If the wish is to drastically alter the character and nature of this area of N Herts, the proposed plan is good.

But Barkway is a historic coaching village with a large conservation area on either side of its street. This will be swallowed up by more than doubling its present population by 66% or, at the very least, swamp the features of the village and its situation in the surrounding countryside which makes this area of Hertfordshire a very attractive part of the whole.

Barkway is very short of amenities from transport connections and doctors' surgeries to shops. The road running north/south, although a 'B' road is winding, hilly, quite narrow and has witnessed a number of fatalities. Those from the west and east are un-numbered, narrow rural roads edged with potholes where traffic pulls in to let vehicles pass. Because of the lack of transport and suitable roads every house in Barkway has at least two vehicles. By adding 66% to the population this unsuitable road system will have to cope with something in excess of an additional 220 vehicles.

There is no access to the only shop in the next village by public transport and of the two nearest towns of Buntingford and Royston, only Royston has access from Barkway by public transport. Likewise with the doctors' surgeries in the two towns and Barley.

There is no benefit whatsoever in allowing such a disproportionate number of homes to be built at one time in any rural community of this size.