Campaign Information

The housing need

Under the previous government's projections of housing requirements, Hertfordshire was required to plan for 65,000 dwellings within the current twenty year period. Of these, 44,000 have already been built or are covered by planning provisions made during the first seven years of the plan, leaving just 21,000 to be provided in the remaining 13 years 1. Of these 21,000, the local authorities are confident of providing 15,000 with no new incentives or powers for regeneration within existing towns 2.

This has left just 6,000 as requiring some additional planning measures if they are to be provided, with confidence, before 2011. Of these only 3,600 would be provided by West of Stevenage within the timescale of the plan 2.

Although the County Council wish to increase the total provision West of Stevenage to 5,000 dwellings beyond the end of the current twenty year plan, no justification whatsoever has been made for a total of 10,000, which has become enshrined as the basis for the incursion into the Green Belt.

The need to provide even 3,600 houses West of Stevenage is based on the now superseded housing policy of 'Predict and Provide'. This reinforces still further the absence of any exceptional circumstances justifying the planned massive incursion into the Green Belt, for what would be the largest single housing development being contemplated anywhere in the UK 3.

Massive loss of Green Belt

West of Stevenage is planned to occupy an area of Hertfordshire's Green Belt 2½ miles in length, and one mile wide. It is the largest loss of Green Belt planned anywhere in the country in the last 50 years, and no attempt has been made to justify it on housing need or on any other grounds 4.

As well as being Green Belt, the countryside is designated as a Landscape Conservation Area 5. Much of the agricultural land is officially ranked as being in the best and most versatile categories 6, as such always to be protected against development 7.

The countryside is accessible to all, with a network of footpaths and ancient green lanes. No roads cross the area, and there are no communication links with Stevenage, which was designed intentionally with the A1(M) motorway as its western boundary.

The area remains an exceptional area of tranquillity, and a haven for wildlife. It includes the site of a hydrological feature unique in southern England, while a total of nine SSSI locations would be damaged by the development 8 , 9. The absence of roads has led to the preservation of medieval farmhouses in their original settings, all of which would be destroyed or altered beyond recognition by the intended development.

Expanding the Green Belt

The County Council has claimed that it is "expanding the Green Belt" by designating a new area of Green Belt to compensate for the planned loss of Green Belt near Stevenage 1. This seems a particularly disingenuous argument, as a Green Belt that can so easily be swept away without even the demonstration of exceptional circumstances, can easily be adjusted in future if pressures again develop for speculative house building 10. The key feature of the Green Belt is its permanence, and the County Council has failed to respect, or even understand, this principle 11.

Advantages of urban regeneration

It has already been shown that a modest increase in housing densities within urban developments would match projected housing needs in Hertfordshire 12, and would eliminate the need to build on the Green Belt. With additional incentives to direct development towards brownfield sites, it is now clear that housing needs could be met without the risk of 'town cramming' or other undesirable aspects of urban development.

With virtually no growth forecast in the population of Hertfordshire, urban regeneration would maximise the use of existing infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and transport links. The massive development at West of Stevenage would require these facilities to be created again 13, at high capital cost and with a waste of resources. Urban regeneration would provide housing where the need arises in existing settlements, and where patterns of employment already exist. In the case of social housing, provision would be made where family, transport and other social links are available 12.

Given a free choice, developers would always prefer large-scale building on greenfield sites, including Green Belt land, as being more profitable and avoiding the complexity and risks involved in urban regeneration. However, the overwhelming balance of advantage is in making the best possible use of the investment in social and other infrastructure already made in our towns and cities 14. The test of sustainability is far more easily satisfied by urban regeneration than by greenfield development in the countryside.

Sustainable development

It has been argued that West of Stevenage would be in some way "sustainable" because it is located on a main north-south railway, and close to the A1(M) motorway 1. The reality is that the north-south railway provides commuter services to London, and long-distance services to the North East and Scotland. Other rail destinations include Cambridge and Peterborough where employment opportunities are located on edge-of-town developments inaccessible to rail commuters.

The rail route is already operating at capacity, while the A1(M) motorway is seriously congested in the vicinity of Stevenage, with no certainty that any motorway capacity increase will be approved. No east-west rail links exist, and therefore other major towns in Hertfordshire cannot be reached by rail other than via London. The east-west road connections are very poor (and non-existent through the area proposed for West of Stevenage), with no public transport provision that could realistically be used for commuting 15 , 16.

Employment prospects in Stevenage are poor. Stevenage has the highest unemployment rate in Hertfordshire 17, and it is unlikely that many of the new residents would find employment locally. It is highly likely that they would become commuters to London, or would commute, of necessity by car, to other towns in Hertfordshire or beyond.

The new development will also be remote from the town centre and railway station of Stevenage. The development will be separated from Stevenage by the A1(M) motorway and an extensive industrial area. It is highly unlikely that a significant number of residents will walk or cycle to these destinations and therefore, even for journeys within Stevenage, the development will be highly dependent on the private car 12 , 15.

Given these difficulties, the most likely result of large-scale house building West of Stevenage is that London commuters will be attracted to move out to Hertfordshire, contributing to a net increase in the population of the County. This directly contravenes the Structure Plan intention of virtually no net change in population, and indicates that the housing would be essentially a speculative development rather than one that meets Hertfordshire's housing needs 12.

By any standards, a development of this nature fails any objective test of sustainability.

Infrastructure and resource requirements

The site is separated from Stevenage by the A1(M), and two new dual carriageway crossings under the motorway will need to be constructed, together with a new dual carriageway spine road, almost certainly linking with the A602 between Stevenage and Hitchin 13. The motorway itself will need to be widened to three lane standard just to accommodate the 15,000 or more cars associated with the development, without any easing of the existing level of congestion 16.

This massive infrastructure will of necessity be funded by the developers, but with the inevitable consequence that little surplus will remain for funding the provision of social housing, and the essential social infrastructure of new schools and expanded hospital facilities.

Of particular concern is the provision of water to the site, located at the watershed between the Thames and rivers flowing to the North Sea, and in the area of lowest rainfall in the UK. North Hertfordshire is already experiencing an extended period of water shortage, and no credible answers have been forthcoming from the water company on how West of Stevenage would be supplied 18.

Environmental Impact

No rigorous, professionally conducted, environmental impact review was carried out at any stage into West of Stevenage. The only assessment made by the County Council was in the form of a simple check list comparing major greenfield sites, almost as if aimed at justifying their chosen option, West of Stevenage. It is considered that a development of this magnitude should only proceed if shown to be environmentally the best option by a rigorous and impartial procedure, and this has not been done.

The local council

It has been suggested that the scheme is supported by the local council. Over 90% of the land in question is in the District of North Hertfordshire, and the District Council (Labour controlled) has been consistently and unanimously opposed to the scheme throughout the entire Structure Plan Review process 19.

Stevenage Borough Council, responsible for less than 10% of the land, has sponsored the scheme in the belief that the developers would in some way fund a renewal of Stevenage town centre, and would provide social housing for Stevenage 20.

The County Council

The Administration within Hertfordshire County Council has promoted the scheme on behalf of Stevenage Borough Council, but without at any stage since the Examination in Public (March 1997) taking it back for approval by the full County Council. Relying on a narrow interpretation of Standing Orders, the Administration has ensured that the issue has remained in the County Council's Environment Committee, where approval can be more readily achieved. The Administration has not risked presenting the scheme to the full County Council, as they know it would not be approved.

The Independent Inspector

The independence of the Chairman of the Examination in Public has been cited as an important aspect in allowing West of Stevenage to proceed. However, the Examination in Public was constrained by the refusal of the Chairman to allow the underlying assumptions of projected housing needs to be questioned 2. Since then, the original housing requirements have been increasingly challenged, and indeed the previous government's "Predict and Provide" policy towards housing is no longer a mandatory requirement on County Councils. Given the very small shortfall against the original target of 65,000 houses in Hertfordshire, the whole logic for massive development at West of Stevenage no longer stands examination.

The Panel Chairman also refused to consider the possibility of additional use of brownfield sites in existing settlements on the grounds that this would be environmentally unacceptable 2. As such development is now increasingly seen as desirable on social and environmental grounds, and is supported by current government policy, this indicates that West of Stevenage should be urgently reconsidered. References

1. Hertfordshire Structure Plan Review 1991-2011. Deposit Version Approved July 1996.
2. Hertfordshire Structure Plan Review 1991-2011. Examination in Public March 1997. Report of the Panel. June 1997.
3. Garden City 21. A bid by Hertfordshire County Council and Partners under the European Commission's LIFE Programme. November 1997.
4. Planing Policy Guidance (PPG2, January 1995)
5. North Hertfordshire District Council. Written statement : NHDC 5.3- a-c.
6. Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. Hertfordshire Structure Plan Review 1991-2011. Additional Written Statements. W P Leverton BSc. FRICS. MAFF Land Use Planning Unit, Cambridge. January 1997.
7. Planning Policy Guidance Note 7 (PPG7)
8. North Hertfordshire District Council. Written statement : NHDC 5.3- d.
9. Technical Paper 7. Information on Environment and Utility Issues. Land and Movement Planning Unit, County Environment Department, Hertfordshire County Council.
10. North Hertfordshire District Council. Written statement : NHDC 5.2.
11. Regional Guidance for the South East (RPG9)
12. Hertfordshire Structure Plan Review 1991-2011. Examination in Public March 1997. The Alternative Report. (Evidence submitted to the Examination in Public, and published by national and local organisations including CPRE, The National Council of Civic Trust Societies and Friends of the Earth.) September 1997.
13. Feasibility of Development Processes West of Stevenage. Final Report. Chesterton plc. 54 Brook Street, London W1A 2BU January 1997.
14. A Sustainable Development Strategy for the South East. SERPLAN Position Statement. March 1997
15. North Hertfordshire District Council. Written statement : NHDC 5.1- d and e.
16. Review of Transportation Issues Relating to Land West of Stevenage. Thorburn Colquhoun. Frogmore Hall, Watton at Stone, Hertfordshire SG14 3RU
17. North Hertfordshire District Council. Written statement : NHDC 5.1- c.
18. North Hertfordshire District Council. Written statement : NHDC 5.1- f.
19. Minutes of North Hertfordshire District Council meetings, and NHDC Press Statement dated 25 February 1998.
20. Stevenage Borough Council. Submission to the Hertfordshire County Structure Plan Review 1991-2011 by D N Parry, Director of Technical Services. January 1997.

Issued by CASE (The Campaign Against Stevenage Expansion). c/o Dyes Farm, Langley, near Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 7PQ Tel: 01438 315210 Fax: 01438 351370 CASE is supported by CPRE-The Hertfordshire Society and by Friends of the Earth.