2800 houses means over 5000 cars on an estate like this. These cars will want to travel west because their employment and shopping facilities predominantly exist that direction. This will produce traffic chaos to Baldock on a grand scale.

Baldock is a small Market Town with limited facilities in a compact town centre. Apart from the old Kayser Bondor building becoming a large supermarket, which is used by many car driving North Herts residents, there have been no other facility changes for decades.
There is no room in and around the centre to increase its size. The facilities are designed for a small sized town with very limited parking spaces. Any further major development will completely destroy the whole character of the town

This increase (80%) in size is not logical. The town is only just coping today so adding this number of houses can only lead to chaos. Too much traffic, not enough parking and even more pollution increasing the unacceptable level that it has currently reached.

The traffic flowing through the town has easily exceeded the levels experienced pre-1966 i.e. before the A1 bypass and the more recently built east bypass. These two road changes, though important for the town, have not stopped the volumes of through traffic and the poor health implications that go with it. Unless something is done about this traffic (the solution is quite simple, which I can explain if requested), any further development will lead to chaotic lifestyles for all residents.

The NHDC presenters of this plan have not given the above serious thought at all. I believe the one and only reason for the 2800 house site is AS STATED IN THE PROPOSALS, that the site will not be contested by the landowner, HCC, and therefore building can happen quickly on this site to achieve a statutory numbers' requirement. There has been very little consultation about testing alternative sites around Baldock that would make more sense. This has been a hurried submission due to the lack of input in prior years to resolve the National Housing dilemma.