Residents for Uttlesford

Last updated

Residents for Uttlesford
ChairmanDan Starr
Founded2014
HeadquartersResidents for Uttlesford
3 London Rd,Saffron Walden,CB11 4ED,United Kingdom
Ideology Localism
Colours  Turquoise
Uttlesford District Council
22 / 39
Saffron Walden Town Council
18 / 18
Great Dunmow Town Council
5 / 18
Essex County Council
2 / 75
Website
Residents4U.org

Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is a localist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was launched in 2014, and formed from a number of residents groups in the area. [1] [2] The party is based in the Uttlesford administrative district in Essex and promotes a localist agenda that seeks to give residents a greater say in the future of their district. [3] Residents for Uttlesford has elected representation at multiple levels of local government: Uttlesford District Council, [4] Essex County Council and various town and parish councils, including the councils for both towns in Uttlesford, Saffron Walden and Great Dunmow.

Contents

Background

For the 2013 UK local elections, Uttlesford residents stood two of their own candidates on an Independent platform. Both were elected - John Lodge to Essex County Council and Joanna Parry to Uttlesford District Council. [5]

Following this, in 2014 the local residents groups formed their own party, Residents for Uttlesford, so that they could more easily stand a larger number of candidates across the electoral District. [6] A number of existing councillors crossed the aisle to join the new party when it was launched. [7]

Residents for Uttlesford cite other successful local independent political parties in the UK as the inspiration for their model, including the Loughton Residents Association in Essex, Residents Associations of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, and Independents for Frome with their Flatpack Democracy model. [8]

Electoral history

Residents for Uttlesford fought their first local elections in May 2015, with candidates standing for seats in both Uttlesford District Council and Saffron Walden Town Council. [9] They won a majority of the seats on the town council and became the opposition in the district council.

The party gained two additional seats in February 2017 by winning an Uttlesford District Council by-election in the Elsenham and Henham ward with 60% of the votes cast. [10]

In the 2019 Uttlesford District Council election, the party gained control of Uttlesford District Council after winning 26 out of 39 of the available seats. [11] They also maintained control of the Saffron Walden Town Council, winning 15 out of the 16 seats. [12]

In the 2021 Essex County Council election, Residents for Uttlesford gained two of the four Essex County Council seats in Uttlesford from the Conservatives. [13]

Residents for Uttlesford retained control of Uttlesford District Council in the May 2023 local elections. [14] The party were also returned to lead Saffron Walden Town council for the third term, taking a clean sweep of all 18 of the seats, as well as taking 5 seats at Great Dunmow Town Council. [15]

Stansted airport expansion

Residents for Uttlesford was responsible for the controversial decision to revoke planning permission for the expansion of London Stansted Airport. This permission had already been granted by the previous council but R4U reneged on the agreement, potentially costing the local economy an estimated £1 Billion in investment in the coming years. [16] The R4U-led council’s decision was overturned in 2021 by the planning inspectorate. The High Court rejected an appeal by the R4U-majority council and ordered the council to pay costs and compensation to the airport and to the Department for Communities and Local Government with the council’s bill expected to exceed £2 million. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saffron Walden</span> Town in Essex, England

Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, 12 miles (19 km) north of Bishop's Stortford, 15 miles (24 km) south of Cambridge and 43 miles (69 km) north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15,504 at the 2011 census and 16,613 in the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uttlesford</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Uttlesford is a local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the town of Saffron Walden. The district also includes the town of Great Dunmow and numerous villages, including Stansted Mountfitchet, Takeley, Elsenham, Thaxted, and Newport. The district covers a largely rural area in the north-west of Essex. London Stansted Airport lies within the district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epping Forest District</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Epping Forest District is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after the ancient woodland of Epping Forest, a large part of which lies within the district. The district covers northeastern parts of the urban area of London, including the suburban towns of Epping, Loughton, Waltham Abbey, Chigwell, and Buckhurst Hill, as well as rural areas beyond it. The district is situated in the west of the county, bordering north-eastern Greater London.

Saffron Walden Rural District was a rural district in the county of Essex, England. It was created in 1894 and later enlarged by the addition of the parishes of Berden, Birchanger, Elsenham, Farnham, Henham-on-the-Hill, Manuden, Stansted Mountfitchet and Ugley from the disbanded Stansted Rural District. It was named after and administered from Saffron Walden.

The Residents Associations of Epsom and Ewell is a local political party in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. They have held majority control of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council since its formation in 1937. The party is sometimes recorded as Other in national results lists and otherwise recorded alongside residents associations with a single Articles of Association. It consists of ward or multiple ward based residents associations with their own candidate selection rules. These include Ewell Court Residents' Association, Epsom Town Residents' Association and West Ewell and Ruxley Residents’ Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saffron Walden (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885-2024

Saffron Walden was a constituency in Essex, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1922 to 2024 by members of the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birchanger</span> Human settlement in England

Birchanger is a village in Essex, England, 3 km (1.9 mi) northeast of Bishop's Stortford and 25 km (16 mi) northwest of the county town, Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Uttlesford and the parliamentary constituency of Saffron Walden. There is a Parish Council.

Stansted was a rural district in Essex, England from 1894 to 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henham</span> Human settlement in England

Henham, or Henham-on-the-Hill is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The village is situated 2.5 miles (4 km) north from London Stansted Airport. The parish includes the hamlets of Little Henham and Pledgdon Green. Parish population at the 2011 Census was 1,233.

Epping was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1885 to 1974. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molehill Green</span> Human settlement in England

Molehill Green is a hamlet in Takeley parish in Essex, England, close to the perimeter of London Stansted Airport, The hamlet consists of approximately forty houses and lies about 2.2 miles (3.5 km) north of Takeley village.

Uttlesford District Council is elected every four years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elsenham</span> Human settlement in England

Elsenham is a village and civil parish in north-west Essex in eastern England. Its neighbouring settlements include Bishop's Stortford, Saffron Walden and Stansted Mountfitchet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Essex County Council election</span> 2013 UK local government election

An election to Essex County Council took place on 2 May 2013 as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections. 75 councillors were elected from 70 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were the same as those used at the previous election in 2009. No elections were held in Thurrock or Southend-on-Sea, which are unitary authorities outside the area covered by the County Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essex</span> Ceremonial county in the East of England

Essex is a ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames stuary to the south, Greater London to the south-west, and Hertfordshire to the west. The largest settlement is Southend-on-Sea, and the county town is Chelmsford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hundred Parishes</span> Area of eastern England

The Hundred Parishes is an area of the East of England with no formal recognition or status, albeit that the concept has the blessing of county and district authorities. It encompasses around 450 square miles of northwest Essex, northeast Hertfordshire and southern Cambridgeshire. The area comprises just over 100 administrative parishes, hence its name. It contains over 6,000 listed buildings and many conservation areas, village greens, ancient hedgerows, protected features and a historical pattern of small rural settlements in close proximity to one another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Uttlesford District Council election</span>

The 2023 Uttlesford District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Uttlesford District Council in Essex, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North West Essex (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK parliamentary constituency, 2024 onwards

North West Essex is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election.

References

  1. Tonkin, Sam (22 October 2014). "New political party formed as residents seek to take control of Uttlesford District Council". Dunmow Broadcast. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  2. "History of Residents for Uttlesford". Residents for Uttlesford. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  3. "Policies for a Residents' Uttlesford – Built by you for you". Residents for Uttlesford. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  4. "Uttlesford District Council - Councillors". www.uttlesford.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  5. "Independent for Residents' candidates Lodge and Parry win". Saffron Walden Reporter. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  6. "Press Release: Call for candidates to step forward to clean up Uttlesford in 2015 elections". Residents for Uttlesford. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  7. Busby, Eleanor (23 October 2014). "Two more Tories quit to join Residents". Cambridge News . Archived from the original on 6 December 2014.
  8. "Residents for Uttlesford: Our History". Residents for Uttlesford. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  9. "Local Elections: The Candidates for Uttlesford District Council".[ dead link ]
  10. "Results of Uttlesford District Council election for the Elsenham and Henham ward, February 2017". uttlesford.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017.
  11. "Conservatives lose council to local residents' association". BBC News. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  12. "Results of town and parish elections 2 May 2019 (Uttlesford District Council)". uttlesford.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019.
  13. "Essex County Council elections: Residents for Uttlesford win Saffron Walden and Thaxted from Conservatives but Tories retain control". Bishop's Stortford Independent. 7 May 2021.
  14. "BBC News: England local elections 2023 - Uttlesford election result". BBC. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  15. "Election of town and parish councillors on Thursday 4 May 2023". Uttlesford District Council. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  16. "Unite supports appeal over refusal to give permission for Stansted Airport's expansion". www.unitetheunion.org. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  17. "Boost for Stansted Airport expansion as judge throws out challenge". www.newcivilengineer.com. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2022.