Knebworth

I am a Knebworth resident deeply concerned not about development in the village, but the sheer scale of development planned.

Very broadly, the plan seeks to increase the number of dwellings in Knebworth by some 30%. This is a huge number that will change the village enormously, and furthermore, seems to be a much higher percentage of increase than any surrounding village is to experience, plus the towns of Hitchin, Baldock and Letchworth.

Knebworth is already a village under great pressure, just servicing its current population! Trains are packed (with only two extra trains planned to come into service at peak times in 2018, but with less seats than the trains that currently serve us), our GP has a four week plus waiting list, and the village is networked by small, single lane roads only, that are just not suitable for greater volumes of traffic.

This huge number of additional dwellings will create a blight on the village for more than decade, whilst large scale construction is in process delivering some 600 homes to a village that only currently has 2,000.

I wholeheartedly agree that development is required, but the scale of that proposed is entirely NOT in keeping with the village, its environment, facilities and it is certainly not good for the residents that have made Knebworth their home.

So, I would contend that the number of dwellings is revisited, with a further bias toward already heavily developed urban area, rather than continue this drive to reducing an historic village to another shapeless town.

Additional housing for Knebworth amounts to 1/3 of the current housing population compared with <1/10 for other areas in North Herts. It seems the aim is to turn Knebworth into a large town and not preserve its village status. This takes up more than 1/4 of all green belt surrounding the village - seriously detracting from the vista, rural nature and going against the government's own planning practice guidance of maintaining green belt. There is a significant risk of Knebworth merging into Stevenage to the north-east of the village, which is something the green belt was designed to protect.

There is no clarity on how local services will be expanded to cope with additional housing demand. It already takes over 15 minutes to drive through the village B197 at rush hour and it is not possible to get a seat on any fast trains into London. There is a waiting list for the school, doctors and dentist. Again, this vast expansion does not consider the government's own planning practice guidance about improving people's areas and driving infrastructure improvements.

The dwelling estimates compared to the land areas are vastly disproportionate to the current housing density in the village. It is not clear how the character of such new homes will fit with the areas adjoining the proposed developments, especially to the north and east of the village, which as mostly 1900's detached properties on large plots. This again is in conflict with the government's own planning practice guidance of taking account of the local area and design

New developments are required to cope with increased population demands, but the proposals for Knebworth seem disproportionate to the rest of North Herts and do not seem to have been as well-considered. I would recommend proposed expansion to the west (to the A1M boundary) but removal of expansion to the east. New developments on the west would have more limited impact (e.g. the green belt does little when there is a natural road boundary, housing density and style is already more modern).

Oh dear, we really do need this development for the future of the 'village' s ' economy, opportunities, homes for our children and grandchildren. But the worthies and unworthies of Knebworth will oppose, even so, if the associated infrastructure is not a commitment in the Plan, it will fail. I would then depart for somewhere more progressive.

I fully believe that the country needs more homes. I also believe that some of those homes need to be built in and around Knebworth. But I feel that the plans as they stand DO NOT TAKE ADEQUATE ACCOUNT OF INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING. To increase the size of the village by 30% and then to only have poorly planned ideas for infrastructure borders on the negligent. The building plans need to be scaled down significantly, to more attention needs to be placed on infrastructure. I am not even going to expand on the environmental impact of building in the green belt. There is no overarching strategic plan.

My concerns are purely for Knebworth and its catchment area.

In principle I welcome new housing into the area as it should bring in new blood and with it new money. However that said and done surely the infrastructure should be so that trains, buses, roads etc are all capable of supporting this new influx.

Currently the present infrastructure is barely able to support these things and so I move that serious consideration must be given to this aspect of the plan before the bulldozers move in.

Whilst the four proposed sites around Knebworth are individually less than the stipulated 500 dwellings which would bring them under greater planning regulations. Collectively the four sites total in excess of 600 properties and need to be viewed and assessed as such with regards to the environmental and impact upon the village.
Without this overview it is most likely that the four individual developers will be able to evade liabilities for the installation of amenities and responsibility for due care and consideration to the existing population.

1.Green belt - why is this an unrecognised term these plans degrade not one but three green belt areas in the same village. The National plan is to protect Green Belt
2. Knebworth is already an extremely congested village and cannot support the current road demands. An additional 663 homes means an additional 663 cars (most likely more than that as there is often more than 1 car per household.) The current road system B197 is not suffice currently so it can not support this substantial proposed increase. When the A1 has an issue all traffic heading North or south comes along the A197 and it is a current major problem which will be exacerbated with all these new homes. Like having the A1 running through the village merging with all villagers trying to get to their homes resulting in major traffic jams. This happens freqently. In addition the development lorries and associated traffic of such large new development sites will be an issue for the feeder roads in the village ( A197) . The parking of current homeowners is under stress this additional population increase will be a step too far and will cause major stress in the local community.
3.Schools/ Doctors. Not enough provision for a substantial increase in population. ( estimated 31% increase with no provision of new services, apart from one junior school).
4. Drainage. Adding so much new hardstanding will dramatically effect the ability of the land to absorb water run off and drainage will be affected which will cause local flooding. Are sewage provisions adequate?
5. Why is there such a concentration of development proposed for Knebworth, a 31 % increase makes this a town no longer a village when all the infrastructure is for a village not a town. Also a village is defined as "There should also be a clear green belt or open fields surrounding its parish borders. " This proposal removes three greenbelt areas.
6. Joined up thinking? Not evident. On the one hand plans to significantly expand Knebworth is in direct contrast to the Govia Thameslink Railway 2018 plan for Knebworth- A downgrading of service which states "There'll be no more fast trains to or from London during peak hours" and "all trains will be slow stopping".

I would like to register my concerns with reference to Knebworth. I am concerned that the level of extra housing proposed has not adequately been supported by an infrastructure plan.

There is already concerns regarding traffic through the village; pollution levels. Each evening there is a high level of single lane traffic trying to get through the village, trying to bypass the inadequate A1. Living here for one year I have seen many near misses with pedestrians on the road trying to access the village amenities, both the elderly from the new McCarthy and Stone property and children attending the local primary.

I understand their is a proposal for a new primary school site but none for secondary or nursery placements. I can only imagine this means more secondary aged children on coaches also trying to get through the village for pick ups or children trying to get on already congested trains. Linked to this the library provision to allow children to extend their learning.

Having left St Albans where I was able to get an appointment with in a week myself and my husband are now having to wait 3 weeks for appointments. I do not see any plans for added surgeries therefore what will happen to residents needing care. There has just been a retirement community built and I understand their are plans for another. I can only imagine how these vulnerable people will get to appointments having to rely on local buses to get them to hospital appointments etc.

I have lived in Knebworth all my life and the changes I have seen have not been for the better parking is a nightmare traffic and now they want to add more houses on our greenbelt, the traffic has got worse with this so call planning its a disgrace leave the greenbelt alone we don't need anymore houses in Knebworth or traffic problems I love those fields and children need greenbelt for the future not looking onto other houses DISGRACEFUL not a happy resident

The Parish Council objects to the amount of housing development proposed for the village of Knebworth, and the lack of a strategy for the area. The four sites specified would increase the numbers of dwellings by 31% an increase which is proportionately greater than most other Category A settlements in North Hertfordshire. The rate of development proposed is well in excess of that experienced in recent decades. What has been proposed amounts to a housing "monoculture" - there is nothing proposed for local employment development.
No account has been taken of the recent planning permission for housing (70 dwellings) on the Odyssey former health centre site, adjacent to the Stevenage boundary at the Roebuck. The Parish Council notes that this site was rejected in the 2016 SHLAA Update. In addition, the Plan needs to recognise the impact of the proposal in the Welwyn Hatfield draft Local Plan (Policy HS15) for 150 dwellings at Woolmer Green, to the south of the Knebworth Parish Boundary.

The detailed concerns are set out in the responses to the individual sites, but there are cumulative effects on the whole Parish which need to be addressed. These issues are set out below.

1. Green Belt

The proposals to release land form the Green Belt are based on the Green Belt Review of July 2016. Compared to the earlier 2014 Review, this has intentionally treated Knebworth differently - as an urban area, rather than a village. Undoubtedly, this has resulted in the disproportionate allocation of housing land to Knebworth. The assumptions underlying this analysis, and its conclusions, are flawed and the Plan is unsound.

Sites KB1, KB2, and KB4 are entirely within the Green Belt which surrounds the village. Development of these areas would be contrary to Government policy as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Paragraph 83 of the NPPF states that Green Belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances.
In our view, the District Council has not demonstrated exceptional circumstances for the release of substantial areas of Green Belt land. In this part of Hertfordshire, the Green Belt fulfils many of the purposes set out in the NPPF (paragraph 80). This is acknowledged in the NHDC Green Belt Review Update (July 2016).
As part of a more widespread strategic function the Green Belt does help to check the unrestricted sprawl of Greater London along the main route corridors in Hertfordshire. This principle was established in the Hertfordshire County Structure Plan, which was approved by the Government in 1979. The NHDC Green Belt Review also considers that it contains the outward sprawl of Stevenage.

More locally, the Green Belt does prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another. Thus the gap has been maintained between the village of Knebworth and Stevenage to the north, as well as Woolmer Green to the south.
It also assists in saving the countryside from encroachment, a particularly important function in a vibrant county such as Hertfordshire. Arguably, it has also assisted in urban regeneration by channelling economic development into Stevenage and other towns.

These points are acknowledged in the NHDC Green Belt strategic assessment of the existing Green Belt. For Knebworth, the parcels of land around the village are considered to make a significant contribution to Green Belt purposes.

According to the earlier 2014 Green Belt Review, all of the sites around the village were stated to be significant, with one exception - the land to the south of Swangley's Lane. Despite this conclusion, the sites to the west of the village (now KB1 and KB2) were recommended for allocation.

With addition of the sites to the east of Knebworth in the 2016 sites review, it is unclear why and how the District has seemed to cast aside the results of its own reports.

The Odyssey site was considered in the 2016 SHLAA Update (site 54) as unsuitable for development, in order to protect the "clear defensible Green Belt boundary to the southern edge of Stevenage". Yet this site was approved for housing development by North Hertfordshire District Council Planning Control committee on 13th October 2016 (application number 16/00813/1), thus further threatening the Green Belt gap between Knebworth and Stevenage.

2 Highways and Transport

The Parish Council is extremely concerned about the cumulative impact of the four development sites on the highways network in and around the village of Knebworth. The detailed effects are considered in the representations on the individual sites, but it is inevitable that the additional traffic generated by the proposals would be channelled onto the B197, which runs from north to south through the centre of the village. This already a busy thoroughfare, with severe congestion occurring in the main shopping centre, where there is conflict between through traffic and car parking movements. The problems are exacerbated on occasions when the A1 (M) is closed and the B197 is used as a diversionary route, also at peak times when the motorway is overloaded.

With regards to the proposals on the west side of the village, there appears to be an underlying assumption that there are three bridges crossing the East Coast main railway line, and therefore traffic movements can be accommodated with some improvements. This downplays the reality of the problems. All three bridges are narrow and cause traffic delays and safety concerns. To the south, in the Parish of Woolmer Green, there is also a fourth bridge at Bridge Road, which would also be affected by additional traffic generated in Knebworth. For any improvements to these four bridges, there would be the question of the impact on railway traffic during construction.

As cars have increased in size, it has become extremely difficult for opposing vehicles to pass safely through the bridges at any one time. The problems is particularly acute at the under-bridges at Bridge Lane and Gun Lane. It is hard to envisage how improvements could be made without wholesale widening of the structures. This would be undesirable with regards to the under-bridge at Gun Lane, which forms the entrance to the Stockens Green Conservation Area. This bridge is also located on a tight bend close to adjoining housing. Little consideration appears to have been given as to how any improvements could be delivered in terms of the impact of construction work on railway traffic on the East Coast main line.
In addition to the effects on the bridges, the Parish Council is concerned about the effects on the local roads. Much of the traffic from sites KB1 and KB2 will pass through Deards End Lane (the shortest route to the north). Traffic from these sites seeking the B197 to the south will either use Gypsy Lane/Wych Elm Lane/ Bridge Lane or Gypsy Lane/Stockens Green.

As a result of these movements, there would be a seriously detrimental effect on the character of the two Conservation Areas and the amenity of local residents. Deards End Lane in particular is a narrow hedged road with no footpath, bounded by residents' gardens. There would appear to be no viable solution to the concerns about congestion and safety.
Similar concerns are raised in relation to site KB4 and the potential impact on Watton Road and Swangley's Lane. (see representation ID278).

3. Economy and Employment

The Parish Council strongly objects to the concentration on housing development in the Local Plan proposals for Knebworth, with no provision for employment. In fact the development of the Chas Lowe site (KB3) would result in a net loss of employment in the Parish. This lack of balance is unsustainable.

4. Drainage

The Parish Council submits that the cumulative effects of the proposed developments would place severe pressures on drainage infrastructure, a problem which is acknowledged by the District Council in paragraphs 13.201 and 13.202 of the Local Plan. It is not enough to state that "scheme promoters should work with Thames Water".
This ignores the fact that the Rye Meads sewage treatment works deals with waste from a considerable catchment area. Within this catchment, there are a number of local planning authorities preparing Local Plans for submission. All of these plans contain proposals for large-scale housing development. Cumulatively, these developments cast doubts on the capacity of Rye Meads to deal with the waste which would be generated. This problem has not been addressed on a sub-regional basis. Knebworth is on the edge of the Rye Meads catchment area, and it is therefore extremely unlikely that housing could be delivered because of the real constraints on drainage capacity.

5. Impact on the Countryside

Knebworth is set within an area of attractive countryside. The village is contained within a bowl of undulating landscape. The proposed developments would cause considerable harm to this landscape setting. In doing so, large areas of productive farmland would be lost, contrary to paragraph 112 of the NPPF, which seeks to protect the areas of best and most versatile agricultural land.

6. Conservation and Heritage

The village of Knebworth has two Conservation Areas, the character of which would be effected by the proposed developments. The details are described in the responses to the individual sites.

7. Education
It is noted that the proposals for KB2 include provision for a IFE Primary School. Proposals for KB4 also contain 4Ha of land for education. Taken on their own, the proposed housing numbers on each of the development sites fall below the HCC threshold for additional school provision, which is approximately 500 dwellings. This gives rise to a concern as to whether the developers of individual sites would be willing to fund additional education provision.

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I have lived in Knebworth all my life and the changes I have seen have not been for the better parking is a nightmare traffic and now they want to add more houses on our greenbelt, I live in Stockens Green and the traffic has got worse with this so call planning its a disgrace leave the greenbelt alone we don't need anymore houses in Knebworth or traffic problems I love those fields and children need greenbelt for the future not looking onto other houses DISGRACEFUL not a happy resident.

I wish to raise an objection to the proposed development for Knebworth.

My reason for objecting, is the inadequate road infrastructure that currently exists in the village and the absence of any plan to improve this for the planned new development.

I live on the only main access road to the village - Stevenage Road, No. 46, which is towards the outer limits of the village.

Specific Traffic Issues:

1. By 8.00am most mornings the traffic is queuing from the centre of the village to the top of Stevenage Road, a distance of approx. 1/2M.

2. Regularly around 5.00pm in the evenings, particularly on Fridays, the traffic is queuing in the opposite direction from the centre of the village, to the lights at Tesco in Stevenage, a distance of over 1M.

3. When there are traffic problems on the A1M, traffic diverts through Knebworth and it becomes gridlocked in both directions, mainly north bound and it can take 1/2 hour to cover the 1M to the Tesco lights in Stevenage.

4. To avoid the long ques into and out of the village, traffic diverts through the surrounding country lanes and residential areas, which are not design to take the increase in volume that occurs at these times.

I have been a local resident for over 25 years and I have seen the village grow considerably in this time, I believe the growth of the village to be a positive thing. However without any plans in place to increase the currently failing road infrastructure, the village will only become further congested, causing much frustration to both current and new residents.

I wish to raise an objection to the proposed development for Knebworth.

My reason, the inadequate road and rail infrastructure that currently exists in the village and the absence of any plan to improve this for the planned new development.

I live on Stevenage Road at number 23, the main (only) access road through the village .

Specific Issues:

1. By 8.00am most mornings the traffic is queuing from the centre of the village to the top of Stevenage Road, a distance of approx. 1/2M.

2. Most day's around 5.00pm, particularly on Fridays, the traffic is queuing in the opposite direction from the centre of the village, to the lights at Tesco in Stevenage, a distance of over 1M which can add half an hour onto a 1/2 mile journey to Stevenage.

3. When there are traffic issues on the A1M, traffic diverts through Knebworth and it becomes gridlocked in both directions, mainly north bound and it can again take 1/2 hour to cover the 1M to the Tesco lights in Stevenage. This causes significant delays for both private commuters and importantly significant delays to public Bus services.

4. To avoid the long queues into and out of the village, traffic diverts through the surrounding country lanes and residential areas, which are not designed to take the increase in volume that occurs at these times, and I have been witness to several incidents where cars looking for diversions have sped through the railway tunnel by the Station endangering pedestrians walking along the very narrow footpath, this is only going to get worse with increased traffic requiring to use this route regardless of any A1 traffic issues that there may be. The tunnel is used regularly by School children and as a commuter of 20 years, to stress the point I have seen the amount of speeding traffic increase through the tunnel at peak times and it is only a miracle that there has not been a serious incident. I am really concerned that with the proposals this is going to become a real bottleneck at peak times as well as the main village high street.

5. The train service from Knebworth is already dangerously overcrowded at peak times, most peak time direct services are full to bursting and the new timetable proposals for 2018 are going to make this worse without the increase of commuters the plan will create. How can a proposal for extra housing be so lacking in any coherent infrastructure plan ??

I have lived in Knebworth for over 20 years and have seen the village grow and prosper. I support the opportunity to provide more dwellings for people to join what is a great community but without an infrastructure plan that can significantly improve the already unsatisfactory traffic and rail arrangements the current plan is deeply flawed..

Am writing to strongly object to the proposed 666 new dwellings in Knebworth and propose that this amount should be reduced to 333 new houses.

Concerns are as follows:

A) No new GTR trains and a proposed reduced time-table and possibly no future fast train to London from Knebworth.

B) The roads and high street around Knebworth are heavily congested now and we do not require more cars, people or pollution.

C) The Primary School in Knebworth is FULL; possibly new Primary School (?) ....no new Secondary School, Secondary School provision for Knebworth is mainly in Stevenage.

D) Doctor`s Surgery is to be relocated and Knebworth Library downgraded to be run and organised by volunteers.

E) Current waiting time in A+E at "The Lister Hospital" to see a Doctor is 6.5/7 hours.

A rethink of the current proposals is urgently needed due to increased pressure on current infrastructure.

Paragraph 13.183 states that The village of Knebworth has a good range of facilities including a railway station, school, doctors and dentists, library, a range of shops, village hall and churches. Currently the railway station, school and doctors are all insufficient to deal with current demand. Most specifically parking at the railway station is inadequate and street parking by rail users leads to conflict between rail users and residents. A 25-30% increase in dwellings will further overload these facilities.

Paragraph 13.195 identifies the high street as a known pinch point, but the two railway bridges at Station Road/Park Lane and Gun Road are both narrow and less than the required width for a two lane road with narrow pavements for pedestrians. Both roads are already busy at peak times and the construction of 384 additional homes to the West of the railway will increase the amount of traffic using these bridges. Construction traffic will also exacerbate traffic problems at these two narrow bridges.

Paragraph 13.183 states that the village of Knebworth has a good range of shops. Paragraph 13.196 Identifies that "Some of the capacity issues here arise from the way in which the local highway is managed and in particular, the provision of short-stay on-street parking adjacent to the shops." The reason that there continues to be a good range of shops is due to the availability of short-stay on-street parking adjacent to the shops. Removal or restriction of this facility would lead to a decline in those shops, which are seen as being a positive indicator for further development.

Currently Knebworth High Street and other areas of the village suffer from flooding at times of heavy rain. The existing drainage in the village is inadequate and poorly maintained with many blocked gulleys. The notes on Sites KB2, KB3 and KB4 all refer to measures to mitigate existing flood risk, but these should not be reviewed in isolation but as part of a strategic improvement to village drainage.

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The plan for Knebworth, as it stands, is not a 'Positively prepared'. Currently we fall outside the development size for a detailed plan as the 650+ possible developments sit on 5 sites. However considering the size of Knebworth and the big percentage increase in property and inhabitants I believe that a detailed plan is required to demonstrate that current infrastructure can cope or detail what improvements are needed and where they will be funded from.
I believe Knebworth may have been considered a good option for development due to current infastructure such as railway line and doctors surgery etc and these are both already under great pressure.
- The Govia Thaameslink Railway 2018 Timetable consultation is considering taking away all fast trains from Knebworth and stopping all trains going to Peterborough.
- Although we have a new doctors surdury planned. This has been put on hold I beleive as it is considered it would not be able to cope with demand it this plan goes ahead. So now local residence must suffer while we wait o see of this goes ahead!

A few points for consideration:-
1. The current access to the plots at the east side of the village all have elements of single file road access, especially under both railway bridges on Station Road and Gun Lane.
2. The high street is already a nightmare and increased traffic, which will occur due to lack of any plan for local jobs, will cause further headaches and danger to our young. i hear there is a proposal to limit parking on one side of the high street. This is not the answer for 3 reasons a) reduced trade for local business b) faster moving/speeding traffic through the village c) The already dangerous rat run of Pondcroft Road will become even more dangerous
3. As already mentioned, doctors surgery that will not be able to cope.
4. Reduced train service
5. School places. Primary school we may have a short term solution but Secondary school admission will be further put under pressure.
6. Parking is already an issue and if these properties were to be allowed parking permits this would lead to impossible parking for residence near the train station on rainy days and especially weekends.

I could go on but my main point is that a detailed plan should be done and then this would show the infrastructure we would need and then I am almost certain that this plan would be scraped due to the high cost of implementation.

The overall plan for Knebworth envisages an increase of 663 dwellings. An increase of 31% by your numbers. This will change the character of the village completely and over-whelm a village that has developed slowly over years. The plan does not address in any way the additional pressure that will be placed upon local roads , specifically Watton Rd, which cannot be widened or the roundabout and London Rd in the centre of the village. All dwellings are impacted by these road ways and the village will become one long car-park and on-going traffic jam . This is particularly true when the plans for the rest of the area are considered in parallel.

To erode and extend the boundaries of the village to this extent will place an unacceptable burden on existing services , including GPs and schools. The roadways cannot cope or be changes due to existing housing. Local businesses in the High St (London Rd) will suffer as there is already traffic and parking pressures. Increased housing to this extent will mean there will be too much traffic to allow for local parking and people will give up and shop somewhere else. And we will lose the heart of the village, destroying its character, not building it.

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I wish to put in writing my objection to the proposed plans for Knebworth.
There seems no connection between the proposed housing development and infrastructure.
The B197 is already extremely congested for a considerable part of the day, just travelling by car through the centre of the village frequently takes a long time. I live in a small road off London Road and it frequently takes 10 or more minutes just to get onto the B197 because of the amount of traffic already travelling along it.
The proposed plans also mean a great loss of local open countryside.

We are very concerned that not enough thought and in depth investigation has gone into the proposed housing development at sites in Knebworth.
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No real infrastructure investigation. The roads leading into and around Knebworth are constantly congested and the smaller roads used as rat runs.
Also there is more heavy traffic using the already over used bridges!
Any kind of development without the infrastructure already in place will bring Knebworth to a halt, full stop. It just doesn't have the capacity!!
The local employment will not benefit, as most of the residents will have to commute, therefore causing more chaos.
The housing will not be affordable to local people, therefore backing the fact that they will be commuters.
Then there is the greenbelt, local wildlife, conservation areas, etc.

The real solution is to build another Garden City development, as people have previously mentioned.

Please, please look at the facts!

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I object to the plans for the development of further dwellings in Knebworth for the following reasons:

Lack of infrastructure to support the new housing - including doctors, dentists and schools

No increase in trains from Knebworth station or additional parking to support the additional commuters

The B197 and surrounding roads is already extremely busy and the additional housing will cause further traffic problems.

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