Welham Green homes set to return for final decision

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s planning committee will decide whether to grant planning permission at their meeting next Thursday (September 11).

The plans, for a site on Station Road at the southern edge of Welham Green, were considered by the committee in July, but a decision was deferred while councillors waited for advice from Hertfordshire County Council about 24 Station Road, an adjacent site.

Since the July meeting, the county council has confirmed that the proposed access route to the development, from Station Road, will not limit the number of houses that could be built on land at 24 Station Road, which has been taken out of the Green Belt.

Of the planned 64 homes in the new development, 22 would be deemed affordable, according to the government definition of the term.

The layout for the proposed 64 new homes in Welham Green (Image: Hill Residential Ltd/Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council planning portal) In total, there would be eight one-bedroom flats, 11 two-bedroom properties, 27 three-bedroom homes, 16 four-bedroom homes and two five-bedroom homes. 

Council officers have recommended that councillors grant permission for the development, which would be on land that has already been allocated for development.

North Mymms Parish Council has objected to the development, raising concerns about increased traffic and a lack of extra infrastructure.

At July’s meeting, Chloe Houston spoke on behalf of Hill Residential Ltd: “Our proposal is to deliver high-quality homes and open spaces that are reflective of the character of the village and are sensitive to its immediate surroundings and wider edge-of-village context.”

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None of the technical consultees, such as Hertfordshire Highways and the flood authority, has raised objections to the development proposals. 

In recommending that councillors approve the application, planning officers said “very substantial weight” should be given to providing new homes, given the council’s “considerable and significant” shortfall of deliverable housing sites.

Councils are expected to show a minimum five-year supply of deliverable sites, but Welwyn Hatfield can currently only show a supply of 2.3 years.