Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

Paragraph 13.183 states that The village of Knebworth has a good range of facilities including a railway station, school, doctors and dentists, library, a range of shops, village hall and churches. Currently the railway station, school and doctors are all insufficient to deal with current demand. Most specifically parking at the railway station is inadequate and street parking by rail users leads to conflict between rail users and residents. A 25-30% increase in dwellings will further overload these facilities.

Paragraph 13.195 identifies the high street as a known pinch point, but the two railway bridges at Station Road/Park Lane and Gun Road are both narrow and less than the required width for a two lane road with narrow pavements for pedestrians. Both roads are already busy at peak times and the construction of 384 additional homes to the West of the railway will increase the amount of traffic using these bridges. Construction traffic will also exacerbate traffic problems at these two narrow bridges.

Paragraph 13.183 states that the village of Knebworth has a good range of shops. Paragraph 13.196 Identifies that "Some of the capacity issues here arise from the way in which the local highway is managed and in particular, the provision of short-stay on-street parking adjacent to the shops." The reason that there continues to be a good range of shops is due to the availability of short-stay on-street parking adjacent to the shops. Removal or restriction of this facility would lead to a decline in those shops, which are seen as being a positive indicator for further development.

Currently Knebworth High Street and other areas of the village suffer from flooding at times of heavy rain. The existing drainage in the village is inadequate and poorly maintained with many blocked gulleys. The notes on Sites KB2, KB3 and KB4 all refer to measures to mitigate existing flood risk, but these should not be reviewed in isolation but as part of a strategic improvement to village drainage.