How to respond to the revised planning applications before the January 21 deadline

The extended deadline for you to respond to the four revised planning applications made by Places for People is less than one week away at 5pm on Thursday, January 21, 2021.

Remember: If you have already replied to the consultation, you are still allowed to add further comments.

We encourage you to make a response to the consultation using the following four links:

1. Outline planning application for 8,500 new homes plus infrastructure – 3/19/1045/OUT

2. Detailed planning application for new bridges and changes to existing bridges and other roads at Fifth Avenue – 3/19/1046/FUL

3. Detailed planning application for new bridges and changes to existing bridges and other roads at River Way – 3/19/1051/FUL

4. Detailed planning application for new bridges and changes to existing bridges at River Way (Listed Building Planning Application) – 3/19/1049/LBC

Remember to fill in all the necessary fields on all four forms, including the tick-box for whether you Object, Support or are Neutral towards the planning applications, as below.

consultation response form

We suggest that a possible reply by you might include some or all of the following points:

“Unfortunately, despite the revisions made following the previous consultation period, the revised planning applications for villages 1-6 and two river crossings have not fully addressed the concerns raised by the community with regards to:

– adherance to Garden Town principles and the delivery of a development of six individual villages of exceptional quality with adequately protected landscape buffers between each village in a way that preserves landscape, heritage and the essential quality of living within the countryside

– justification for the new Eastern Crossing, which hasn’t undergone sufficient option analysis considering the massive impact it will have on existing residents

– timely and fully-costed delivery of infrastructure, including schools and truly sustainable transport. The £600m section 106 agreements that should cover this must be properly discussed and agreed before the plans are approved and not after

– a fair distribution of the increase in land value that will occur when the Green Belt is built on. It is only right that part of this money be used to cover infrastructure and sustainability spending, rather than the cost being loaded on to new residents as a service charge

– the lack of an agreed structure and timeline for both the handing over of agreed assets to the community and the the establishment of a properly-funded community organisation to look after these assets

– the new “employment area” industrial park south of village 6, which has no justification and goes against Garden Town principles

– the potentially disproportionate allocation of land for facilities for gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople in the context of the wider East Hertfordshire District

– the lack of full information and assessments with no explanation on the environmental impacts and what mitigation will be carried out, for example, air pollution, noise impacts on existing residents, light pollution, and wildlife.

We therefore maintain our OBJECTION to the applications pending further improvements that fully address the concerns of the community.”