North Herts councillors say they are ‘over a barrel’ and must grant planning permission for new homes on a nine acre Letchworth field.

The decision which North Herts Council’s planning committee made on Thursday, February 9 sets out the principle that homes can be built on the field between Cashio Lane, Croft Lane and Norton Lane.

A second council – Hertfordshire County Council – owns the land and put forward the planning application for any number of houses, which will need to be agreed at a later date.

It is the second time the county council has tried to build on the field.

The first attempt was rejected after an appeal.

The Planning Inspectorate found Hertfordshire County Council failed to properly set out policy reasons for its plans to "mitigate against development" and build community infrastructure.

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But the inspector found the original application for 42 homes would produce "less than substantial" harm for the heritage conservation area, would generate "considerable public benefits" including providing market and affordable housing, and would not "prejudice highway safety".

"This application doesn’t actually set out the number of new homes which concerns me greatly," said Councillor David Levitt.

"We could be approving 100 houses on there – it could be anything!"

North Herts Council’s planning staff confirmed the figure would need to be decided as part of a future application, and that the exact number has been left out to give the applicant a "degree of flexibility".

The site is earmarked for 37 new homes in the North Herts Local Plan, which was agreed in November last year.

Planning committees must rule on applications based on policies set out at both a national and local level.

"There isn’t a legal reason [to reject the application]," Cllr Daniel Allen (Lab, Letchworth Grange) said.

"Hertfordshire County Council have got us over a barrel and they are setting a dangerous precedent with this where they – or any developer – could say: 'This area of land is going to be developed no matter what, and you can’t do anything about it.'"

Cllr Allen raised fears residents are already being "put in danger" as a result of traffic on Croft Lane.

Cllrs Allen and Levitt both suggested the application is a "device to increase land value".

The applicant told North Herts Council’s planning committee it anticipates a 200 per cent increase in traffic on surrounding roads at peak times.

This is based on 13 trips in an hour during the morning peak and 11 trips per hour in the evening, rising to 30 two-way trips per hour on weekday peaks.

Traffic and access arrangements would need to be debated at a later stage.

A public speaker, Kevin Hinton, urged the council to consider the impact of increased traffic.

He slammed the application as "arrogant" and said a rise in post-Covid van deliveries means traffic counts ought to be re-calculated.

"Other safety issues are illustrated by an ambulance which blocked the lane to other traffic for the best part of an hour whilst treating a patient," Mr Hinton said.

"A fire engine was called to attend a garden fire that threatened [a] thatched historic property.

"The fire engine could not gain access along Croft Lane due to parked cars and had to re-route, safety issues that the submissions ignore."

North Herts Council voted to approve the principle of development nine votes to one rejection, plus one abstention.

The applicant’s design brief reads: "In view of the location of the site, which is not within easy walking distance of the town centre, and its suitability in the marketplace for family homes, all of the dwellings proposed are in the form of houses.

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"Forty per cent of the houses are either two or three bedrooms, with the remainder being four and five bedrooms."

The brief adds the creation of green spaces has been "carefully considered".

It notes the next stage of the application could take a "heritage approach" or a "contemporary approach" – reflecting the designs in Letchworth’s original street scenes, or new "building forms more appropriate to modern life, as at Tomorrow’s Garden City".