Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

I most strongly object to building on site designated KW1 for the following reasons.

Introduction

Breachwood Green is a small village approached by four steep roads which are, in places, single track with blind bends. The village is essentially located around four roads; the Heath of which Heath Road and Chapel road are extensions, Oxford Road, Lower Road and Coleman's Road, which leads into Browning's Lane. Considerable residential infilling was carried out in the '60s and '70s and at the same time the creation of St Mary's Rise and Orchard Way.

The proposed area: Allotments West of the Heath:This area is a Greenfield site and is also currently used as allotments. It is classified as Grade 3 agricultural land and is located within groundwater protection zone 3. Many of those that use it to grow their own food live in the row of the formerly tied cottages that abut this land. Those old cottages did not have back land and rely on the allotments for growing their own food. It is a requirement for allotment holders to be offered a new site for their use. Apart from the fact that over the decades the ground of the current site has been continually improved, which would be lost on transference to a new site, some allotment holders own livestock which could not be safely husbanded at a remote site.

The proposal is for 16 dwellings and thus probably at least 32 extra vehicles.

Policy
economy/Tourism: Although North Hertfordshire is not a major tourist destination, the inclusion of a tourism policy reflects this sector's growing significance as a form of economic development. There is a wide range of attractions in the district, particularly those based on heritage and the countryside. Tourism fulfils some of the aims of sustainable development because its survival depends upon conserving and maintaining the quality of the resources upon which it depends. For rural proposals, the need is to protect the countryside for its own sake, with aspects such as nature conservation, landscape and agricultural land in mind. The Council supports development proposals which increase the attractiveness of the district as a tourist destination. In the rural area proposals will need to provide evidence why they cannot be accommodated within existing settlements and how they will support the rural economy.
Policy would be breached:
England's unique countryside with its villages is also a world renowned tourist attraction. I have had visitors who were in awe of the beauty and peacefulness or our local countryside. this proposal for new builds will detract from the rural atmosphere of this village.

Policy
Sustainable development is described as having three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Development therefore needs to support the local economy, provide social benefits and protect and enhance the natural environment.
Policy would be breached:
The increase in traffic, disruption of local traffic and loading of traffic onto rural roads will increase the already dire road congestion within the village. This is NOT SUSTAINABLE.

Policy
Scattered local shops, services and facilities in towns and villages should be walkable with a range of facilities within 10 minutes (up to about 800m) walking distance of residential areas.



Policy would be breached:
Breachwood Green has no shops, the nearest being 3 miles away. There are no services or facilities apart from a church and an already over subscribed school. The proposal will not secure development that improves the economic, social and environmental conditions in the area.

Policy
Countryside: The policies seek to promote sustainable development in the countryside as well as to positively protect the countryside from urban development, whilst allowing the needs of the rural population and economy to be met.
Policy would be breached:
The proposal seeks to cover a green field/arable site (currently allotments) with housing thereby spreading urban development.

Policy
Transport: New development can help to improve the range of transport opportunities available in the district by helping to improve existing facilities and providing new components where required.
Policy would be breached:
The village is ill-served by transport links there being but one bus service between Luton and Hitchin. There are only 5 services per day in either direction - the last one arriving in the village at 1830. There is thus no possibility for young people to have an evening out independently.

Policy
Parking: Virtually all development proposals generate demand for parking. This policy is therefore required to ensure parking is provided.
Policy would be breached:
Breachwood Green is a quiet rural village but is already suffering from increased traffic congestion. Continuous roadside parking is constant not only in the Heath, from which the allotments are currently accessed, but also Chapel Road and Oxford Road. These roads are part of the bus route. Parking right up to the corners of the roads is so bad that, that in my personal experience, I have narrowly avoided three accidents caused by my line of site being impeded on exiting The Meadows into Oxford Road. Moreover there are an increasing number of 'road rage' incidents caused by the reduction to one lane of the Heath with cars coming head to head either through impatience or an inability to see oncoming traffic at the end of the line of parked cars. This is also the case in Oxford road during school days. It is now the case that in order to avoid exiting the village by this road my husband and I prefer to use Lower Road even with its narrowness and blind bends. There is now roadside parking in Heath Road such that lines of sight are impeded when driving along that road.

This proposal would increase traffic congestion, which is already a nightmare. Reduced parking provision often touted to justify affordable housing or new builds is mistaken because it actually increases traffic congestion since, instead of off-road provision being available, inappropriate on road parking is used. I have seen where reduced parking provision for housing development has created dangerous roadside obstructions with parked cars.

Policy
Air quality: The major source of local air pollution in the district originates from road traffic emissions it is important for this plan to deal with the implications for air quality of the anticipated development any other development likely to significantly increase vehicle movements
Policy would be breached:
The natural aspiration of people to own cars will increase carbon emissions and clearly air pollution will be increased with the introduction of probably more than 32 cars permanently and visits and deliveries. More settlements increase carbon dioxide emissions both through car use and general wastes. It is grossly insulting to be told by the UK Government that we must reduce our output of carbon dioxide at the same time as its policies are imposing these kinds of increases in emissions by forcing the production of new houses on our countryside.

Policy
Healthy Communities: The planning system plays a role in facilitating social interaction and creating healthy, inclusive communities. Community and recreation facilities together with green spaces can play an important role in the life of local people. These local facilities, whether publicly or privately owned, can be subject to development pressures for alternative uses. It is therefore important that, where appropriate, such facilities are retained within the local community.
Policy would be breached:
Allotments are becoming a scarce amenity. The UK's first food security assessment launched in recent years by the Government's Department of Food and rural affairs (DEFRA) as part of a package of material on the future of our food system. The material discusses issues ranging from how we can create a sustainable food system locally and globally. It is thus hypocritical to demand that more and more land capable of feeding us is destroyed. Allotment gardening promotes social benefits including benefits to health, education and community well-being. More and more children have no concept of where their food is grown or raised; indeed if it does not come out of a plastic wrapper they are liable to refuse to eat it. A report on the radio only recently indicated that when children were encouraged to grow their own food they were far more amenable to "eating their greens". Further building over productive land will distance more and more of our children from appreciating where food comes from and the vital necessity of keeping productive land free of urban development.

Policy
Green space: The Policy Framework addresses the importance that access to open space has for the health and wellbeing of a community.
Policy would be breached:
The relentless destruction of our natural environment with the creation and spread of settlements caused by an unnatural increase in population, encouraged by politicians, leads to the depletion of our natural resources. As a result our productive land is invaded and degraded. It should be noted that not only is England the most densely populated country in Europe but also as densely populated as Bangladesh.

Policy
Landscape and Environmental Protection: Ensuring the environment is properly protected. is an important element of sustainable development.
Policy would be breached:
Villages, such as Breachwood Green, and the landscape in which they are situated are unique to the English countryside. Destruction of these landscapes is a desecration of the heritage, character and tradition of England. Just as we accept that buildings of unique historical and architectural beauty and interest should be preserved and conserved so also must the historical landscapes of our country be treated. It must never be forgotten that building such as is proposed can and will never be reversed. When the land is gone it is gone for ever.
Tragically the proposed development will contribute to the destruction of the natural environment, which acts as an organic sink for carbon through the photosynthesis carried out by green plant chlorophyll.

Policy
Delivering sustainable water supply: Water is a precious natural resource. In North Hertfordshire there is a high level of demand for water whilst at the same time there is a relatively low annual rain fall. Any development will result in an increased demand for water. The district lies within one of the most water-stressed areas of the country and abstraction for human consumption can impact on the water environment, for example contributing to low river levels,
Policy would be breached:
Only in December 2008 the Environment Agency published a report which stated that East Anglia is already considered to be an area of great water stress and that many lakes, estuaries and rivers are drained so quickly that there is a danger to wildlife and that there is already less water available per head in this part of England than those living in Egypt and Morocco. The report says the pressure is greatest in the South East and Eastern England, the driest and most crowded parts of England and Wales.
It is also blindingly obvious that run-off from the hard surfaces created by building not only causes flooding, by rainwater flowing into river systems that cannot cope with it, but also, thereby, reduces the transport of water through the natural soil, rock and subsurface to replenish natural aquifers. Thus development not only increases flooding but reduces the water table and available ground water.

Policy
Infrastructure requirements and developer contributions: Development pressures have the potential to have a significant impact on the natural, historic or built environment. This could be through removing trees leading to a change in the biodiversity and landscape character of a site.
Policy would be breached:
It would seem looking at the map that the footpath leading from east of the site has been widened to allow vehicular traffic. That was also seen on the ground by the positioning of an electric fence. If access is moved away from the west of the site then stand of mature fir trees (Illustration 4) will likely need to be removed and the road widened.

Policy
Masterplans: The Council will prepare masterplans for the following sites: East of Luton (Sites EL1, EL2 and EL3). Should development prove necessary in the plan period to the west of Stevenage a masterplan will also be prepared for that site.
Planning blight
Over the last 20 years we have seen and resisted a growing pincer movement against our community. There is the current proposed East of Luton expansion, the West of Stevenage expansion, which was successfully opposed only to be imposed by the then MP for Hull East and Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott and the proposed huge expansion of Luton Airport which would have completely destroyed acres of farmland and access from my village to the south.
There is another proposed expansion from Luton Airport for commercial premises over existing farmland almost to the borders of my home village. This country is of finite size and cannot continue to support the concreting over of productive and soak land. Moreover we are continually told that we have either reached or will soon reach peak oil. If that is the case, shipment by road, air and sea will become prohibitively expensive and we will have to rely far more, or even exclusively, on locally grown produce. How will that be achieved if our productive land has been swallowed up?

Settlement hierarchy
Breachwood Green is classed as a Category A village with a settlement boundary defined within which new development will be supported.
Comment
The local village community is made up of those whose roots lie in rural communities and those who are in voluntary exile from the urban and suburban rat race. There appears to be no concern over our community's sensitivity to the rural landscape and enjoyment of our homes as required by the Human Rights Act (Articles 8 and 14). In a multicultural democracy equal weight should be given to the needs of rural culture and the sensitivities of the rural community as to any other community.
What may be seen individually as a small development cumulatively these developments pose a threat not only to the environment but to the countryside and our whole way of life. They are short term measures for long term problems, which are not being addressed.

Policy
Protecting living conditions: All development has the potential to have an adverse impact on its neighbours, in a wide variety of ways. Particular care is needed to ensure that the adverse impacts of the development on local people are minimised and appropriate mitigation built into the scheme. The Council will permit development proposals which do not cause unacceptable harm to living conditions. Such harm may arise from traffic generation and parking;
Policy would be breached:
If planning permission is given for this site in Breachwood Green then not only will the already unacceptable congestion in the village be increased but also such additional housing will contribute to an increase in local pollution by creating rubbish and sewerage. Building over agricultural and natural land will also destroy wildlife habitats.

We have a moral and spiritual duty to protect and preserve our natural heritage and to leave a light footprint for future generations who must live in this land. Our natural heritage is also our cultural heritage. Clearly the permanent destruction of food land and soak land will have an ongoing detrimental effect on those who live here both now and in the future.

Policy
Housing and development strategy: The need for housing is one of the biggest issues for Local Plans to address. A balance needs to be struck between the large and pressing need for housing with the desirability of protecting the countryside
Policy likely to be breached:
Whilst lip service may be given to the provision of affordable housing for local people, experience shows that unless rented by the local authority or sold leasehold with caveats that only local people can be housed, such housing will inevitably be sold on at market prices. Moreover as far as I am aware there has never been a definition of who qualifies as local and if there is not enough local uptake then clearly the housing will be made available to incomers and the whole justification for building such houses will be betrayed.

Particular problems with the proposal
Access
The current access to the site is from the east. The exit view is extremely restricted and dangerous in both directions, often with cars parked right up to the exit.
If access is to be changed to the west then more agricultural land will be sacrificed in creating vehicular access and the destruction of a rural footpath, which currently runs through the whole site.
The road in both directions at this exit are single track, narrow country road.
Exit to Browning's Lane in the northerly direction leads to a very dangerous off set junction close to a dangerous bend on the left where Darley Road meets the Heath.
This exit, with a stand of mature fir trees limiting its width, has very restricted views in both directions.
Infrastructure
The village has no shop and a very restricted bus service. The school is currently running at capacity and any increase of local children would mean that they would need private transport (bus/taxi) out of the village to school.
The electricity supply to the village is already overburdened with regular phase failures due to poor distribution.

See attached

See attached

I most strongly object to building on site designated KW1 for the following reasons.

Introduction

Breachwood Green is a small village approached by four steep roads which are, in places, single track with blind bends. The village is essentially located around four roads; the Heath of which Heath Road and Chapel road are extensions, Oxford Road, Lower Road and Coleman's Road, which leads into Browning's Lane. Considerable residential infilling was carried out in the '60s and '70s and at the same time the creation of St Mary's Rise and Orchard Way.

The proposed area: Allotments West of the Heath:This area is a Greenfield site and is also currently used as allotments. It is classified as Grade 3 agricultural land and is located within groundwater protection zone 3. Many of those that use it to grow their own food live in the row of the formerly tied cottages that abut this land. Those old cottages did not have back land and rely on the allotments for growing their own food. It is a requirement for allotment holders to be offered a new site for their use. Apart from the fact that over the decades the ground of the current site has been continually improved, which would be lost on transference to a new site, some allotment holders own livestock which could not be safely husbanded at a remote site.

The proposal is for 16 dwellings and thus probably at least 32 extra vehicles.

Policy
economy/Tourism: Although North Hertfordshire is not a major tourist destination, the inclusion of a tourism policy reflects this sector's growing significance as a form of economic development. There is a wide range of attractions in the district, particularly those based on heritage and the countryside. Tourism fulfils some of the aims of sustainable development because its survival depends upon conserving and maintaining the quality of the resources upon which it depends. For rural proposals, the need is to protect the countryside for its own sake, with aspects such as nature conservation, landscape and agricultural land in mind. The Council supports development proposals which increase the attractiveness of the district as a tourist destination. In the rural area proposals will need to provide evidence why they cannot be accommodated within existing settlements and how they will support the rural economy.
Policy would be breached:
England's unique countryside with its villages is also a world renowned tourist attraction. I have had visitors who were in awe of the beauty and peacefulness or our local countryside. this proposal for new builds will detract from the rural atmosphere of this village.

Policy
Sustainable development is described as having three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Development therefore needs to support the local economy, provide social benefits and protect and enhance the natural environment.
Policy would be breached:
The increase in traffic, disruption of local traffic and loading of traffic onto rural roads will increase the already dire road congestion within the village. This is NOT SUSTAINABLE.

Policy
Scattered local shops, services and facilities in towns and villages should be walkable with a range of facilities within 10 minutes (up to about 800m) walking distance of residential areas.



Policy would be breached:
Breachwood Green has no shops, the nearest being 3 miles away. There are no services or facilities apart from a church and an already over subscribed school. The proposal will not secure development that improves the economic, social and environmental conditions in the area.

Policy
Countryside: The policies seek to promote sustainable development in the countryside as well as to positively protect the countryside from urban development, whilst allowing the needs of the rural population and economy to be met.
Policy would be breached:
The proposal seeks to cover a green field/arable site (currently allotments) with housing thereby spreading urban development.

Policy
Transport: New development can help to improve the range of transport opportunities available in the district by helping to improve existing facilities and providing new components where required.
Policy would be breached:
The village is ill-served by transport links there being but one bus service between Luton and Hitchin. There are only 5 services per day in either direction - the last one arriving in the village at 1830. There is thus no possibility for young people to have an evening out independently.

Policy
Parking: Virtually all development proposals generate demand for parking. This policy is therefore required to ensure parking is provided.
Policy would be breached:
Breachwood Green is a quiet rural village but is already suffering from increased traffic congestion. Continuous roadside parking is constant not only in the Heath, from which the allotments are currently accessed, but also Chapel Road and Oxford Road. These roads are part of the bus route. Parking right up to the corners of the roads is so bad that, that in my personal experience, I have narrowly avoided three accidents caused by my line of site being impeded on exiting The Meadows into Oxford Road. Moreover there are an increasing number of 'road rage' incidents caused by the reduction to one lane of the Heath with cars coming head to head either through impatience or an inability to see oncoming traffic at the end of the line of parked cars. This is also the case in Oxford road during school days. It is now the case that in order to avoid exiting the village by this road my husband and I prefer to use Lower Road even with its narrowness and blind bends. There is now roadside parking in Heath Road such that lines of sight are impeded when driving along that road.

This proposal would increase traffic congestion, which is already a nightmare. Reduced parking provision often touted to justify affordable housing or new builds is mistaken because it actually increases traffic congestion since, instead of off-road provision being available, inappropriate on road parking is used. I have seen where reduced parking provision for housing development has created dangerous roadside obstructions with parked cars.

Policy
Air quality: The major source of local air pollution in the district originates from road traffic emissions it is important for this plan to deal with the implications for air quality of the anticipated development any other development likely to significantly increase vehicle movements
Policy would be breached:
The natural aspiration of people to own cars will increase carbon emissions and clearly air pollution will be increased with the introduction of probably more than 32 cars permanently and visits and deliveries. More settlements increase carbon dioxide emissions both through car use and general wastes. It is grossly insulting to be told by the UK Government that we must reduce our output of carbon dioxide at the same time as its policies are imposing these kinds of increases in emissions by forcing the production of new houses on our countryside.

Policy
Healthy Communities: The planning system plays a role in facilitating social interaction and creating healthy, inclusive communities. Community and recreation facilities together with green spaces can play an important role in the life of local people. These local facilities, whether publicly or privately owned, can be subject to development pressures for alternative uses. It is therefore important that, where appropriate, such facilities are retained within the local community.
Policy would be breached:
Allotments are becoming a scarce amenity. The UK's first food security assessment launched in recent years by the Government's Department of Food and rural affairs (DEFRA) as part of a package of material on the future of our food system. The material discusses issues ranging from how we can create a sustainable food system locally and globally. It is thus hypocritical to demand that more and more land capable of feeding us is destroyed. Allotment gardening promotes social benefits including benefits to health, education and community well-being. More and more children have no concept of where their food is grown or raised; indeed if it does not come out of a plastic wrapper they are liable to refuse to eat it. A report on the radio only recently indicated that when children were encouraged to grow their own food they were far more amenable to "eating their greens". Further building over productive land will distance more and more of our children from appreciating where food comes from and the vital necessity of keeping productive land free of urban development.

Policy
Green space: The Policy Framework addresses the importance that access to open space has for the health and wellbeing of a community.
Policy would be breached:
The relentless destruction of our natural environment with the creation and spread of settlements caused by an unnatural increase in population, encouraged by politicians, leads to the depletion of our natural resources. As a result our productive land is invaded and degraded. It should be noted that not only is England the most densely populated country in Europe but also as densely populated as Bangladesh.

Policy
Landscape and Environmental Protection: Ensuring the environment is properly protected. is an important element of sustainable development.
Policy would be breached:
Villages, such as Breachwood Green, and the landscape in which they are situated are unique to the English countryside. Destruction of these landscapes is a desecration of the heritage, character and tradition of England. Just as we accept that buildings of unique historical and architectural beauty and interest should be preserved and conserved so also must the historical landscapes of our country be treated. It must never be forgotten that building such as is proposed can and will never be reversed. When the land is gone it is gone for ever.
Tragically the proposed development will contribute to the destruction of the natural environment, which acts as an organic sink for carbon through the photosynthesis carried out by green plant chlorophyll.

Policy
Delivering sustainable water supply: Water is a precious natural resource. In North Hertfordshire there is a high level of demand for water whilst at the same time there is a relatively low annual rain fall. Any development will result in an increased demand for water. The district lies within one of the most water-stressed areas of the country and abstraction for human consumption can impact on the water environment, for example contributing to low river levels,
Policy would be breached:
Only in December 2008 the Environment Agency published a report which stated that East Anglia is already considered to be an area of great water stress and that many lakes, estuaries and rivers are drained so quickly that there is a danger to wildlife and that there is already less water available per head in this part of England than those living in Egypt and Morocco. The report says the pressure is greatest in the South East and Eastern England, the driest and most crowded parts of England and Wales.
It is also blindingly obvious that run-off from the hard surfaces created by building not only causes flooding, by rainwater flowing into river systems that cannot cope with it, but also, thereby, reduces the transport of water through the natural soil, rock and subsurface to replenish natural aquifers. Thus development not only increases flooding but reduces the water table and available ground water.

Policy
Infrastructure requirements and developer contributions: Development pressures have the potential to have a significant impact on the natural, historic or built environment. This could be through removing trees leading to a change in the biodiversity and landscape character of a site.
Policy would be breached:
It would seem looking at the map that the footpath leading from east of the site has been widened to allow vehicular traffic. That was also seen on the ground by the positioning of an electric fence. If access is moved away from the west of the site then stand of mature fir trees (Illustration 4) will likely need to be removed and the road widened.

Policy
Masterplans: The Council will prepare masterplans for the following sites: East of Luton (Sites EL1, EL2 and EL3). Should development prove necessary in the plan period to the west of Stevenage a masterplan will also be prepared for that site.
Planning blight
Over the last 20 years we have seen and resisted a growing pincer movement against our community. There is the current proposed East of Luton expansion, the West of Stevenage expansion, which was successfully opposed only to be imposed by the then MP for Hull East and Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott and the proposed huge expansion of Luton Airport which would have completely destroyed acres of farmland and access from my village to the south.
There is another proposed expansion from Luton Airport for commercial premises over existing farmland almost to the borders of my home village. This country is of finite size and cannot continue to support the concreting over of productive and soak land. Moreover we are continually told that we have either reached or will soon reach peak oil. If that is the case, shipment by road, air and sea will become prohibitively expensive and we will have to rely far more, or even exclusively, on locally grown produce. How will that be achieved if our productive land has been swallowed up?

Settlement hierarchy
Breachwood Green is classed as a Category A village with a settlement boundary defined within which new development will be supported.
Comment
The local village community is made up of those whose roots lie in rural communities and those who are in voluntary exile from the urban and suburban rat race. There appears to be no concern over our community's sensitivity to the rural landscape and enjoyment of our homes as required by the Human Rights Act (Articles 8 and 14). In a multicultural democracy equal weight should be given to the needs of rural culture and the sensitivities of the rural community as to any other community.
What may be seen individually as a small development cumulatively these developments pose a threat not only to the environment but to the countryside and our whole way of life. They are short term measures for long term problems, which are not being addressed.

Policy
Protecting living conditions: All development has the potential to have an adverse impact on its neighbours, in a wide variety of ways. Particular care is needed to ensure that the adverse impacts of the development on local people are minimised and appropriate mitigation built into the scheme. The Council will permit development proposals which do not cause unacceptable harm to living conditions. Such harm may arise from traffic generation and parking;
Policy would be breached:
If planning permission is given for this site in Breachwood Green then not only will the already unacceptable congestion in the village be increased but also such additional housing will contribute to an increase in local pollution by creating rubbish and sewerage. Building over agricultural and natural land will also destroy wildlife habitats.

We have a moral and spiritual duty to protect and preserve our natural heritage and to leave a light footprint for future generations who must live in this land. Our natural heritage is also our cultural heritage. Clearly the permanent destruction of food land and soak land will have an ongoing detrimental effect on those who live here both now and in the future.

Policy
Housing and development strategy: The need for housing is one of the biggest issues for Local Plans to address. A balance needs to be struck between the large and pressing need for housing with the desirability of protecting the countryside
Policy likely to be breached:
Whilst lip service may be given to the provision of affordable housing for local people, experience shows that unless rented by the local authority or sold leasehold with caveats that only local people can be housed, such housing will inevitably be sold on at market prices. Moreover as far as I am aware there has never been a definition of who qualifies as local and if there is not enough local uptake then clearly the housing will be made available to incomers and the whole justification for building such houses will be betrayed.

Particular problems with the proposal
Access
The current access to the site is from the east. The exit view is extremely restricted and dangerous in both directions, often with cars parked right up to the exit.
If access is to be changed to the west then more agricultural land will be sacrificed in creating vehicular access and the destruction of a rural footpath, which currently runs through the whole site.
The road in both directions at this exit are single track, narrow country road.
Exit to Browning's Lane in the northerly direction leads to a very dangerous off set junction close to a dangerous bend on the left where Darley Road meets the Heath.
This exit, with a stand of mature fir trees limiting its width, has very restricted views in both directions.
Infrastructure
The village has no shop and a very restricted bus service. The school is currently running at capacity and any increase of local children would mean that they would need private transport (bus/taxi) out of the village to school.
The electricity supply to the village is already overburdened with regular phase failures due to poor distribution.