Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I would like to object to the North Herts Local Plan 2011-2031.

Grounds for objection:
1. Lack of any infrastructure to support the majority of the developments, developers will build the homes quickly in desirable sites and there will be no new infrastructure in place for years.
2. The draft sustainability plan is biased towards the building of new homes and minimises the environmental impact and downsides. Suggests vague uncosted mitigation proposals outside the control of North Herts District Council eg increasing sewerage capacity at Rye Meads. States village schools would close without development when they are bulging at the seams already, why let the facts get in the way of the report your clients want!
3. In relation to Codicote the number of proposed houses is more than the village can support, and there is little local employment to justify such expansion so all the new inhabitants would be commuting by car which would overload the already gridlocked rush hour traffic.
4. All local water is ground source extracted so without building a reservoir or a connection to an existing reservoir, new housing will further deplete this finite resource. There is hardly any water in the rivers as it is!
5. In Codicote sewerage is limited by a narrow distant connection to Rye Meads which is already at capacity, the proposed number of houses will further exceed this capacity.
6. Lack of school places; village primary schools are already at capacity and competition for secondary school places is intense.
7. Existing village and greenbelt boundaries should be respected, this has been the planning objective for decades, why rip this up and create the dreaded sprawl. If we need capacity we should build a new garden city with the infrastructure and road and rail connections required to support the population.
8. Poor broadband speeds broadband speeds in most rural areas are severely limited at peak times, building more homes will further increase demand for bandwith without additional supply.
9. Loss of beautiful rural environment.