Signs for a 2 November to 18 December closure went up in Garnetts, Takeley, hours after Affinity Water told a resident the plans were not finalised.
Updated 26 October: Affinity Water has since revised the plan, with works in Garnetts from about 23 November and access through Trinity Green. Read the latest.
Road closed signs for a proposed 47-day closure of Garnetts in Takeley went up at both ends of the road on Monday morning, a few hours after Affinity Water told a resident in writing that the plans “are not finalised” and confirmed for the first time that the work is to connect a new housing development.
The yellow signs read “Affinity water, Road Closed Here, 02/11/26 to 18/12/26” and give Affinity Water’s 0345 3572 407 number. Morgan Hunting, the Garnetts resident who first raised the closure with us (our report of 11 October), says residents reported them at about 11.16am on 19 October.
Affinity Water’s email to Hunting, sent at 8.59am the same day under reference DS0062953, begins:
“We’re working with M&S Water Services on plans to provide a water connection to a new housing development in Takeley. As the local water supplier, it is a statutory requirement to provide connections to our network, and we’re working to ensure this can be done safely while minimising disruption to the local community.”
Hunting says that is new. Earlier correspondence, the resident says, “described the works more generally as serving existing and future customers.” The reply does not name the development or the developer.
Why Garnetts, and why a full closure
Affinity Water’s email explains the choice of route for the first time:
“We understand residents’ concerns about the proposed road closure, particularly the impact this could have on access to their homes and parking. The proposed route through Garnetts was identified as it connects to the nearest suitable water main on Parsonage Road. However, due to the narrow width of Garnetts and the safety requirements involved in laying a new water main, a road closure has been proposed.”
Then the line residents have seized on:
“We want to reassure residents that these plans are not finalised, and we’re continuing to explore alternative options and consider the concerns raised before any arrangements are confirmed. We’re also working with the developer and local council to explore alternative access arrangements for residents during the works.”
The company says it will “ensure they receive a further update as soon as the plans are confirmed.”
“Provocative and insensitive”
Hunting says residents are “deeply upset” by the timing. “Many regard the installation of these signs as provocative and insensitive, particularly when Affinity Water confirmed only hours earlier that the plans were not yet finalised,” the resident writes.
Hunting accepts the signs may not settle anything: “While advance-warning signs do not necessarily establish that the final arrangements have been approved, the timing has caused considerable alarm within the community.”
The closure was raised at Takeley Parish Council’s meeting on Wednesday 14 October, which residents attended. Hunting says the concerns centre on “access for elderly and disabled residents, emergency services, parking and the disruption to approximately 68 households,” and that “residents are still awaiting a detailed, confirmed plan explaining how they will safely access their homes.” The parish council has not yet published minutes of that meeting (full council meetings page).
“This raises an obvious question,” Hunting writes: “how can a closure of this scale be approaching when residents still have no confirmed explanation of how vehicle access will be maintained?”
Street works law and the Red Book
On Monday Hunting also wrote to Affinity Water, copying Essex Highways, the local county councillors, M&S Water Services and Takeley Parish Council. The letter cites the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, the Equality Act 2010 and the statutory Safety at Street Works and Road Works code of practice, known as the Red Book.
It asks what assessments have been made covering disabled residents, emergency access and unnecessary obstruction, how the closure is being coordinated with the separate works proposed on Parsonage Road, and what is being done to reduce the impact. “These are not merely questions about inconvenience,” Hunting writes. “They concern whether households with serious medical and mobility requirements can safely continue their everyday lives.”
Hunting has also asked Affinity Water to name the development and the developer, say who is paying, and set out which other routes were looked at. The Essex Highways reference for the closure is MX06162953PW.
“Answers, not confrontation”
Hunting says residents are not against the homes or the pipe. “Residents recognise that new developments require essential infrastructure. However, they reasonably expect that existing households will not be left without safe and practical access to their homes.”
With the start date under two weeks away, residents want to know three things, the resident says: “whether the works will proceed on 2 November, whether alternative pipeline routes have been properly considered and whether the start date will be postponed if satisfactory access arrangements cannot be established.”
We will report what Affinity Water and Essex County Council say in reply.
What it means for you
- If you live in Garnetts, the signs say the road will be closed from Monday 2 November to Friday 18 December, but Affinity Water says in writing that the plans are not finalised and that it is looking at access arrangements with the developer and the council. Quote reference DS0062953 when you contact Affinity Water, on the 0345 3572 407 number shown on the signs, and MX06162953PW for Essex Highways.
- If you rely on carers, deliveries or lifts to appointments, tell them about the proposed dates now rather than waiting for a confirmed plan.
- If you use Parsonage Road, this is the road the new main would connect to, and separate works there have been proposed for December.
For other closures around the town, see our Bishop’s Stortford roadworks and travel page.
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