AGM

Please note Newsletters will be coming through your door shortly advising that our AGM is to be held on Monday 21 March at the United Reformed Church in Brookmans Park at 8pm. Our speaker this year will be planning consultant Jed Griffiths. Jed has been employed by us to assist in the preparation and presentation with regard to the WHBC Local Plan and he will be talking about this and explaining the situation so far. Do come along.

Annual Subscriptions

Our Annual Subscriptions are now due. Please enrol or renew your annual membership for 2016 by using the following options:-

• download a Membership Renewal Form from our Website
• fill in the Membership Application Renewal Form on our Newsletter
• bank transfer
• bring your subscription(s) to our AGM on the 21 March.

Please also let us have your email details so we can keep you up-to-date with current issues. Remember the larger our membership the stronger our voice.

Look forward to seeing you at the AGM.

As you know the Society is run by volunteers who give as much time as they can to support the preservation of the Green Belt.

There are several roles that are outside the scope of the committee members and this is a “call to arms” to see who of you out there can be of assistance.

The fight to preserve and protect the Green Belt grows ever demanding and in several instances professional services are required. The Society has a limited fund and as you probably are aware we spent a substantial sum in the fight against the Incinerator.

As you know we have already recruited the services of a Planning Consultant to help us prepare our response to the Second Consultation of the Local Plan but we need people who are able to assist in assessing and evaluating situations that require in depth knowledge, i.e. a Civil Engineer to advise on matters regarding construction and possible flood risk.

If you have any skills that you believe may assist in the protection of the Green Belt please contact our secretary Carol McCarthy on greenbeltnorthmymms@hotmail.co.uk

We greatly appreciate any help and assistance that you can give in this ongoing battle.

As you may recall in our November update, subscriptions for 2016 are due from 1 January 2016. We depend on your support to help us fight to retain our precious Green Belt. In order to do so we need the help of as many Parishioners as possible. So if you are already a member then please renew your subscription or if you are not a member then please join. We would also like you to ask you neighbours to join as well. Application forms can be downloaded from our website and the completed form, along with your subscription can be dropped in to ‘Incidentals’ in Welham Green, ‘Brookmans Park News’ or posted with a cheque made payable to NMDGBS to Mrs A Higgens, 8 Bluebridge Avenue, Brookmans Park, Hatfield AL9 7RZ. You can also pay by standing order (bank details on application form) which would ensure your continued support for the years to come

There are many things to be proud of living in the Parish of North Mymms. The Royal Veterinary College is one of them. The six-acre Royal Veterinary College Hawkshead Campus is situated in rolling Green Belt land between Brookmans Park and Potters Bar.

It is recognised as the oldest college of its type, training vets and treating animals of all shapes and sizes. It is not unusual to drive down Hawkshead Road and to find yourself being eyed up by a large doe eyed Alpaca.

However…..One of the most important events this month was a presentation by the RVC to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council at a Development Consultation Forum on the 2 November of their Master Plan for the Hawkshead Campus.

The Consultation Forum enables councillors and the public to obtain more information and understanding about proposed large scale planning applications. It does not bind members or the council to a decision but is a fact finding exercise for councillors to ask questions and identify major issues. Councillors cannot express an opinion at the Forum about the development or the proposals

The RVC explained their plans to expand by 400 students and increase the size of the site by about one third. This is not a planning application but an explanation of their intentions and will include much needed updating of existing buildings. The information they gave was restricted to the Campus and did not include their wider land holdings in the area. At the meeting, while we expressed our recognition of the RVC’s significance to the area, we registered our concerns regarding the urbanisation of this site, the risk of further encroachment into the Green Belt and the risk of coalescence between Potters Bar and Brookmans Park. We urged the RVC to produce plans for the whole of their local estate.

As you are all aware, the RVC have submitted development proposals in the Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan for 297 dwellings on Green Belt land immediately north of their site, 225 dwellings immediately east of their site and 40 dwellings on the west of the site. How these proposals might affect their Campus development was not explained. As well as the RVC proposals, an independent developer has submitted a planning application to Hertsmere Borough Council for a 20,000 panel Solar Farm located in the narrow Green Belt gap between Potters Bar and the RVC. If all these developments were allowed to go ahead, the result would have a catastrophic effect on this piece of Green Belt land.

Although the many residents of North Mymms are supportive of the work that the RVC carry out, it would be fair to say that this encroachment into the Green Belt could have serious repercussions with the erosion of the Belt becoming smaller and smaller until there is no division between Potters Bar, The RVC, Brookmans Park, Welham Green and Hatfield.

NMDGBS has already objected to previous applications, raising our concerns that the continued development of this site is harming the openness of the Green Belt and increasing urbanisation at the Campus, by virtue of elements such as lighting and harming the visual amenity of the Green Belt.

All of our members are fighting hard to retain our precious Green Belt. In order to do so we need the support of as many Parishioners as possible. All we ask is that you become a member of the Green Belt Society; this costs £1.00 per year per person. If you are not a member please join. If you are already a member please ask your neighbours to join. We do not ask you to become involved in the running of the committee or to attend any meetings, just your support by becoming a member and ensuring that your membership is renewed each year. Our subscriptions run from 1 January to 31 December. Please make a note in your diary to renew/join the North Mymms District Green Belt Society from the New Year. You will be preserving this beautiful part of the country for your children to enjoy.

Application forms can be downloaded from our website and the completed form, along with your subscription can be dropped in to ‘Incidentals’ in Welham Green, ‘Brookmans Park News’ or posted with a cheque made payable to NMDGBS to Mrs A. Higgens, 8 Bluebridge Avenue, Brookmans Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL9 7RZ.

Can you remember what it was that first attracted you to live in the Parish of North Mymms. Was it the proximity to London, even though it feels as if it is the middle of the countryside? Was it the feeling of space, the schools, the local history, the idyllic walks, or the community?

It could have been any of these and all of them are valid reasons. North Mymms is an exceptional place to live as it offers a quality of life that is hard to find anywhere else. The North Mymms District Green Belt Society is battling hard to preserve this on your behalf.

The Green Belt is under greater threat now than it has ever been. The Local Plan First Consultation has taken place. Since the summer there have been 31 new proposed development sites submitted in North Mymms. This has bought the number of proposed dwellings to more than 2,500 – a quite staggering figure.

The Council Officers Report on the Consultation emphasises that the largest number of comments have come from residents in the Parish of North Mymms. Well done and keep them going.

We will be monitoring the situation and reporting to our members every month.

All of our members are fighting hard to retain our precious Green Belt. But in order to do so we need the support of as many Parishioners as possible. All we ask is that you become a member of the Green Belt Society; this costs £1 per year per person. We do not ask you to become involved in the running of the Committee or to attend any meetings, but we need your support as a member and ensuring that your membership is renewed each year. Our subscriptions run from 1 January to 31 December, please make a note in your diary to re-new/join the North Mymms District Green Belt Society from the New Year. You will be preserving this beautiful part of the country for your children to enjoy.

Application forms can be downloaded from our website and the completed form, along with your subscription can be dropped in to ‘Incidentals’ in Welham Green, Brookmans Park News or posted with a cheque made payable to NMDGB to Mrs A Higgens, 8 Bluebridge Avenue, Brookmans Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL9 7RZ

We need all the support we can get if we are to win this fight.

Remember, you chose to live here because……..