Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I object to the Local plan for Baldock Hertfordshire BA1 - Site 2 and 3

My reasons are:
1. The plan goes against the National Planning Policy for greenbelt in that it is not safeguarding the countryside from encroachment and also is affecting the nature and special character of historic Baldock.
The selling off this land that is actively used as farm land, will change the face of Hertfordshire forever. Once houses are built, the farming community will be destroyed forever and there is no going back on the decision.

We keep being told to reduce our carbon footprint-how are we meant to when your decision will mean that even more food will need to be imported? These farms employ a lot of people who are working and not claiming benefits. We enjoy these open fields on a daily basis, going for long walks. Over the last year, there has been a dramatic increase in the Red Kite population. We have heard Barn Owls at night. We watch buzzards and kestrels flying and hovering, we check the dates that the swallows return and then leave again each year. All of these experiences would be lost to future generations.

2. The second objection to the plan is the backwards looking policy with respect to the type of housing.

We are told that the housing is predominantly needed for first time buyers and they need to have a New Build house on an estate preferable 2 up and 2 down? If land is in short supply, why are the planners not insisting on apartment and high density housing which is less land grabbing. i.e. Why are multi-storey buildings not being built in brown field sites ? In Europe this is common practise at the very least to go to 5 levels to maximise land use. In Baldock there has been a number of sites that have had new builds have but they have been built as low density housing e.g the new buildings by Icknield way and Norton Road.

As there is more and more pressure on land for housing and waste surely this cannot be left to builders to manipulate . At this rate the land will continually be axed so builders can continue with their same policy of standard housing.


3.The entrance to site 2 is along a very congested small feeder road (Salisbury Road) that has only 1 side of the road available at most times as residents need to park their cars on the roads. This road will be unable to carry the load of traffic from the number of houses proposed.
This road also carry's all the sewerage drains and will probably not cope with the additional load of traffic when work is required on the drains etc.

4. The plan has no mention of how the additional thousands of houses will be able to get to the south of Baldock.
At the moment the only local way is to go under the railway bridge and we already have long queues and delays to get onto the North road and through the traffic lights. With the new housing being built at the station today this will further exasperate the situation. Otherwise you have to make a 5 mile detour around on the A1 which is already congested around Stevenage at peak times.