Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

Theresa May, and before her David Cameron, have stated that nationally the Green Belt should be preserved intact; Mrs May has used the word "sacrosanct". Hansard records on 15th July 2016 the Minister of Housing and planning, Gavin Barwell, stated: "...most building on the Green Belt is inappropriate and planning permission should be refused except in very special circumstances". The 3 local MPs whose constituencies cover North Herts, have stated their support for this position. The Local plan Proposes to build large new housing estates on Green Belt land east of Luton, north of Letchworth, north of Baldock and north of Stevenage, yet nowhere in the Local Plan has NHDC demonstrated "very special circumstances".
Water and sewerage infrastructure is already struggling to cope with the density of housing in North Herts, one of the driest parts of the country. Local rivers such as the Beane are already over-exploited and suffering environmental damage. The Green Belt north of Letchworth has significance for several red listed species of bird, wildflower and butterfly and should not be considered for housing development.

We object to the development labelled LG-1. The local plan does not include acreage therefore the housing density cannot be calculated.
THE SPECIAL CASE OF LETCHWORTH.
The genesis of Letchworth Garden City was Sir Ebenezer Howard's revolutionary project for a healthier society and as such generated a new social movement worldwide. The main principle was Letchworth would be a self-sustaining town with a carefully planned balance between urban and rural living. Tourists and students of town planning from all over the world visit this prototype modern garden city; they would be dismayed at the iconoclasm of the Local Plan. Moreover, to preserve proximity of the countryside, an agricultural belt (later designated green belt) was to provide farm produce and health-giving open space and fresh air. Nowhere was to be more than 15 minutes walk from open countryside. This purposely restricted the growth of the town and the population to a projected 32000. The town was renamed 'Garden City' quite recently to help promote the whole concept of Howard.
Letchworth was to be self-sustaining in the sense that the people would work locally, in local industry, so housing and industry were in exact mutual need. The Local Plan does not propose any new industrial sites to absorb the workforce from new housing in fact the proposal includes plans to repurpose industrial land for housing and this has already happened along Blackhorse Road; the sense of community will weaken as Letchworth becomes ever more a dormitory town.
It is assumed that new traffic congestion can be remedied by road-widening but in Letchworth this solution is not available. All Letchworth roads are narrow as its conception as a self-sustaining town would obviate the need for travel. Workers would walk to work, children would walk to school and car-ownership would be low. Narrow roads were bordered by grass verges, generously studded with trees, some of them rare. In this environment, road-widening would be totally destructive of character. The proposed new estate North of the Grange will feed its extra traffic through these narrow roads , causing severe traffic congestion through the Grange and Letchworth Centre, and, as it becomes predominantly a dormitory town (through failing to balance new housing with new local employment opportunity), extreme parking pressure on routes leading to the station (such as Cowslip Hill, Norton way North, Icknield Way) . On the other hand, if to avoid town centre congestion, it is decided to create new routes through to Stotfold Road to the West, or through to form a new junction with Norton road to the East, the new estate will lose its identity with the community of Letchworth. (Presumably, or hopefully, this is not the planners' intention.)

It is extremely important to protect any heritage at risk. Are the medieval Oak pollarded hedges protected for example? These are to be found in the site north of Letchworth Grange next to the Greenway and will be threatened if the LG1 development goes ahead. If these hedges are destroyed that would be a travesty!
In addition, Letchworth being developed as a Garden City seems to be an important heritage of the last century and the blatant disregard for the Garden City principles for some extremely dubious 'justifications' by the Heritage Foundation is unforgivable. Letchworth is supposed to be governed for the people, not to make profit to be used by the few. The notion of elected governors was supposed to protect Letchworth from the very activities that appear to be going on now.

If the land here is built on it will have a highly detrimental effect on the population of toads in the nearby Norton pond because of massively increased traffic along Croft Lane. In addition this area is prone to flooding and building houses is likely to make this worse

This is another example of building on the green belt. It is clear from the green belt plan of 173 that there has already been development on a piece of the green belt in this area. Clearly the Garden City Heritage Foundation are ignoring the principles of Ebenezer Howard and this cannot be allowed to continue in a World Recognized Garden City (the first one!) which is a clam to fame of our town and brings people from all over the world to see what we have. Norton village should also be protected, it isn't part of Letchworth.

This is a change of use from industrial to residential. The garden city principles are meant to ensure there is a balance between industrial and residential development to meet the needs of working people in the town and encourage as many people in Letchworth as possible to work in the town in which they live. Increased development of housing at the cost of industrial land means that people will put extra pressure on the surrounding transport infrastructure (already creaking at the knees) and risks Letchworth becoming a dormitory town. There is little enough decent affordable office space in the town (The Spirella building is stupidly priced at £24 psf) with enough parking (The Nexus building has inadequate parking)

This is the Orchard land at the rear of the private houses on Baldock Road between Letchworth Gate and the BP garage. The land was acquired at the time the council compulsorily purchased Jackman's Estate land from the Letchworth Garden City Corporation. A provision of the Arbitrator/Inspector's decision on the compulsory purchase was that the land should be left as Garden City style green space between the estate and the private, original Garden City houses, NHDC obviously wishes to avoid that decision since the sale of the land to a developer would bring in a million or two in addition to the presently 35 x £10,000 (new homes bonus). There also doesn't appear to be a good place to enter the site (roadway) as the current access is too narrow for a road.

The freeholder of the land is the Heritage Foundation and another party has the ground lease. This is another replacement of employment by housing, with no indication to where the replacement employment is to be found. It is also further encroachment of housing onto our main industrial/commercial area

This is currently accommodation for elderly people which is being replaced with flats and houses at a time when accommodation for elderly people is in particular need - a serious shortage of appropriate accommodation for elderly people nationally. Replacement of the home with more up to date elderly accommodation might be deemed reasonable.

Demolition of one of the best quality and most up-to-date office suites to make way for housing seems totally against any Garden City principles as well as removing employment without stating where the workers will go. The fact that this is the current home of the LGC Heritage Foundation somehow makes this proposal all the worse.