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

The allocation of the PR1 site in Preston for 21 houses in the Local Plan is utterly ridiculous, especially as in recent months NHDC has given Conditional Permission to another site of the SAME SIZE in the Parish for just THREE dwellings, despite receiving objections that this number should be increased. Furthermore, it is unclear why Preston Parish Council decided not to object to the Local Plan but also have not provided information specific to Preston Parish with regard to this and many other documents since 2016. An overwhelming majority of residents in Preston strongly object and this suggests that Preston Parish Council have been given little choice by NHDC not to do so.

For NHDC, there are many more suitable locations on the periphery of existing towns that already have the necessary services and road/public transport networks required for such a development to succeed without imposing a whole host of further changes that will be needed for this new PR1 development to exist.

I am shocked that having almost reached the allocated no. of houses, here you are proposing (in this document - Schedule of Further Modifications….) to INCREASE the no. allocated for Preston Parish from 38 to 50! I strongly object to this. The parish has almost reached 38, if not about to exceed it and so, NHDC now think they can just wipe it out. Absolutely disgraceful behaviour. This should not be agreed.

The emerging plan for the PR1 site will have an enormous impact upon all parts of our village. Of course, it's favourable to have more dwellings to provide for new and adapted life in Preston but that should continue to occur via infilling and house building or extending as it currently is, allowing the village to evolve gradually. Not all at once as proposed for PR1. I am very surprised that this has been allowed to progress this far.

Road and transport links are poor and will not cope with this number of dwellings.
Preston village benefits from the amenity value provided by the field at the PR1 site. The field is widely used by dog walkers, ramblers and walkers who enter the field from the public footpath and the gate in the boundary creating established paths that criss-cross in the field. The allocation of this site for residential development is likely to facilitate a Village Green Application by the local residents. In addition, some of the house owners with rear gardens backing on to the field have gates opening onto the field which has provided access to the field for generations. We have access to this site from our garden.

The local road infrastructure within and around Preston is mainly narrow lanes rather than roads. This infrastructure would be unable to cope with the increased volume of traffic which the proposed housing development would generate. There continue to be issues with speeding without an additional 50+ cars. The road access to and from the site is mostly single carriage and is inadequate. Both Chequers Lane, leading to Templars Lane, and Butchers Lane struggle to cope with the amount of traffic using them at present and Butcher’s Lane is single carriage with blind sharp bends. Widening would not only cause substantial upheaval at an enormous cost but such changes would also be destructive to the existing character of these ancient country lanes and would change the whole character of Preston Village.

All the access roads in and out of Preston have single carriage sections and are liable to flooding and snow fall leading to the village being cut off from the surrounding areas which is compounded by the absence of no Preston village shop, medical or dental practices. The roads include Preston Rd (Hitchin Rd), Charlton Road, Back Lane, St Albans Highway, School Lane, Little Almshoe Rd and Hitchwood Lane. The main access road (Preston/Hitchin road) has a steep incline close to the Preston where cars regularly get stuck in snow. Close to this inclination there is a 90 degree bend; a consistent site of cars skidding off the road into adjoining hedge and field. A few hundred yards further towards Gosmore, the road narrows to single carriage way, with another 90 degree bend at Dermal Laboratories. The narrow road continues with multiple sharp bends (site of recent fatality) to a blind cross roads where the road becomes single carriage way at the Bull Pub at Gosmore, where pedestrians become vulnerable to traffic. A few hundred yards beyond, there is regular flooding where the road has become impassable. Flooding also regularly occurs on Hitchwood Lane, close to the the B651, Almshoe Rd a few hundred yards before the B656 and Charlton Road approximately a quarter of a mile before Preston Village.

There is inadequate infrastructure in the village including no shops, no nearby medical practice, poor bus service (No 88. Luton to Hitchin between 8 am and 6 pm, 5 per weekday/4 on Saturdays and School Holidays; school children are regularly driven past and left behind because the buses are already full before they reach Preston) and inadequate water and sewage provision.

Since the building of 6 new dwellings adjacent to the PR1 field site, the manholes on Templars Lane are now prone to the back flooding of sewage.

The water pressure at the Wilderness is very low especially at peak times.

NHDC very recently agreed Conditional Permission for just THREE houses in the field in Back lane, despite objections to increase dwelling numbers there. The site is about the same size as PR1! I do not know how NHDC can justify this when on PR1 they propose 7x more. There is nowhere with such high density as this in miles. It will overpower the village.

Note too that The Wilderness is Grade II listed and as such has no foundations.