Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

The Wymondley Parish council & Action Group has informed us of the NHDCs plans for an additional 300 homes in Little Wymondley. This is a matter that I am strongly opposed to this based on the unprecedented number of additional houses proposed which would essentially double the size of our rural village.

Asides from the glaringly obvious point that the proposed location is Green Belt land (which can't just be re-classified as 'Urban Open Land' to suit ones needs) there are a multitude of infrastructure shortcoming. These include road access, broadband, mains gas (I'm on an oil fired burner) schooling, convenience shops, parking, recreational sites etc.

As a village, we manage with what we have and I'd suggest on the whole, we have what we need to live very happily. This however would not be the case with the addition of another 300 homes. Asides from the obvious increases in population, cars (and associated pollution); the main factor for consideration are the erosion of our living space, countryside and our identity as a small village.

It's not just the Green Belt fields that the 300 x houses will occupy that need to be considered; it's the fields that the larger school will need to go on, the fields that will have to have a road(s) carve their way through, the fields that accommodate the new corner shop, the fields that need to be taken up for utilities infrastructure, the fields for a new playground for the families that will be moving in, the fields that additional parking for the village etc.

It's not just 300 x homes, it's everything else that comes with doubling the size of a rural village, on Green Belt land, in a high flood risk area!

Asides from all of the above points (as if this isn't reason enough) there is also the very valid point of urban sprawl on a tiny cluster of villages between the towns of Hitchin & Stevenage. We are seeing a significant attack on our rural space, be that from housing or proposals for solar energy farm sites. This housing proposal is eroding the very core of village life in North Hertfordshire and genuinely damaging the character of the affected villages. If this sort of application process continues for housing, it shan't be long before the towns of Hitchin and Stevenage amalgamate into one and totally erode away some of the most idyllic countryside in North Herts.

Please consider the lives we work so hard to live before financial gain and 'box ticking' exercises.