The Harlow-Stansted Area offers exceptional potential to deliver housing and economic growth, and to regenerate Harlow while maintaining the character of smaller historic towns and villages in the sub-region. Proximity to London and Cambridge, good strategic transport links, and the presence of London’s third airport at Stansted, make the sub-region an excellent business location and one of the major untapped opportunities in the Greater South East. Key to unlocking this potential is the need to tackle significant congestion in and around Harlow, which is both a current problem and a barrier to future growth.
As well as occupying this key strategic location in the East of England, Harlow has among the highest workplace earnings and levels of employment in the region as well as one of the strongest R&D bases (second only to Cambridge in its diversity). Harlow has the potential to create at least an additional 25 hectares of employment generating land and, with the local desire to deliver housing and population growth, this provides a major opportunity to drive economic growth in a location that is already a major sub-regional employment centre.
The Harlow Stansted Gateway Transportation Board was established in spring 2007 to take a sub-regional, partnership-based approach to tackling these barriers through an integrated package of public transport improvements, essential investment in roads, and measures to effect behavioural change. The Board identified at an early stage the need to focus on access to and movement within Harlow as its first priority, in order that the potential of the town could be released to support its regeneration, and ensure that it is capable of delivering the majority of the sub-region’s economic and housing growth.
The Board is chaired by Essex County Council and it also brings together Hertfordshire County Council, Harlow, East Herts and Epping Forest District Councils, the Highways Agency, Department for Transport, EEDA, Harlow Renaissance Ltd. and private sector interests such as BAA and National Express East Anglia.
The Transport Board’s programme has focussed on a range of measures to improve transportation in and around Harlow:
- The development of an evidence base and transport model that will provide the basis for future large scale transport projects and bids for public funding
- Tackling traffic congestion through measures such as the improvements to the A414 between the motorway junction and the Southern Way roundabout
- Exploring measures to improve Harlow’s connections to the wider area
- Public transport improvements such as the bus lane built on First Avenue to ease access to the town centre
- Improving cycling and walking facilities
The attached Transport Board Business Plan sets out the case for investment, activities already completed and plans for future action.