Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I write to register my objections to the proposed housing developments at Knebworth as suggested in the draft development plan from NHDC. Knebworth is a pleasant place to live - the addition of a further 600+ dwellings may change this permanently. My objections are mostly in the "soundness for North Herts", camp.

Parked vehicles in the roads surrounding the station and the high street currently prevents an even flow of traffic. This affects both traffic coming through the village and local people going about their business. Travel from my house in Deards End Lane to the A1 between 8.30 and 9.30 am can take as long as 40 minutes due to queuing traffic on a normal work day. If there is a problem on the A1M then this time can easily extend. Indeed, if the A1M is closed all traffic is routed through Knebworth and queues quickly build up at both ends of the High Street. Adding another 1000 local vehicles to this situation can only make it worse. KB1, KB2, KB3 and KB4 all affect this.

On the same track, vehicular access around the village is hampered by the physical barrier of the existing railway route, which effectively splits the village. The three bridges which provide the links were built in times when motor vehicles were rarities. They are ill suited to the size; numbers and frequency of the traffic they now must support. These "pinch points", will not cope with the additional traffic volumes that will result from the building of 600+ additional dwellings.

Access to the KB1 and KB2 developments is planned to be from the existing Park Lane route. This road is already congested, made difficult to pass by parked cars for the station and is used as a "rat run" by traffic which has chosen to avoid the congested High Street. In its current state, it will not cope with additional traffic to and from the 350+ new dwellings.

I have already mentioned the current parking problems in the village. One of the main contributors to this is commuter parking for the railway. As rail fare prices have increased and parking costs have increased at other nearby stations, the number of workers coming to Knebworth to commute by train has increased. This is not just in roads adjacent to the station as it now affects roads up to 20 minutes' walk away. Increasing the housing stock of the village by around 30% will only make this problem worse. Knebworth needs some official car parking areas, not new housing, but I imagine that there would be less money in that for the landowners.

Knebworth is in a slight physical valley and some parts of it have flooded on recent years with heavy rainfall. One area proposed for the new houses hosts lagoons to contain excessive water flow from the A1M. More "hard", surfaces in this area will speed up the movement of water to the village. On a wider point the new developments proposed at the sites KB1, KB2 and KB4 are all in areas around the edge of the village where surface water would naturally disperse. The proposed use of this land for housing will remove this and add further concrete/tarmac, placing more pressure on the existing drainage system. On the same topic, I believe that the sewage treatment infrastructure will need to have significant modification to support these new dwellings and the other additions on the route to the facility.

Although a junior school is planned for inclusion at the KB4 site I can see no other industry being attracted/planned for. This means no new source of employment and that all the people who come to Knebworth are expected to work somewhere else. The addition of so many new residents without any new form of employment will hasten the demise of the village by making it a dormitory town. This should not happen; it will accelerate the change of the character of the village.

I write to register my objections to the proposed housing developments at Knebworth as suggested in the draft development plan from NHDC. Knebworth is a pleasant place to live - the addition of a further 600+ dwellings may change this permanently. My objections are mostly in the "soundness for North Herts", camp.

Parked vehicles in the roads surrounding the station and the high street currently prevents an even flow of traffic. This affects both traffic coming through the village and local people going about their business. Travel from my house in Deards End Lane to the A1 between 8.30 and 9.30 am can take as long as 40 minutes due to queuing traffic on a normal work day. If there is a problem on the A1M then this time can easily extend. Indeed, if the A1M is closed all traffic is routed through Knebworth and queues quickly build up at both ends of the High Street. Adding another 1000 local vehicles to this situation can only make it worse. KB1, KB2, KB3 and KB4 all affect this.

On the same track, vehicular access around the village is hampered by the physical barrier of the existing railway route, which effectively splits the village. The three bridges which provide the links were built in times when motor vehicles were rarities. They are ill suited to the size; numbers and frequency of the traffic they now must support. These "pinch points", will not cope with the additional traffic volumes that will result from the building of 600+ additional dwellings.

Access to the KB1 and KB2 developments is planned to be from the existing Park Lane route. This road is already congested, made difficult to pass by parked cars for the station and is used as a "rat run" by traffic which has chosen to avoid the congested High Street. In its current state, it will not cope with additional traffic to and from the 350+ new dwellings.

I have already mentioned the current parking problems in the village. One of the main contributors to this is commuter parking for the railway. As rail fare prices have increased and parking costs have increased at other nearby stations, the number of workers coming to Knebworth to commute by train has increased. This is not just in roads adjacent to the station as it now affects roads up to 20 minutes' walk away. Increasing the housing stock of the village by around 30% will only make this problem worse. Knebworth needs some official car parking areas, not new housing, but I imagine that there would be less money in that for the landowners.

Knebworth is in a slight physical valley and some parts of it have flooded on recent years with heavy rainfall. One area proposed for the new houses hosts lagoons to contain excessive water flow from the A1M. More "hard", surfaces in this area will speed up the movement of water to the village. On a wider point the new developments proposed at the sites KB1, KB2 and KB4 are all in areas around the edge of the village where surface water would naturally disperse. The proposed use of this land for housing will remove this and add further concrete/tarmac, placing more pressure on the existing drainage system. On the same topic, I believe that the sewage treatment infrastructure will need to have significant modification to support these new dwellings and the other additions on the route to the facility.

Although a junior school is planned for inclusion at the KB4 site I can see no other industry being attracted/planned for. This means no new source of employment and that all the people who come to Knebworth are expected to work somewhere else. The addition of so many new residents without any new form of employment will hasten the demise of the village by making it a dormitory town. This should not happen; it will accelerate the change of the character of the village.

I write to register my objections to the proposed housing developments at Knebworth as suggested in the draft development plan from NHDC. Knebworth is a pleasant place to live - the addition of a further 600+ dwellings may change this permanently. My objections are mostly in the "soundness for North Herts", camp.

Parked vehicles in the roads surrounding the station and the high street currently prevents an even flow of traffic. This affects both traffic coming through the village and local people going about their business. Travel from my house in Deards End Lane to the A1 between 8.30 and 9.30 am can take as long as 40 minutes due to queuing traffic on a normal work day. If there is a problem on the A1M then this time can easily extend. Indeed, if the A1M is closed all traffic is routed through Knebworth and queues quickly build up at both ends of the High Street. Adding another 1000 local vehicles to this situation can only make it worse. KB1, KB2, KB3 and KB4 all affect this.

On the same track, vehicular access around the village is hampered by the physical barrier of the existing railway route, which effectively splits the village. The three bridges which provide the links were built in times when motor vehicles were rarities. They are ill suited to the size; numbers and frequency of the traffic they now must support. These "pinch points", will not cope with the additional traffic volumes that will result from the building of 600+ additional dwellings.

Access to the KB1 and KB2 developments is planned to be from the existing Park Lane route. This road is already congested, made difficult to pass by parked cars for the station and is used as a "rat run" by traffic which has chosen to avoid the congested High Street. In its current state, it will not cope with additional traffic to and from the 350+ new dwellings.

I have already mentioned the current parking problems in the village. One of the main contributors to this is commuter parking for the railway. As rail fare prices have increased and parking costs have increased at other nearby stations, the number of workers coming to Knebworth to commute by train has increased. This is not just in roads adjacent to the station as it now affects roads up to 20 minutes' walk away. Increasing the housing stock of the village by around 30% will only make this problem worse. Knebworth needs some official car parking areas, not new housing, but I imagine that there would be less money in that for the landowners.

Knebworth is in a slight physical valley and some parts of it have flooded on recent years with heavy rainfall. One area proposed for the new houses hosts lagoons to contain excessive water flow from the A1M. More "hard", surfaces in this area will speed up the movement of water to the village. On a wider point the new developments proposed at the sites KB1, KB2 and KB4 are all in areas around the edge of the village where surface water would naturally disperse. The proposed use of this land for housing will remove this and add further concrete/tarmac, placing more pressure on the existing drainage system. On the same topic, I believe that the sewage treatment infrastructure will need to have significant modification to support these new dwellings and the other additions on the route to the facility.

Although a junior school is planned for inclusion at the KB4 site I can see no other industry being attracted/planned for. This means no new source of employment and that all the people who come to Knebworth are expected to work somewhere else. The addition of so many new residents without any new form of employment will hasten the demise of the village by making it a dormitory town. This should not happen; it will accelerate the change of the character of the village.

I write to register my objections to the proposed housing developments at Knebworth as suggested in the draft development plan from NHDC. Knebworth is a pleasant place to live - the addition of a further 600+ dwellings may change this permanently. My objections are mostly in the "soundness for North Herts", camp.

Parked vehicles in the roads surrounding the station and the high street currently prevents an even flow of traffic. This affects both traffic coming through the village and local people going about their business. Travel from my house in Deards End Lane to the A1 between 8.30 and 9.30 am can take as long as 40 minutes due to queuing traffic on a normal work day. If there is a problem on the A1M then this time can easily extend. Indeed, if the A1M is closed all traffic is routed through Knebworth and queues quickly build up at both ends of the High Street. Adding another 1000 local vehicles to this situation can only make it worse. KB1, KB2, KB3 and KB4 all affect this.

On the same track, vehicular access around the village is hampered by the physical barrier of the existing railway route, which effectively splits the village. The three bridges which provide the links were built in times when motor vehicles were rarities. They are ill suited to the size; numbers and frequency of the traffic they now must support. These "pinch points", will not cope with the additional traffic volumes that will result from the building of 600+ additional dwellings.

Access to the KB1 and KB2 developments is planned to be from the existing Park Lane route. This road is already congested, made difficult to pass by parked cars for the station and is used as a "rat run" by traffic which has chosen to avoid the congested High Street. In its current state, it will not cope with additional traffic to and from the 350+ new dwellings.

I have already mentioned the current parking problems in the village. One of the main contributors to this is commuter parking for the railway. As rail fare prices have increased and parking costs have increased at other nearby stations, the number of workers coming to Knebworth to commute by train has increased. This is not just in roads adjacent to the station as it now affects roads up to 20 minutes' walk away. Increasing the housing stock of the village by around 30% will only make this problem worse. Knebworth needs some official car parking areas, not new housing, but I imagine that there would be less money in that for the landowners.

Knebworth is in a slight physical valley and some parts of it have flooded on recent years with heavy rainfall. One area proposed for the new houses hosts lagoons to contain excessive water flow from the A1M. More "hard", surfaces in this area will speed up the movement of water to the village. On a wider point the new developments proposed at the sites KB1, KB2 and KB4 are all in areas around the edge of the village where surface water would naturally disperse. The proposed use of this land for housing will remove this and add further concrete/tarmac, placing more pressure on the existing drainage system. On the same topic, I believe that the sewage treatment infrastructure will need to have significant modification to support these new dwellings and the other additions on the route to the facility.

Although a junior school is planned for inclusion at the KB4 site I can see no other industry being attracted/planned for. This means no new source of employment and that all the people who come to Knebworth are expected to work somewhere else. The addition of so many new residents without any new form of employment will hasten the demise of the village by making it a dormitory town. This should not happen; it will accelerate the change of the character of the village.