The clock is ticking on whether a controversial housing development on the outskirts of Tring goes to a fresh appeal.
A massive suburb of 1,400 homes on prime Green Belt land was proposed by Harrow Estates and construction company Redrow, a one-and-a-half-mile gap between Tring and the town’s railway station.
It covered land bound by Bulbourne Road and Station Road, bisected by Marshcroft Lane, and would have included a new sports/community hub, and primary and secondary schools alongside affordable housing of different types, sizes and tenures.
But Housing Minister Felicity Buchan, on behalf of Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, rejected the plans following an inquiry last year.
Reasons included the adverse impact on the character and appearance of the Chilterns National Landscape – formerly the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – taking away panoramic views visible from Public Rights of Way, and resulting in harm to the existing character of Tring’s adjoining countryside.
It would also result in significant harm to the Green Belt by allowing unrestricted urban sprawl and failing to safeguard the countryside from encroachment.
Although Dacorum Borough Council had previously rejected the scheme, prompting the developers to appeal, Planning Inspector Martin Whitehead had recommended approval, saying it would result in a significant boost to new housing which outweighed the harm to the Green Belt.
But Mr Gove said was enough land for new homes in Dacorum to meet local housing needs for the next 2.06 years – less than half the five-year target set by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Campaigners against the Marshcroft development said it would have seen building on 300 acres of prime Tring countryside, would have increased the town’s population by 30% and added huge pressure to local public services.
The developers have a six week window from the date of the decision being issued on March 15 in which to issue a legal challenge. This will require them to prove certain key evidence was not taken into account or not correctly analysed.
The courts would have to accept this challenge and assign time for it to be considered, but this is not likely to be until the autumn, by which point the Dacorum Local Plan will probably have entered the Regulation 19 consultation stage, which further establishes its legitimacy.
Should the appeal be successful, the planning authority will again take responsibility, and this is unlikely to be until 2025, during the Local Plan public inquiry.
Whether these obstacles deter Redrow from appealing the Secretary of State’s decision is unknown, but Conservative Parliamentary candidate for the newly formed constituency of Harpenden and Berkhamsted, Nigel Gardner, said the Marshcroft battle had been won, but not the war.
“This should never have got this far. Whilst this battle has been won thanks to our local residents who fought so hard to stop Redrow’s plan, our gorgeous countryside and public services are still at risk.
“Even if Redrow don’t appeal, they could come back with a smaller scheme, or wait for a change of Government. We must show continued vigilance and resolve, after all it was only last year that Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC that he was proud to be a YIMBY [Yes In My Back Yard], and in favour of building on the Green Belt, and ‘bulldozing away’ restrictive planning rules.”