Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I accept that houses need to be built but the plan is *hugely* unfair, placing an excessive burden on Baldock and its infrastructure and has been *very* poorly thought through.
* The plan proposes a doubling of the population which will entirely change the character of the small market town
* The also uses green belt land which should be the last resort for development
* The areas B2,B3,B4,B5 propose to add 500 houses. These areas will cause a large volume of traffic to route via the North Road crossroad, or the roundabout at the end of High Street. Access out to Cambridge and Letchworth/Hitchen is therefore very heavily constrained by these two pinch points. Such an increase in traffic on Clothall Road past the nearby Hartsfield school inevitably will cause an increased danger to children and increase in pollution.
* Direct access from the B656 to the Clothall estate and the new areas B2,B3,B4,B5 *MUST* be addressed, to ease congestion at the crossroads
* Reconsider the possibility of a junction between A505 to A507
* The road network around the small town is already very busy and polluted at rush hours, and cannot easily be redesigned due to its tight layout and its many historic listed buildings. The traffic at the crossroads is already a problem and backs up along the B656 and North road and into High Street and excessively inhibits journey times and causes pollution.
* Construction work will take place over a long period and will cause massive disruption to the town, for which it will receive no compensation.
* Local services are already stretched and are certainly not sufficient to serve such an enormous increase in the population of this small town and *must must must* be extended to comfortably serve the proposed population *before* the houses are built
* Fresh water supply is likely to be an issue, as is drainage, potentially flash flooding in the town centre unless managed appropriately.

My feeling is that the development has been insufficiently thought through and the proposed suggestion of a New Town has been outright rejected on the grounds of not having enough time. However this is a very weak excuse for a plan that is meant to take into account long term development over a period of 20 years. Why can other councils manage to properly plan housing in a sustainable and creative way but NHDC cannot?

It *is* possible to build housing in a thoughtful and considerate way. The plan for Baldock does not.

I accept that houses need to be built but the plan is *hugely* unfair, placing an excessive burden on Baldock and its infrastructure and has been *very* poorly thought through.
* The plan proposes a doubling of the population which will entirely change the character of the small market town
* The also uses green belt land which should be the last resort for development
* The areas B2,B3,B4,B5 propose to add 500 houses. These areas will cause a large volume of traffic to route via the North Road crossroad, or the roundabout at the end of High Street. Access out to Cambridge and Letchworth/Hitchen is therefore very heavily constrained by these two pinch points. Such an increase in traffic on Clothall Road past the nearby Hartsfield school inevitably will cause an increased danger to children and increase in pollution.
* Direct access from the B656 to the Clothall estate and the new areas B2,B3,B4,B5 *MUST* be addressed, to ease congestion at the crossroads
* Reconsider the possibility of a junction between A505 to A507
* The road network around the small town is already very busy and polluted at rush hours, and cannot easily be redesigned due to its tight layout and its many historic listed buildings. The traffic at the crossroads is already a problem and backs up along the B656 and North road and into High Street and excessively inhibits journey times and causes pollution.
* Construction work will take place over a long period and will cause massive disruption to the town, for which it will receive no compensation.
* Local services are already stretched and are certainly not sufficient to serve such an enormous increase in the population of this small town and *must must must* be extended to comfortably serve the proposed population *before* the houses are built
* Fresh water supply is likely to be an issue, as is drainage, potentially flash flooding in the town centre unless managed appropriately.

My feeling is that the development has been insufficiently thought through and the proposed suggestion of a New Town has been outright rejected on the grounds of not having enough time. However this is a very weak excuse for a plan that is meant to take into account long term development over a period of 20 years. Why can other councils manage to properly plan housing in a sustainable and creative way but NHDC cannot?

It *is* possible to build housing in a thoughtful and considerate way. The plan for Baldock does not.