RESPONSES TO THE CALL FOR SITES CONSULTATION
Our Planning Consultant Jed Griffiths MA DipTP FRTPI, prepared on our behalf responses to the consultation document issued by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council on the 7 May 2019. To view our responses to those sites in North Mymms click here. To view BrP17 Land east of Swanland Road and west of Warrengate Road click here.
NEW DEADLINE DATE FOR LOCAL PLAN CONSULTATION
Please note that the closing deadline date for objecting/commenting on the additional sites in the Local Plan has now been extended to Monday 24 June 9am.
Following the NMDGBS and Parish Council Meetings, the Welham Green residents formed an action group and distributed information to all houses in the Welham Green community on how to object to the Local Plan consultation. To view their covering letter click here and to view the map click here.
Objection points are already shown below in the Welham Green and South Hatfield hand outs.
WELWYN HATFIELD LOCAL PLAN CONSULTATION
At the Public Meeting held on the 3 June, the following hand outs were given: Brookmans Park and Bell Bar click here ; Little Heath and Swanley Bar click here and Welham Green and South Hatfield click here
Watch our website for further developments.
PUBLIC MEETING
In response to the Council’s published details of their supplementary “Call for Sites” we are holding a Public Meeting on Monday, 3 June 2019 at 8pm at the United Reformed Church, Bluebridge Road, Brookmans Park.
If you feel passionate about protecting the area you live in then come along to the meeting where our Planning Consultant, Jed Griffiths, MA Dip TP FRTPI will update you on the Local Plan and answer questions. REMEMBER Your support is important as once the fields that surround you have gone they will never return.
Please pass this information on to your neighbours as without the support of the community our voice will not be heard. Look forward to seeing you on the 3rd June.
LOCAL PLAN UPDATE
ADDITIONAL SITES FOR OVER 3,000 NEW HOMES PLUS FURTHER EMPLOYMENT LAND AND A PRIMARY SCHOOL PROPOSED FOR NORTH MYMMS
WHBC have published details of the response to their supplementary “Call for Sites” to make up the shortfall in the housing numbers in the draft local plan.
Over 140 new and re-promoted sites have been put forward in our Borough.
42 of these sites are in North Mymms with suggestions for over 3,000 dwellings plus further employment land and a primary school.
The Council has opened up a Consultation on these proposals with a closing deadline of 5pm on Tuesday 18 June.
The consultation documents and guidance notes for making a representation can be viewed by clicking here.
The Society has previously commented on those sites which were promoted at earlier stages of the Local Plan process but we will be commenting in detail on all of the sites now proposed within North Mymms.
We will also comment on the overall impact on the Green Belt in the Borough.
The Council will be carrying out both individual and cumulative analysis of the sites. It is unhelpful that the analysis is not available during the consultation period.
Whilst these are only proposals they are a frightening indication of the fragility of our precious Green Belt and the fierce desire of local developers.
We shall be holding a Public Meeting on Monday 3 June to give members an opportunity to voice their views. Further details will be communicated shortly.
Volunteer social media editor and webmaster wanted.
Local green belt society looking to boost on line presence.
Are you a local student or young professional looking for voluntary work experience as a website and social media editor? Do you know how to send out compelling updates on Twitter and Facebook? Do you have an interest in the local environment?
If so, the North Mymms District Green Belt Society (NMDGBS) would like to hear from you.
The NMDGBS has around a thousand members, and currently communicates through regular newsletters which drop through local doors. The society also has a website where updates are posted from time to time. But the NMDGBS doesn’t have a social media presence, and the society would like to start sharing its updates on both Twitter and Facebook.
The position is voluntary and the hours flexible. You would be expected to be able to set up a Facebook page for the NMDGBS and manage both the updates, new members, and any comments, working closely with society members who would produce the content updates and act as a second pair of eyes for everything produced.
You would also be expected to help set up a Twitter presence @NMDGBS and produce updated tweets when requested. And you would be required to monitor responses and feed those back to the Society’s committee.
Anyone interested should contact the secretary on greenbeltnothmymms@hotmail.co.uk
AGM REPORT
The Society’s AGM was held in the North Mymms Memorial Hall on Monday 25th March and was presided over by our President, Gary Mabbutt, MBE.
The meeting approved the Chairman’s report and the Annual Accounts.
Answering questions on his report, Chairman, again asked for interested members to consider joining the Committee. He acknowledged that the Society sometimes struggled with communications and said that the Society would be advertising for a volunteer to develop social media communications and the web site.
The Society’s planning advisor, Jed Griffiths, MA DipTP FRTPI, gave an update on the Local Plan and answered questions.
The Council officers had been overwhelmed by the response to their new call for sites in January. As well as 79 sites being re-submitted, 65 new sites had been offered. It had been impossible for the officers to carry out the required appraisals in the time available and a new timetable had now been agreed. The identity of the sites would not be revealed until after the local elections in May when there will be a public consultation. Officers would present the outcomes to the Council in September; the public examination sessions with the Inspector would take place in December with a view to the Plan being adopted in Spring 2020. The Society would respond to the consultation once the identity of the new sites had been published.
Guest Speaker
The guest speaker at the AGM was Professor David Church, Deputy Principal of the Royal Veterinary College.
Professor Church gave an overview of the College’s work, its reputation as, now, the number one Vet College in the world and the plans for new facilities at the Hawkshead Campus in accordance with the development Master Plan approved recently by the Council. He also outlined the extent of the College’s local land ownership and spoke about the land that had been put forward to the Council for development in the Local Plan.
Responding in a lively question session, Professor Church confirmed that the College is not relying on the proceeds of land sales to fund the improvements at Hawkshead Lane Campus and that the lands of Boltons Farm are required long term for teaching and husbandry.
Gary Mabbutt thanked Professor Church for his excellent presentation which was warmly applauded by the members.
The Society and the College will maintain a dialogue as the local plan process continues.
MARCH UPDATE
Our AGM Newsletters are out for delivery and should be coming through your letter boxes within the next week or so. Please click here to view.
Subscriptions for 2019 are now due. Please join or renew your annual subscription – details of payment are shown in our Newsletter.
As we went to print with our Newsletter, the Council Officers are reviewing the new sites and new timetable. The 66 entirely new sites and 77 re-promoted new sites that were submitted far exceeded expectations, which means that it is not possible to conclude the intended consultation stage before pre-elections start on 26 March 2019. This will result in a short delay to the agreed timetable, such that presentation of results and recommendations to members could take place in September 2019 and examination hearing sessions could take place in December 2019.
The Council has also received a letter from the Inspector asking them to consider a quicker timetable than the one they originally submitted to him.
FEBRUARY UPDATE
AGM Monday 25 March 2019 8pm North Mymms Memorial Hall, 36 Station Road, Welham Green
Please come and join us at our AGM which will be chaired by our Honorary President Gary Mabbutt MBE on the 25 March at 8 pm in the North Mymms Memorial Hall, 36 Station Road, Welham Green. Proceedings will include a QandA session on latest developments on the Local Plan with our Planning consultant, Jed Griffiths, MA DipTP FRTPI. This will be followed by a talk by Professor David Church, Deputy Principal, Royal Veterinary College.
LOCAL PLAN UPDATE
Following a meeting of the Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel (CPPP) in mid-December, the Council decided that it need more development sites to be able to reach the housing target of 16,000. It published a new timetable which envisages adoption of the plan in Spring 2020. Click here to view.
NOVEMBER 2019 UPDATE
To view a Progress and Other Issues Report prepared by our Planning Consultant, Jed Griffiths click here
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