Hertfordshire & North Middlesex Area of the Ramblers' Association
 |
||||||
Countryside Issues Update:
August 2009
Plans for housing development and airport expansion continue which will have an adverse effect on our enjoyment of walking in Hertfordshire's countryside.
East of Luton, Lilley Bottom, Proposed House Building and By-passes
The public consultation is now over on the proposal from the Luton and Central Bedfordshire Joint Committee in their draft Core Strategy to build 5500 houses and two bypasses in beautiful Hertfordshire countryside, but the campaign goes on. The proposed route of the Northern bypass cuts through the AONB and the Icknield Way and John Bunyan Trail footpaths. The Chilterns Conservation Board who manages the Chilterns AONB thinks the landscape quality is as good as the lower slopes of the Chilterns. They have a legitimate interest in land outside the boundary of the AONB if it affects the setting and are as concerned as we are.
The Joint Committee are now considering the mass of responses to the consultation, the vast majority opposing. Sources say that some members of the Joint Committee are coming to the view that the East of Luton site and the associated bypasses are inappropriate on landscape and sustainability grounds. Let's hope the proposal is abandoned.
House Building in Hertfordshire is still set to continue when the economy recovers with some 90,000 houses planned and now 5500 extra at Lilley Bottom from Bedfordshire. But the good news is that Hertfordshire Councils have won an appeal against the Governments controversial house building plans. A High Court judge ruled that the policy relating to proposed development at Hemel Hempstead, Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield is flawed and must be quashed and reconsidered. These areas are classed as ``key centres for development and change'' in the East of England Plan, published by the Government in May 2008 and now being reviewed.
Critics in the county say such large-scale development would result in huge pressure on the environment, with the loss of hundreds of acres of Greenfield and Green Belt land, and could overwhelm the county's services and infrastructure.
Review of East of England Plan
The East of England Regional Assembly are carrying out a review of the Plan which is responsible for all the houses proposed. See EERA website for details. The Plan which was only finally approved in 2008 runs to 2021. From 2 September to 24 November 2009 they are seeking responses to four scenarios for housing and economic growth they are proposing for the Region. Thereafter in March 2010,they will be consulting on a draft East of England Plan > 2031. Full details of the timetable and how to respond can be found on the web site.
Airport Expansion
East Hertfordshire face the prospect of planes overflying in numbers similar countryside around Heathrow , if the proposed second runway at Stansted ever gets the go ahead. Increasing numbers of planes flying from Luton and traversing the county to Heathrow and elsewhere will make the situation even worse with a plane flying over every two minutes if airports in the region expand as the Government wants.
This is a daunting prospect for those already suffering from airport noise. Consultations are out now on airports draft Noise Action Plans across the country. Stop Stansted Expansion have produced a leaflet explaining what you can do to make your view about noise known.
Meanwhile the Inquiry in to the second runway application at Stansted due to have started by now, has been put on hold pending the outcome of the appeal by BAA against the Competition Commissions ruling that Stansted must be sold.
Wind Farms
There will be few who are unaware of the debate about wind farms. Go to the CPRE Herts' web site for the latest information regarding the wind farms proposed for Benington and Weston. At Benington the developer has appealed against the Council's decision not to grant planning permission. Communities do not want them, but this inefficient way of combating climate change is encouraged through massive subsidies by Government to those offering their land. Wind turbines tower over the area and the fields are ruined by fences, roads and buildings.
Housing North of Harlow in Hertfordshire
Stop Harlow North, the action group campaigning to stop vast numbers of houses from the above 2021 Plan for Hertfordshire being built around Eastwick, Gilston, High Wych, Hunsdon and Widford,have provided on their web site http://www.stopharlownorth.com/ a response letter to the consultation now being carried out by the developer.There is a link on the right hand side of the Homepage), edit it as you wish and add your address, name, signature and the date. Send to North Harlow , Freepost , TN2451, Tonbridge, Kent , TN9 2BR . Stop Harlow North will also be providing guidance for local people as to how to respond to East Herts Councils Core Strategy when it comes out next year. See the anticipated timetable of the Local Development Framework section of the Countryside page on our web site.
Luton Airport Noise Action Plan
LADACAN (Luton and Distrct Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise), inform us the draft Noise Action Plan(NAP) came out for consultation on 28 September, running until 17 January 2010 and an outline of what is proposed and problems with the Plan are on the LADACAN website. The full document contains a lot of information and you may prefer to read the executive summary. It can be obtained by phoning 01582 395382 leaving your details or on the Airport website. LADACAN has put its proposed actions on it's web site and their full consultation response will appear shortly.
Links to the above web pages can be found on our countryside page.
Archive:
2009 January update - April Update
2008 November update - September update
This Campaign Update and much of the Countryside pages were prepared by:
Philip Greswell
Countryside Secretary
Hertfordshire and North Middlesex Area,
The Ramblers Association
Email: philipgreswell@aol.com
Ridgeway near Wendover
English Trail
