Council’s response to DC/25/2006 for 38 dwellings on land east of Hayes Lane

The parish Council wishes to OBJECT to the application on the following grounds:

1 Housing numbers and the development site PDS8

As HDC is aware, this site was originally allocated for 15 homes to match the scale of the Victorian linear development on the west side of Hayes Lane. All reference to housing numbers in the Slinfold neighbourhood plan 2018 was removed on HDC‘s request but we have since had discussions with HDC that in hindsight this probably wasn’t appropriate and in any new plan, numbers would be specified.  When the applicant approached the Parish Council last year with their plan of 38 homes we wrote to them and said our wish was to see 15 on this site and our Management Statement justifies the rational for this (we still await HDC‘s response to our Management Statement).

The applicant argued on the evening that the development site identified in yellow in the neighbourhood plan PDS8 is larger than a linear strip.  However, the Parish Council argues that ALL development including roads, balancing ponds and any community infrastructure e.g. scout hut would need to be within the allocated PDS8 boundary area. The application includes the significant SUD provision outside of the development site which significantly reduces the buffer zone and a scout hut is currently omitted entirely.

HDC’s Landscape Capacity Assessment concludes Area SF5  “that there is limited capacity for small scale housing development” Hayes Lane LVIA page 9 para 3.22.

2 Quiet Lanes

Whilst the site is large enough to spatially house up to 50 homes, as the application which was refused in 2015 demonstrated, the surrounding infrastructure capacity, notably Hayes Lane itself (a designated “ Quiet lane“) does not have the capacity to sustain this quantum of further housing.

No mention of Aim 5 is made in the Applicants Transport Assessment. Aim 5 of the Neighbourhood Plan 2018 specifically allocates Hayes Lane between the Downslink and A29 as a “Quiet Lane”.  These “Quiet lanes can also contribute to improving the safety and the quality of life for residents in rural areas” para7.7 SNP 2018. As a narrow “Quiet lane” Hayes Lane already struggles with the current level of road traffic.

The new site access is less than 30m from the Downslink crossing which is an important pedestrian, cycle and horse rider crossing.  With the new access to Welwyn, this part of Hayes Lane has already become far busier and more urbanised.  A new site access this close to the crossing point will add further safety issues which could only be accommodated with further urbanising crossing infrastructure which is unwelcome.  Subject to maintaining the TPO trees and established hedgerow which has important wildlife, consideration should be given to a secondary access to the south of the site to disperse entry and exit movements.

3 Parking

Many of the Victorian houses on the lane do not have driveways and therefore rely on parking on the highway, effectively making significant lengths of the road single track.  It is not believed the yellow lines on either side of the new entrance will be enforceable and consequently the lane will become frequently blocked and access to the site by large vehicles impossible.  As a minimum, any lost space on the road will need to be allocated to specific Hayes Lane residents to prevent this.  Further unallocated parking will be required in addition to alleviate some of the existing pressure.

4 Roads within development site

The road to the north of the development tracks out towards and parallel to the Downslink and ignores the buffer zone along the Downslink.  This is unnecessary urbanisation of the Downslink and should be avoided. All roads and development needs to be contained within the PDS8 site boundary.  Similarly, the road to the west of the site which tracks across the new footpath is unacceptable and unnecessary if the development is reduced in size to a linear scheme and contained within the PDS8 boundary.

5 Flooding

Hayes Lane has a well documented history of flooding in various locations from the top to the bottom of the hill. A combination of blocked ditches and serious damage to the drainage system from other utilities and tree roots has left the existing drainage capacity of Hayes Lane significantly reduced for the current houses on the lane let alone adding further numbers. Any further development must be justified by a comprehensive assessment of the Hayes Lane drainage infrastructure. We have asked the developer for a financial contribution to cover an independent engineer to advise the parish council and they have agreed although details are yet to be arranged.

Please note Southern Water have addressed the wrong development for this site.  Given the seriousness of flooding at Hayes Lane we would urge HDC to encourage SW to take a very detailed look at the proposals and the existing system capacity and effectiveness.

6 Scout Hut

The Applicant is now aware that the greatest need for Slinfold in terms of community infrastructure is a fully fitted Scout Hut.  This needs to be incorporated and within the PDS8 boundary.

7 Affordable Housing

We note the comments of the HDC Housing Officer regarding the small scale of the affordable provision may make this site unattractive to registered providers although we do not agree.  Other smaller affordable provisions (Welwyn adjacent) have been taken up and the Parish Council would like to make sure all efforts are made to ensure affordable housing is provided on site for the benefit of parishioners and not translated to a commuted sum.  The need for affordable housing in rural communities is well documented and Slinfold is a classic example where many residents are priced out and have to move far away from their places of work and families.

7 Design

We appreciate the application is at this stage outline.  When details come forward we expect them to follow closely our Design Statement.  This is an important location in the village with close proximity to the Downslink and the historic railway heritage.  We expect high quality architect designed and location sensitive design.

We respectfully request that HDC refuse this application.  As part of our Neighbourhood Plan work last year, we did invite the Applicant on the 2nd May 2025 to come in and discuss this site with the Parish Council before application.  The above points would have been raised and could have been addressed prior to application and prevented abortive work.  Nevertheless the Parish Council remains committed to work with HDC and the Applicant to see sustainable and suitable development come forward on this site.