pressure grows for a rethink

Opponents of East Herts Council’s proposed redevelopment of the Old River Lane site in Bishop’s Stortford began mobilising support in February with a battle to stop the plans being fought on a number of fronts. East Herts Council is working with developer Cityheart on longstanding plans to create a ‘cultural quarter’ on the former Causeway car park next to Waitrose. But after plans for a new theatre within a landmark arts centre building at the centre of the development were dropped for budgetary reasons, and with a cinema now being the focus of that building, many are calling into question the development’s value to the town.

Somewhat ironically, East Herts Council has bought the United Reformed Church Hall, a community hall on the edge of the site used by local arts groups, which the developer plans to demolish to allow it to reconfigure Waitrose car park as part of the scheme.

l More than 200 letters of objection have so far been submitted to each of two planning applications lodged with East Herts by Cityheart.

Bishop’s Stortford Civic Federation and Bishop’s Stortford Town Council are among those to have objected. Some of the matters objected to include plans for up to 225 new homes on the site rather than the ‘around 100’ stated in the council’s district plan; the height of some of the buildings and, the objectors say, inadequate public consultation. l In mid-February the cross-party Old River Lane Working Group of Lib Dems, Labour and Greens held a public meeting at Bishop’s Stortford High School. It was attended by around 250 people. l At the end of February the group planned to hand deliver more than 200 individually signed letters to the executive on Conservative-controlled East Herts Council asking it to take on board the strength of opposition to the plans and asking it to pause and rethink.

Liberal Democrat opposition leader Mione Goldspink said despite there not being any East Herts Council Conservative councillors at February’s public meeting: “They cannot go on ignoring the people of

Bishop’s Stortford any longer.” l Meanwhile Bishop’s Stortford Civic Federation earlier succeeded in having the venue listed as an asset of community value, which enables it to make a bid to buy it ahead of any potential sale to the developer. A group called the Friends of Water Lane Hall is attempting to raise funds towards its possible purchase. Details of its fundraising effort can be found at waterlanehall.org.

The Friends have also written to Bishop’s Stortford Town Council asking if it will help secure the hall’s future, either by lobbying East Herts and Cityheart to save the hall; by contributing a message of support to a business plan or assisting with a loan or grant to fund the purchase of the hall.