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Search the Public Notice PortalEighty homes can be built on grey belt land in Welham Green after Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s planning committee voted to grant planning permission for the development.
DLA Town Planning asked for permission to build on land off Pooleys Lane, at the northern end of Welham Green.
The site, made up of two fields used for horse grazing, was previously classed as green belt, but is now viewed as grey belt following government changes to planning rules.
Welham Green’s status as a village rather than a town means the site was deemed by council officers not to strongly contribute to checking the “unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas”, to preventing neighbouring towns from “merging into one another”, or to preserving the “setting and special character of historic towns”.
Half of the development, between Welham Green and Hatfield, will be made up of homes deemed affordable, according to the government definition of the term. Of the affordable homes, at least half will be available for social rent.
At a planning committee meeting on Thursday (February 12), councillors voted in favour of granting planning permission by six votes to three.
Cllr Cathy Watson, who backed the plans, said: “I’m actually positively excited by the prospect of forty affordable houses.
“Don’t forget, for the people of Welham Green, it might mean that their children will be able to afford to live quite close, and that is important these days.”
James Fitzpatrick, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said the affordable homes would “help families in temporary accommodation, young people unable to remain locally, and key workers priced out of the borough”.
But the plans were opposed by ward councillors for Welham Green and Hatfield South, including Cllr Paul Zukowskyj, who called it into the committee for a decision and said that the development would bring “a clear reduction in the gap between Hatfield and Welham Green”.
Cllr Sandreni Bonfante, a fellow ward councillor, said the development presented a “severe danger to the special character of our village”.
She said the area was “giving more than [its] fair share to the housing crisis this country faces”, stating that more than 780 homes had been allocated for construction in her ward.
The plans were also opposed by North Mymms Parish Council, represented by Cllr Teresa Travell, who said the plans would be “overdevelopment” and added that the site “forms an important separation between Welham Green and Hatfield”.
Welwyn Hatfield can currently only demonstrate a deliverable housing supply of around 2.3 years, well below the expected minimum of five years. It means it is significantly harder for the council to block unwanted developments.
The approved Pooleys Lane plans are for outline and access only, with full details to be ironed out at a later stage.
It is expected that 20 homes on the site will be two-bedroom properties, 55 will be three-bedroom, four will have four bedrooms, and one will be a five-bedroom house.
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