Little Heath

15.1 Little Heath is one of five smaller villages that fall into the fourth tier of settlements in Policy SP3: Settlement Hierarchy of smaller villages excluded (inset) from the Green Belt, reflecting the settlements level of sustainability compared to the larger villages such as Brookmans Park or Welham Green. It is considered that settlements of this type are suitable for new development where it is compatible with its scale and character.

15.2 There is a primary school, a parish hall and a pub in Little Heath and it is well served by adjacent Potters Bar for other facilities such as shops, a railway station and secondary schools.

Proposed changes to the site allocations at Little Heath

15.3 There were two sites proposed for allocation in the Draft Local Plan 2016 for this settlement for 135 dwellings (HS24/BrP7 and HS25/LHe1). One of these sites HS24 (BrP7) is included in this consultation as the Council’s Cabinet (30th January 2020) resolved to consult on the potential for this site to be removed.

15.4 There were three additional sites promoted at Little Heath for consideration by the Council and two of these sites are proposed for allocation. The two additional sites (LHe4 and LHe5) are proposed to be a single allocation in the plan to provide suitable access and to ensure an appropriate Green Belt boundary can be formed. (i.e. two site allocations with a combined capacity of 71 dwellings).

15.5 The consultation sites section indicates the new sites that are proposed for allocation and the potential removal of a site from the Draft Local Plan. These changes are now the subject of this consultation event.

15.6 The map below illustrates the sites proposed for allocation along with proposed changes to the Green Belt boundary.

15.7 The proposed changes to the Draft Local Plan relating to this settlement are also shown on the following pages. These include updates to the proposed site allocations including the site specific policy requirements. These requirements complement the other policies set out in the plan to ensure that any site specific requirements are properly planned for.

Bell Bar and Brookmans Park

14.1 Brookmans Park is one of four larger villages that fall into the third tier of settlement types, known as ‘Larger Excluded Villages’, as set out in Policy SP3: Settlement Hierarchy demonstrating its relative sustainability following the borough’s two towns at Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield.

14.2 Brookmans Park is therefore a sustainable location for development in the borough, following the main towns, being a large village excluded (inset) from the Green Belt and offering a range of services and facilities, employment and good public transport connectivity including a railway station.

14.3 Bell Bar and Brookmans Park are considered together as the potential changes to the Green Belt benefit from being considered comprehensively.

Proposed changes to the site allocations at Bell Bar and Brookmans Park

14.4 There were three sites proposed for allocation in the Draft Local Plan 2016 at Brookmans Park (HS22/BrP4, HS21/BrP13 and HS23/BrP14) for 274 dwellings. However, the Council’s Cabinet (30th January 2020) resolved to consult on the potential removal of HS22 (BrP4).

14.5 There were 17 additional sites, or site options, promoted at Bell Bar and Brookmans Park for consideration by the Council and one of these sites are proposed for allocation (i.e. a total of three sites with a combined capacity of 128 dwellings).

14.6 The consultation sites section indicates the new site that is proposed for allocation. These changes are now the subject of this consultation event.

14.7 The map below illustrates all the sites proposed for allocation along with proposed changes to the Green Belt boundary.

14.8 For information, the implications of the proposed changes for the Draft Local Plan site allocation policy relating to this settlement are then shown on the following pages, including the site specific policy requirements. These requirements complement the other policies set out in the plan to ensure that any site specific requirements are properly planned for. This does not however form part of the current consultation. Changes to the policy, if agreed by the Inspector following the relevant hearing sessions, will be subject to consultation at Modifications stage.

1. The latest consultation on the Welwyn Hatfield Local plan is now under way. Full details can be accesses through the Council’s web site here. Comments must be received by 5.00pm on Wednesday 1st April. The NMDGBS will be submitting its comments towards the end of the consultation period.

2. This consultation is complicated because the proposals do not fully reflect what the Council’s cabinet agreed at its meeting on 30th January. Then, it decided to withdraw several of the sites already proposed in the draft plan. The decision reflected the latest Green Belt Study which assessed the “harm” that would be caused to the Green Belt. Included in the sites to be withdrawn were HS22(BrP4) and HS24(BrP7). However, when the council advised the Inspector of their intentions he responded saying that only he can remove sites from a Plan once it has been submitted for examination. This would be done as a ‘Main Modification’, which the Inspector would only do after the site has been in examined in public (now set to be in May sometime) and if after the examination, the Inspector considers the inclusion of the site to be “unsound”, then he can recommend it to the Council to be removed.   The public examination is likely to take place in May. The NMDGBS will attend and makerepresentations.

3. The result is that the Draft Plan currently includes sites that the Council no longer supports but which the Inspector may later find are suitable.

4. The Draft Plan currently proposes building 12,000 dwellings; the Inspector has asked for proposals to meet a target of 16,000 dwellings. In this consultation the Council is proposing 14,000 dwellings and is arguing that to go further will cause undue harm to the Green Belt.

5. The NMDGBS argues that the figure of 12,000 dwellings for the borough is too high. It does not reflect the natural organic growth of the local population but rather is influenced by ambitious desire for economic expansion and a response to the housing pressures from London. Meeting that target will inevitably require land from the Green Belt. The target of 16,000 just make things so much worse.

6. Though we are disappointed at the proposed increase in the Council’s target from 12,000 to 14,000 dwellings we are encouraged by their determination to resist allocating sites within the Green Belt where to do so would cause “high harm” to the purposes of the Green Belt. However there is still a prospect that the Inspector will disagree with the Council and seek to achieve the full 16,000 target.

7. It is as important as ever to respond to this consultation. As many people as possible should do so: it may be the last chance. The previous consultation received over 10,000 responses. Let that be our target!

8. What arguments do we use?
   Object to the unrealistic targets. It may be a lost cause, but we should continue to press for a sensible and proportionate increase. Even the 12,000 figure overstates the natural growth of the Borough and is based on assumptions of economic growth which were over-optimistic at the time and are now out of date.Support the Council in its resistance against the target of 16,000 dwellings.

   Argue that if the Green Belt is to be used for expansion, it should be reserved for local people.
   Emphasise the importance of the Green Belt in maintaining the character of our villages.
   Keep up the pressure on the individual sites, emphasising the harm to the Green Belt which would be caused by development, the lack of infrastructure to support new development.

Minutes of the 44^th Annual General Meeting.

Gary Mabbutt, President, welcomed local councillors, members and residents and our Speaker, Planning Consultant, Jed Griffiths.   After 44 years the Society still had a strong voice and at this time was in need of an even stronger voice to uphold the Green Belt.   He thanked the committee and asked anyone present who could assist in any way to come forward and join.   Help was always needed especially with the Local Plan at its present stage.   He urged members to use the website to keep up to date.

Update of Local Plan Consultation with Planning Consultant Jed Griffiths,MA Dip TP FRTPI

Jed explained that there had been six stages so far with the Inspector asking Council to supply sites for 16,000 dwellings.   The Council asked for sites to come forward and had 140 replies.   Representations were made, Councillors were lobbied with complaints of significant harm to Green Belt, strategic gaps decreased between settlements and environmental harm.   The Council is putting forward a plan for 14,000 dwellings.

At present most sites which would encircle Welham Green have gone.

WeG3a for 68 dwellings (access?) and WeG10 for 120 dwellings (surface water?) remain with Marshmoor for 80 dwellings (science park)

BrP 1 for 104 dwellings at Bell Bar makes a revision of the green belt (extension of Brookmans Park)   BrP 4 for 250-300 dwellings – against as good quality agricultural land, woodland and countryside gap.

LHe 4/5 is still in.   HS24 – members need to comment.

LHe3 – rejected by Council.

Jed urged everyone to respond to the Consultation either by email, on line or by letter.

A question and answer session followed.

The Chairman thanked Jed who was warmly applauded by the audience.   He reiterated that the community must respond to the document individually.   Local people can see what the issues are and it is important to show these. For instance the traffic problems at WeG10 and BrP1. We will provide information through our website.   There were 10,000 responses last year.   We need 10,000 again.

The President asked anyone who had pictures of local problems to let us have them.   He thanked everyone for coming and their questions and urged people to be proactive and join the committee.

The turn out was estimated to be between 120 and 140 members

Consultation on proposed changes to the submitted Draft Plan 2016 (site allocations) 2020, the Addendum to the Sustainability Appraisal and the updated Habitats Regulations Assessment 2020

The Welwyn Hatfield Draft Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State for examination in May 2017 and a number of Local Plan examination hearing sessions have been held to date. During the course of the examination, the Planning Inspector (Melvyn Middleton BA (Econ), DipMgmt MRTPI) has advised that the Plan, as submitted, does not provide sufficient housing development proposals to meet the objectively assessed need for housing in full and the Council has been asked to investigate if there is any scope for additional housing sites to be identified.

To assist with this, in January and February 2019, the Council carried out a Call for Sites. Over 140 sites were promoted for housing, employment, mixed use or other forms of development. The promoted sites were subject to consultation in May and June 2019 and over 10,000 responses were received. Subsequently, the Council has carried out further assessments informed by an extensive evidence base.

Following meetings of the Council’s Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel and The Cabinet in January 2020, the Council is now consulting on potential additional site allocations and other changes to site allocations in the Draft Local Plan 2016. Consultation is also being carried out on the Addendum to the Sustainability Appraisal of the Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan (February 2020), and the Habitats Regulations Assessment Updated HRA Report (February 2020).

Consultation is taking place over a six week period, commencing on Wednesday 19th February and ending at 5pm on Wednesday 1 April 2020.

The best way to view the consultation documents, and other supporting documents including the Representations Procedure is online via the consultation portal. Once on the portal, you will also be able to download documents, and submit comments online: www.welhat.gov.uk/local-plan-sites

Alternatively, you can return your completed response form by email to localplan@welhat.gov.uk or by post to: Planning Policy, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6AE.

Please use a separate form for each site or settlement you wish to make comments on and ensure that we receive your comments by 5pm on Wednesday 1 April 2020 as we cannot accept late comments.

During the consultation period, a copy the consultation documents and a number of supporting documents including the Representations Procedure will be available to view at the following locations during normal advertised opening hours. Copies of response forms will also be available at these locations.

• The Council Offices: The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6AE. (Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 8.45 – 17.15; Friday 08.45 – 16.45.
• Librariesin Brookmans Park, Cuffley, Hatfield, Welwyn, and Welwyn Garden City (Campus West and Woodhall).
• Parish and Town Council Offices: Hatfield Town Council, Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council, North Mymms Parish Council, Welwyn Parish Council, and Woolmer Green Parish Council. For Essendon Parish Council, Ayot St Lawrence, and Ayot St Peter Parish Meetings, no standard opening times apply and you are advised to contact the relevant Parish Clerk.

Chaired by our Honorary President Gary Mabbutt, MBE

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 26 February 2020 at 8 pm in the North Mymms Memorial Hall, 36 Station Road, Welham Green.

Proceedings will include a Q&A session on latest developments on The Local Plan with our Planning Consultant, Jed Griffiths, MA DipTP FRTPI.

Please come along and support your local society.

If you need any further information regarding the AGM please contact secretary@northmymmsgreenbelt.org.uk

Local Plan:  Some good news – but must keep up the pressure.

The Council is currently consulting on proposed changes to the Draft Local Plan.  The number of dwellings now being sought is increased from 12,000 to 14,025 in response to the Inspector’s demand to get nearer the target of 16,000.

 But there have been some positive changes in respect of the Green Belt:

• All sites rated as high harm to the Green Belt have been removed from the Draft Plan
• No new sites rated as moderate/high are proposed to be added to the Draft Plan.
• There are two exceptions to the above – in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield.

For our Parish this means:

The following sites have been withdrawn from the Draft Plan:

HS22 (BrP4) west of Brookmans Park railway station

HS24 (BrP7 south of Hawkshead Road

The following sites are now to be added in the Draft Plan:

BrP1/BrP35 (106 dwellings) in Bell Bar, west of the A1000

LHe4/5 (36 dwellings) in Little Heath, Studlands and Videne, Hawkshead Road

WeG10 (120 dwellings) in Welham Green, north of Dixons Hill Road

WeG1 (16 dwellings) Welham Manor, Welham Green

WeG3/3a (68 dwellings) land south of Welham Manor, West of Station Road, Welham Green

The following sites remain in the Draft Plan:

HS21 (BrP13) (14 dwellings) west of Golf Club Road, Brookmans Park

HS23 (BrP14) (10 dwellings) east of Golf Club Road, Brookmans Park

HS35 (12 caravan pitches) Dixons Hill Road, east of the railway line, Welham Green

SDS7 (92 dwellings and employment land) Marshmoor, Welham Green

HS25 (LHe1) (35 dwellings) north of Hawkshead Road, Little Heath

HS11 (120 dwellings and secondary school) New Barnfield

What Now?

• Check out the consultation details on the Council’s website: welhat.gov.uk
• Come to our AGM to learn more
• Please make your views known again. This will be your last chance to have your say.  Over ten thousand comments were submitted following the last consultation.  The outcome shows that your voices have had an effect in protecting our communities and the Green Belt
• The closing date for responses is 22 March 2020

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Our Green Belt Society has been in existence since 1976 and has around twelve hundred members who pay an annual subscription and make donations.  Thank you.  Without you we wouldn’t exist.  We have your support at public meetings and you are active in making representations in support of the Green Belt.  Again – thank you. 

But we need to draw on our membership in a more regular way; we need eyes and ears in the community and we need to strengthen our committee, which meets monthly, with two or three new members.  We particularly would like help with our website and communicating with members.  Can you join us?  If you are interested in a greater involvement in this aspect of your community, please get in touch either by speaking to a committee member at the AGM or through our website www.northmymmsgreenbelt.org.uk

Please also renew your membership if you haven’t done so already you can do this on the website here or download and print off the membership form here.