Further Proposed Modifications to the North Hertfordshire Local Plan 2011- 2031

We are new residents of Barkway and in January when we agreed to purchase our house, we were aware of the BK3 proposals but understood that in late 2020, a planning Officer at NHDC had written to the Housing Inspector to request that BK3 be taken out of the plan and that Barkway should no longer be considered as a ‘village for growth’. As Barkway is a small village with very few amenities and with it being a fair distance, via very narrow country roads, to the nearest towns, this decision by the NHDC planning Officer made perfect sense to me. I was therefore dismayed to learn that BK3 may still be left in the plan particularly as local residents have had no explanation as to why the Inspector subsequently disregarded the planning Officer’s letter and made the decision not to remove BK3 in the plan. Surely Barkway residents and the Parrish Council are entitled to be made aware of his reasons for this decision. The new development will have such a major impact on the village that clarity in the decision making process is imperative so that residents can understand why this has happened. The scale of the proposal will have a huge impact on local residents particularly during the building stages. We are, all after all, NHDC taxpayers and therefore entitled to proper representation and open dialogue from our District Council.

From a personal point of view, my husband and I are recently retired and therefore the location of Barkway is not a concern for us. We do not need to travel anywhere outside of the village on a daily basis and when we do, we are seldom in a rush and always drive slowly and cautiously down the country roads. I am concerned that these country roads into Royston and onto the A10 may not be as safe to drive on when being used by more people who maybe in a rush to get to work. I have often thought that it would be easy to have a head on collision if someone was driving at speed towards you down one of the single track roads that take you into Royston and on the A10. I am also concerned that the many permissive footpaths that currently exist across private land may be reduced by landowners if the population of Barkway expands considerably. If this happens then it will reduce the amenities for those people such as ourselves who have chosen to live here so that we can take advantage of the many walks around us. A large new development will certainly completely change village that we have chosen for our new life in retirement.

I also understand that the development will be built on Green Belt land. Surely this should not be permitted? This will just create an unwanted precedent for future encroachments onto land historically considered sacrosanct. Is there not sufficient brownfields sites in and around Hertfordshire that could be used for large housing developments?. Such sites are also likely to be in locations where the necessary infrastructure such as shops, good roads and schools already exist. In Barkway, it would appear that this whole process was initiated by the desire of a landowner to sell his land, rather than by the more sensible approach of initially identifying a housing need in a specific area and then finding a suitable site for development. I have noticed that houses are very slow to sell on Barkway, the house that we purchased was vacant for at least a year before we moved in, so it follows that maybe there isn’t such a demand for housing on Barkway as in other Herefordshire locations such are Buntingford or Royston which have more amenities and greater demand. I would therefore question the logic of this process as it currently stands.