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Legal expert tells East Herts Council to reconsider refusal of 200-home development




East Herts Council’s refusal of plans for a controversial 200-home development is set to be reconsidered after legal advice.

In November last year, the development management committee rejected Taylor Wimpey’s application to build on a site north of Hare Street Road, on the outskirts of Buntingford.

The plans, recommended for approval by council officers, prompted almost 800 objections from members of the public.

Site plan
Site plan

Councillors argued the development would lead to the loss of a large amount of open space and agricultural land, have a “significant visual impact” on the area, and lack sustainability with a single school within walking distance.

However, after the meeting, council officers “identified a number of concerns” with the reasons for the refusal.

They believed that committee members had failed to take into account the ‘tilted balance’ that applies when a council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing supply – meaning it can only reject development proposals where the negatives “significantly” outweigh the positives.

An artist's impression of the new surgery
An artist's impression of the new surgery

Officers said the reasons for refusal were “potentially flawed” and “not sufficiently precise”.

They raised concerns that the council could have costs awarded against it if the developer appealed the refusal and won.

Advice from a barrister was sought. They said the committee should consider the application again “to allow for a further discussion on the elements of the proposal that members considered were unacceptable, and for the correct policies to be referred to in the reason”.

It will come before the committee again on Wednesday (January 22) for a new decision. Council officers have again recommended that councillors vote to grant planning permission.

A report for this week’s meeting said “certain considerations” that may affect the decision have “arisen” since November’s original decision.

Changes include updated information from the Hertfordshire & West Essex Integrated Care Board, which said it supports the “principle” of relocating Buntingford Medical Centre to the site.

Since the application was refused, a new national planning policy introduced by the government has come into effect, with East Herts subject to an increased housebuilding target of 1,265 per year.

The planning application includes full approval for a new medical centre and outline approval for 200 homes – with full details to follow in later applications. Of these, 40% would be classed as affordable according to the government's definition of the term.

The site is not allocated for housing in East Herts’ Local Plan and is classed as a “rural area” despite not being in the Green Belt.

Officers deem the benefits of the development – “principally” the additional housing and medical centre – to outweigh the negatives, including the impact on the landscape and the increased number of car journeys it would create.

In August last year, Countryside Partnerships Ltd and Wattsdown Developments Ltd appealed and won permission for 350 homes, up to 4,400 sq m of commercial floorspace and up to 500 sq m of retail floorspace, east of the A10 at Buntingford.

The inspector ruled the council could not demonstrate the five-year deliverable housing land supply required by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).



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