I object to this development in it's entirety.
1) the land is all green belt. Yet NHDC have failed to specify what exceptional circumstances exist to justify building on greenbelt. So this plan and site is in breach of the NPPF, plus Little Wymondley used to be an excluded village because of it's standing inside the greenbelt, I do not understand why NHDC want to change this?
2) The green belt here has been established and govt says green belt is permanent - there is no justification to build here when all brownfield sites in Hertfordshire have not been exhausted in this plan.
3) the greenbelt at this site helps prevent urban sprawl and the risk of the towns of Stevenage and Hitchin merging into one town, whereby Little Wymondley, the village, would then simply be an area of a mega-town, and not a village anymore
4) The development on this site and the removal of green belt does NOT have the support of the local people, 92% of those who responded to the Neighbourhood plan survey said they want to protect the green belt and would accept 50 homes or less, not 300+
5) Inappropriate - the proposed development of 300+ houses is inappropriate in a village of just 340 dwellings, and where there is an enormous sense of community and safety. An almost 100% increase dwellings would destroy the character and ambiance of the village and lead to a reduction in the quality of life for its residents. A development of this size would not integrate into the existing village and social cohesion would be lost. 50 houses or less would have a chance to integrate into the village and enhance village life, not destroy it.
6) Flood risk - Little Wymondley is classed as a high flood risk area but the Environment Agency. Whilst the plan acknowledges this, and says they would have to make sure the new development would not exacerbate flood risk, it is bound to, as the flooding is largely caused by water run-off from the fields, and once built on this, water that is currently absorbed by the fields would have nowhere to go expect downhill onto Stevenage Road and this would cause more flooding. There must be other sites in the NHDC are which do not have such high flood risk and can be built on? This risk is massively increased when you consider that the proposed site NS1 is also building on a flood risk area and on the area where the water course known as Ash brook also runs through, further increasing flood risk onto Junction 8 of the A1(M) and into Little Wymondley. Plus, Stevenage Borough Council's plan also includes building an industrial estate on Stevenage road, on a field which is a flood plan, which will push even more water into Little Wymondley and cause it to flood. Until NHDC can specify exactly how they will remove the flood risk the site WY1 should be removed from the plan - indeed, Hertfordshire County Council commissioned a report into the flood of February 2014, and yet have yet to do anything to address the issue.
7) Questions over whether the site is contaminated land due to it's historic use as a land fill site - what investigations have been done to test the ground and ensure it is even safe to build on??
8) This proposed site does NOT have the support of the local people of the parish, who stated they wanted 50 houses or less.
9) This proposed site is NOT catering for a local need - there is not a local need for 300+ houses. Most local need is for retirement bungalows, so that the older generations can stay in the village and continue to have their beloved gardens, but free up family homes for the younger generations. There are not 300+ households in the Parish looking for a retirement bungalow.
10) Air quality/pollution - the village was bypassed in recent history with the building of the A602 Stevenage to Hitchin bypass. This was to make the main road through the village safer and also to improve our air quality. Building and additional 300 homes, potentially adding another 600 cars to in village traffic, would negate a lot of the good done by building the bypass, especially when considering that the junction 8 of the A1(M) is already grid-locked at risk hour - additional traffic would increase the traffic volume and standing traffic in the village, polluting our air and causing more health issues for residents.
11) Related to point 10 is the potential of this development to add to commuting misery of those of working age in the parish. Journeys are already slow at rush hour. Combined with Stevenage Borough Council's plan to close a key arterial route through the town and to also cause queues going into 2 rather than the current 8 car parks at rush hour, which will cause grid-lock, additional local traffic in the village as well could see journey times from Little Wymondley increase from 15-20 minutes to an hour plus - and it's only 3 miles away!! The resident's survey of 2015 showed that traffic management was a major concern of most residents.
In summary, this development is in conflict with the NPPF and the wishes of the of the local people - it is also in conflict with creating sustainable transport solutions, and would instead make the existing problems of the A1 and junction 8 much worse. It also has the real potential to ruin the lives of many residents with more frequent and more severe flooding of their homes on a more regular basis.