For all Press and Publicity enquiries please contact publicity@hartollesbury.com
HART – Housing Action by Residents of Tollesbury – was launched in July 2019.
Mission Statement: HART – Housing Action by Residents of Tollesbury – is not against all new housing. It exists to promote resistance to inappropriate building and over-development of Tollesbury.
Planning applications:
2019 19/00837/OUT Outline planning application by Gladman to build 90 houses at Mell Road, Tollesbury.
2025 25/00381/OUT Outline planning application by Welbeck to build 159 houses on the land north of West St, Tollesbury.
2025 25/01057/OUTM Outline planning application by Obsidian to build 200 houses on the land south of West St, Tollesbury.
2026 26/00066/OUTM Outline planning application by Gladman to build 149 houses at Mell Road, Tollesbury.
2026 26/00161/OUT Outline planning application by Stamfords to build 24 houses at North Road, Tollesbury.
Objections: Over 1500 residents sent objection letters to Maldon District Council for the Gladman application in 2019. That represents 72% of Tollesbury’s adult population – an unprecedented proportion. Research conducted by Churchill Insurance just before the Tollesbury application showed that only 4 applications in England attracted more objections. The
Decisions: Maldon District Council decided on 6th November 2019 to refuse the Gladman 2019 application. All the others are current and await a decision.
Appeal? Gladman had six months to decide whether to lodge an appeal – so by 6th May 2020. They chose not o appeal. There are three types of appeal including a full Inquiry, which HART will push for.
Gladman – who are they? They say they are the country’s largest land promoter – which really means they are an estate agent. They specialise in applying for planning permission on behalf of land-owners, and in managing an appeal if the application is refused.
Gladman in predatory mode: quote from David Gladman in the High Court, 2016: “We normally only target local authorities whose planning is in relative disarray and vulnerable [… Gladman] comes into its own where local authorities are in a state of flux, whilst they either have no up-to-date local plan or, temporarily, they do not have a five-year supply of consented building plots.”
Why is the 5 Year Housing Land Supply (5YHLS) so important? All councils are required by law to have at least a five year supply of land for housing. In 2019 Gladman state in their planning application that Maldon had failed to do this, but they didn’t offer any evidence for this claim. Maldon’s 5YHLS statement (Nov’19) showed that the District has 5.27 years’ supply. With changes in house building targets the current 5YHLS (Apr’26) shows 4.1 years’ supply.
Was 5.27 years enough? In 2019 HART understood that this would increase when Countryside start building 1138 homes at North Heybridge Garden Suburb (NHGS). Planning permission for this in September 2019, and the council meeting where this was agreed heard that it could increase the supply to over 8 years.
Fundraising: even with a 5YHLS there’s no guarantee that a Planning Inspector will refuse an appeal, so HART is raising funds to pay for lawyers or planning consultants to represent us and give Tollesbury the best chance of success. Generous Tollesbury residents have raised a total of over £4000 to date, with pledges for more coming in, and fundraising events scheduled through to the year.
HART newsletters: we are also keeping residents informed through a series of newsletters that are delivered to every home and business in Tollesbury by a band of willing volunteers!