I strongly object to the current NHDC Local Plan particularly regarding Baldock for the following reasons:

* The needs and wishes of the people of Baldock have been ignored.

* The Government has reduced the need for 14,400 houses in North Hertfordshire to 13,800 so why is NHDC still pressing ahead with its plan to build the former number? What has it done to question the real need for this number bearing in mind that these numbers are decided on in an office far removed from North Hertfordshire?

* Where are all these new people going to work - London, Cambridge, Stevenage? How will they get to work?

* Trains are already overcrowded at peak times. We now know that the capacity of the trains is to be reduced by the train operator - how does this match up with hugely increasing numbers of people needing to use the train service which will be the inevitable result of building 3,290 houses in Baldock?

* If the trains cannot accommodate thousands more commuters then inevitably travel by road is the only option for many. The A1 is already gridlocked at times - what does NHDC propose to do about this? Are our villages to become 'rat runs' - what is NHDC doing to ensure this does not happen?

* No-one from the proposed housing between Bygrave and Baldock will walk into Baldock. It is already difficult to find a parking space in Baldock and there is now a plan to increase the size of parking spaces to accommodate the current vogue for larger cars with the inevitable result of reducing the number of parking spaces. So, what is NHDC doing to increase the number of parking spaces for the thousands more cars their Local Plan will release on to our roads?

* It is already difficult to get a place at Knights Templar School - what is NHDC proposing to do to increase school places at both secondary and primary level?

* GP surgeries and hospitals are already experiencing an unprecedented demand on their services which they are having difficulty in managing. Has NHDC got a plan to increase capacity as they double the number of people needing to use medical facilities?

I would very much appreciate an answer these questions.