Consultation Begins On 10k New Homes

10 February 2013, 06:00

North Herts Council are asking people in the district to have their say on plans to build more than ten thousand new homes.

The homes will be built over the next 18 years to house the extra people expected to move to the district by 2031.

On Monday (11th February) a consultation period will begin giving people who live in the area a chance to see where the proposed sites for development are and to voice any concerns they might have.

At the moment, there are plans to build seven large housing development (over 1000 houses) South West of Hitchin, North of Letchworth, East of Luton, Rush Green (new village), North of Stevenage, North East of Stevenage, West of Stevenage.

There are also plans for smaller developments 130 sites including Baldock.

Cllr Tom Brindley, NHDC’s portfolio holder for planning, transport and enterprise, said: 

"This consultation is an incredibly important one for the future of North Herts.  

"A number of sites have been identified by developers and landowners and now the Council will need to choose between them as it prepares its new Local Plan, the document that sets the planning policies for the years ahead.

“I would urge everyone to find out more about these proposed sites and get involved with the consultation in whatever way they can.  We want people to help us identify how many new homes we need, and where they should be built.

“The new homes will need to go somewhere, and we hope that people can provide us with as much information as possible about why they support one particular site for development over another.  Clearly that will be more useful to us than just saying why they think one of the sites is not appropriate.”

Drop-in exhibitions are planned throughout North Hertfordshire on the following dates for people to find out more:

Tue 12 Feb, Knebworth Village Hall

Thu 14 Feb, Royston Town Hall

Wed 20 Feb, Great Ashby Community Centre

Mon 25 Feb, Grange Community Centre, Letchworth

Wed 27 Feb, Cockernhoe Village Hall

Sat 2 Mar, Church House, Hitchin

Mon 4 Mar, Baldock Community Centre

Wed 6 Mar, St Ippolyts Village Hall

The exhibitions will run from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, with the exception of at the one at Church House, Hitchin, which is a Saturday morning session running from 10am to 12.30pm.