Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft

Comment on Draft District Local Plan
In his consideration of the Draft Local Plan, I ask the Inspector to consider whether the proposed plan takes account of the changes in the structure of north east Hertfordshire since the Green Belt, protecting the three settlements of Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock, was established.
Prior to Local Government reorganisation of 1974, which brought into being the District of North Hertfordshire, Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock were seperate administrative areas with their own Councils. With the establishment of North Herfordshire, these three towns became the main population, employment and service centre for the Distict. They are the sustainable heart of North Hertfordshire, where the main population lives and works and the only area with sustainable public transport and services. It is around these three towns that the District's future expansion should focus.
Is the Green Belt protection of land between these three towns still valid or should it be reviewed to reflect the reality of North Hertfordshire as it now is? The Green Belt is being eroded, in 1997 the A1M Baldock bypass opened, cutting through the Green Belt between Letchworth and Baldock and effectively preventing merger of the two settlements. More recently, the newly built rail loop for the Cambridge rail line has cut into the Green Belt between Hitchin and Letchworth. This area may see further rail development, if the proposed Varsity line between Cambridge and Oxford is routed onto the East Coast main line via the Cambridge branch.
If Green Belt protection was removed from the land between Hitchin and Letchworth and between Letchworth and Baldock, it is probable sufficient land would be released and the proposed development to the north-east of Baldock would not be required. The proposal BA1 does not meet the policy requirement for sustainability, being a new settlement in an area without any supporting infra-structure.
I have no further comment on the Plan as such, except to say that after nearly 20 years and many responses to the various documents that have been put out for consultation over the period, the Council appears to have taken little account of public comment. It appears only to have listened to land-owners, who proposed land for possible development. The Draft Plan includes many sites where development has already started and in many cases has been completed or permission granted. Others where developers are already using the draft plan as the basis for pre-application discussions and work.
In Royston all sites are either built, development permission has been granted or there are advanced stages of pre-application consultation. In Baldock preliminary archeological surveys have already started on the major site to the north-east of the town, BA1.
In fairness the Council are obliged to produce a District Plan and consult, but for the public the process is a farce.