East Herts District Council elections May 2023 – Hunsdon Ward

Four open questions from the Hunsdon Eastwick & Gilston Neighbourhood Plan Group to all candidates about the proposed Development of 10,000 houses in this Ward. As you will know, the EHC District Plan 2018 released hundreds of acres of Green Belt in the Ward for at least 3,000 houses up to 2033 and 7,000 afterwards.

East Herts Council has this year granted outline planning permission and increased the numbers pre 2033 to 4,700 houses. HEGNPG on behalf of their Parish Councils and other parties have requested the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, to “call-in” that decision so that the plans can be properly reassessed at a Public Inquiry.

1. Have you supported the community on this Call-In and will you continue to do so, if elected. How will you do this? If you do not support us, please say why.

2. If elected, how will you try to influence the delivery of the Gilston project over your term in office?

3. Please tell us about your experience in shaping major developments.

4. What do you see as the biggest three risks and what are the three biggest gains from this development?

Questions and responses will be published on our website and neighbourhood sites/local press.

Anthony Bickmore, Chairman NPG

24th April 2023

We’re writing with a short message to update you on the latest important developments in the Gilston Area Villages 1-7 scheme.

We’re disappointed to report that the Village 7 application for 1,500 new homes was rubber stamped at East Herts Council’s committee meeting last night.

This was despite very strong representations from us here at the NPG, local councillors and local residents.

On your behalf, we highlighted that current Village 7 proposals go against the principles that originally secured the release of Green Belt land and are a premature and unnecessary addition to the whole Gilston project. We had said the same at the earlier Village 1-6 committee meeting, which was also waived through.

While stretching our NHS to breaking point, failing to deliver on affordable housing targets and resulting in inevitable traffic gridlock, these plans will add up to 4,700 homes in our area, 50% more than the target set out in the East Herts District Plan.

Nevertheless, it was waved through when Conservative Party councillors on the committee voted to pass it by 8-4 – something you may want to bear in mind when it comes to local elections on May 4 of this year.

In the first instance, we’ve written to our local MP Julie Marson and also directly to housing secretary Michael Gove, urging him to make good on promises to listen to local voices and “call-in” this decision.

That would mean the Secretary of State would refer the whole development of 10,000 houses to a public enquiry headed by a planning Inspector to make this decision of regional and national importance, and take it away from the local East Herts councillors who have simply waved through application after application.

We’ll keep pushing on your behalf to do everything we can to make sure our voice is heard and the developers and East Herts Council deliver on the serious promises made and responsibilities to local residents.

Residents from Hunsdon, Eastwick and Gilston have demanded a rethink after East Herts District Council’s Development Management Committee approved plans for 8,500 new homes on former Green Belt land yesterday (February 28).

The plans for six so-called “garden villages” have been strongly criticised for their failure to deliver on the promises made by the developers Places for People when the land was released from the Green Belt back in 2018.

In particular, the scheme will now only deliver 23% affordable housing against a promise of 40%, a loss of nearly 1,500 affordable homes.

Councillors nodded through the application despite only having a minimal amount of time to read hundreds of pages of documents that were being revised as recently as the day before the meeting.

Promises to deliver landscape-led development of high quality garden villages have been dropped in favour of building “neighbourhoods” with tiny corridors between each other in densities similar to a busy town like Bishop’s Stortford.

In addition to the loss of affordable housing, residents have slammed the planners and developers for their failure to provide adequate health facilities to cope with the influx of 35,000 people to the area.

They have also hit out at the dominance of car travel in the scheme, as seen by the approval for Stort Valley crossings back in February 2022 – massive roads that are over-engineered for what is required.

Commenting on the the need for a rethink, Anthony Bickmore, Chair of Hunsdon, Eastwick & Gilston Neighbourhood Plan Group said:

“Given that the developers tell us the project is unviable, this is the right time to rethink this scheme to ensure that what is delivered meets the needs of the area. 

“We were promised a high-quality development with essential affordable housing in garden villages that respect the existing landscape

“Those promises have been binned as soon as convenient and development instead sanctioned at building heights more familiar with London than villages in the Hertfordshire countryside.

“That should worry everyone in the country who lives near the Green Belt or cares about the preservation of our landscapes and community. We need to make sure we don’t sleepwalk into a suburban sprawl being created on former Green Belt land.”

Commenting on East Herts District Council’s failure to provide adequate time for members of the Committee to read and understand the application details and the time given to the residents to address their concerns at the meeting he added: 

“Local Councillors represent residents, but they seemed reluctant to even hear our voice in a public forum for any length of time.

“We held our own 90-minute meeting a week ago where we listened to a packed hall of local residents speak for as long as they needed.

“The speaking arrangements for the DMC kept being chopped and changed right up to the last minute. The reports for the application were hundreds of pages long but Councillors had only a short period to read them properly and even then they were substantially amended and re-published the afternoon before the meeting.

“We actually sympathise with the councillors, who haven’t been given the time or resources, and do not have the procedures or capacity to deal with what they admit is the largest development they have ever approved.

“Councillors have been railroaded into approving the application and delegating vital oversight, monitoring and enforcement to officers who sort out the all important details with the developers away from the public gaze or reference back to elected councillors.

“If a development of this size can be approved with scant regard to local concerns in East Herts there’s no reason why it won’t happen anywhere else in the country.”

He added: 

“This is a very major project with lots of sensitivities. Master plans and design codes need to be developed in consultation with the community, not decided after the fact behind closed doors.

“East Herts has a policy of requiring sites to have effective Master Planning but here is willing to allow the Developers to precondition the Master Planning process.

“What’s more, local infrastructure needs to be delivered and serious traffic and health impacts addressed in advance, not once thousands of people have already moved in.

“Our triple award-winning Neighbourhood Plan is a part of the Local Plan which residents endorsed with a landslide vote but it is being sidelined by the developers and planners.”

Saturday, February 18, 2023 – 10am-11:30am at Gilston Village Hall

Your Neighbourhood Plan Group invites you to a meeting at Gilston Village Hall for an important update on the Gilston Area Development.

We’ll be presenting the latest news on Places for People’s application for six “garden villages” of 8,500 homes, which East Herts Council will decide at their Development Management Committee meeting on February 28.

We’ll be letting you know what’s happening and how the Hunsdon, Eastwick and Neighbourhood Plan Group is fighting your corner, including a recap of our recent response to this application where we objected to the revised application, which we don’t think should be approved as currently submitted.

At the event, we’ll also be updating residents on the current situation for the Village 7 application for 1,500 homes, which threatens to adversely affect our whole neighbourhood unless it is properly integrated with Villages 1-6, and the necessary infrastructure is provided in advance.

Please bring your local friends and family along. Refreshments will be provided.

 – Hunsdon Eastwick and Gilston Neighbourhood Plan Group