Draft District Plan

What do you think about the quality and pace of housing development in Ware?
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Pat-H
Posts: 258
Joined: Thu 19 Apr 2007 12:00 am
Location: Ware

Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Pat-H »

Byronsnr wrote:For at least one hundred years Hertfordshire has played host to continuous London overspill, pillaged, plundered and ransacked of its green and open countryside in favour of unfettered housing development, unrestrained settlement & urban sprawl and the loss of many buildings and houses which today would be protected by listings. EHC District plan once read may well induce a catatonic coma but the district must only accept its concept on the proviso that under no circumstances do we accept the dwelling target numbers! These, their type number and yearly allocation we only accept at the districts residents’ discretion, in this our “Theoretical Democracy”. Herts has already done its bit !
That's the cunning Government plan on the housing law restructuring. The price for reducing the red tape has been the need to produce an acceptable Housing development plan that MUST meet the required housing targets.
If the final District plan doesn't meet those targets it won't be accepted and with no plan in place (and a draft plan or a plan that doesn't accommodate the required development targets) the law is on the side of any development applications as assumed to be justified.
It's been a very clever sell to use the removal of red tape to force the housing targets through. I watched with dismay here and elsewhere people lauding the sensible removal of the mechanisms that have controlled development in the past with little idea just how much control has been removed from the democratic process.

We will see a massive housing development boom and we see green belt being eaten up and whole new housing communities plonked all over the place and by the time we realise what damage has been done there will be no going back. The only real comfort is that it will have been a result of the democratic process :-(
Byronsnr

Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Byronsnr »

Pat-H Sadly your latest 17 Jan 2014 post is all too correct and I do not expect the Townsfolk of Ware to "Wake-Up" and push back on this planning "Stitch-up"! :|
Byronsnr

Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Byronsnr »

Welwyn Garden City, Letchworth Garden City, Stevenage New Town, Cheshunt Urban District Council, Hitchin and the loss of the Lee Valley Growers but to name but a few places that took London Overspill 1and its impacts
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Andy B
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Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Andy B »

It was not just locally that the overspill occurred as in the min 70's I moved to Kettering where just about all the residents on a 2000 house estate came from London. I just could not stay away though!! ;)
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Martin
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Location: Ware

Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Martin »

Subject to agreement by the Executive on Tuesday 21st January 2014 and Full Council on Wednesday 29th January 2014, the draft District Plan will be subject to public consultation from February 2014 for a period of twelve weeks.
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Pat-H
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Joined: Thu 19 Apr 2007 12:00 am
Location: Ware

Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Pat-H »

So another 3 months until something is in place and even that may not be acceptable.
I wonder how many developers are rubbing their hands at potentially uncontestably development applications in the near future!!!
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Steve
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Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Steve »

Pat-H wrote:So another 3 months until something is in place and even that may not be acceptable.
I wonder how many developers are rubbing their hands at potentially uncontestably development applications in the near future!!!
From the FAQ On the district council's website:

"The Local Plan 2007 is the current statutory development plan for the district, together with the Minerals and Waste plans prepared by Hertfordshire County Council. It includes a number of site allocations, as well as development management policies, and policies relating to specific designations such as employment areas, leisure and recreation, and Green Belt. It also contains place-specific policies covering the towns and villages. It may be found at www.eastherts.gov.uk/localplan. The Local Plan is used as the basis for decisions taken by the Development Management Committee. Legislation requires that decisions at Development Management Committee are made in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise."
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Pat-H
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Location: Ware

Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Pat-H »

It will have been very forward thinking if the plan from 2007 encompasses the targets for housing development that are being pushed out across the country.
Byronsnr

Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Byronsnr »

It occurs to me that existence of the current “EH Draft District Plan” has not been efficiently conveyed to a meaningful number of the Districts electorate. Currently, there appear only two mechanisms of informing the electorate, one being on the East Herts website, another local newspaper eg The Mercury and a vague reference on the WTC Website. Two of these options assume, wrongly, that all the districts electorate are pc active, are aware of these websites’ and aware of the existence of the plan! The other assumes, again wrongly, that all the electorate read the Mercury. To date, no public copy on file at the Ware Library or at WTC Priory for public review. Clearly this could be conceived as part of a conspiracy to disenfranchise the majority of the electorate. Why then was a leaflet detailing the plans existence and its sites / also timing availabilty not posted to all the districts council tax households for their review and input!
Wareite1969
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Re: Draft District Plan

Post by Wareite1969 »

Byronsnr wrote:It occurs to me that existence of the current “EH Draft District Plan” has not been efficiently conveyed to a meaningful number of the Districts electorate. Currently, there appear only two mechanisms of informing the electorate, one being on the East Herts website, another local newspaper eg The Mercury and a vague reference on the WTC Website. Two of these options assume, wrongly, that all the districts electorate are pc active, are aware of these websites’ and aware of the existence of the plan! The other assumes, again wrongly, that all the electorate read the Mercury. To date, no public copy on file at the Ware Library or at WTC Priory for public review. Clearly this could be conceived as part of a conspiracy to disenfranchise the majority of the electorate. Why then was a leaflet detailing the plans existence and its sites / also timing availabilty not posted to all the districts council tax households for their review and input!
An earlier post says it has not been voted on by the Executive yet and as such is not subject to local consultation. This will be from Feb 2014 if the plan is agreed by the Executive and Full Council.

Maybe you have jumped the gun a bit and full disclosure will happen shortly. If it is still the case that it has not been publicised after that meeting then you have every right to make the points as you have.

The whole point in having elected representatives is for some decisions to be taken without consulting every time. I will wait till my time to comment on the plan once the plan has been agreed - very much a draft as it stands
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