TODAY is the last day residents can have their say on the plans for Broadwater Road West proposed by supermarket giant Tesco.

The proposals will then be scrutinised by Welwyn Hatfield Council’s planning officers who will make a recommendation to the elected councillors who sit on the planning control committee.

Those 15 men and women – 13 Conservative, one Labour and one Liberal Democrat – will decide the future of the WGC site.

The council can accept comments for or against the application right up until the day it appears before the committee, which is likely to be in January, although no date has yet been confirmed.

However, the official date public consultation closes is today (Wednesday).

If you want to have your say in the public consultation, take your comments to the council offices at Campus East, WGC, or go online before 5pm today at www.welhat.gov.uk

Comments must be made in planning terms. If you are opposed, you cannot simply write: “I’m against the proposals because I don’t like Tesco.”

You must explain why and include reasons; such as changes to the listed building, traffic, parking, impact on the existing town centre, should there be retail development on that site, noise, in keeping with the WGC ethos, etc.

Comments can be in bullet form or written out and do not have to provide evidence or use technical language.

It is simply your views the planners want to receive.

It will also help them judge the strength of feeling for and against the application.

*For more reaction, Tesco’s views, who the councillors deciding the planning application are and how to lobby them see today’s (Wednesday’s) Welwyn Hatfield Times.