Up to thirty minutes will be made available for questions from members of the public on issues relating to the work of the Committee and to receive any petitions.
Minutes:
The following question was received and the Chairman responded:
Question from Councillor P. Hebden
Prior to the A4 consultation taking place representations were made that the whole of the Great North Rd Hatfield, between Hertford Rd and the junction with B197 French Horn Lane, and also the Old Hatfield conservation area should be included in the consultation. These representations were dismissed as these areas were considered not to be strategic to the Borough.
Old Hatfield is designated as a Neighbourhood Centre in planning policy SP5, requiring a mixed balance of offices, shops, cafes and other facilities. More conversion to flats would turn the area into a dormitory suburb instead of contributing to a mixed economy.
Located next to the mainline railway station, this is a strategic location for office development and Gascoyne Cecil Estates have found a good strong demand for office use and their proposed redevelopment of Salisbury Square will regenerate the area with a mixed development of offices, flats and retail units. There are few office blocks left in Old Hatfield with the majority having been converted to flats and further loss will hinder the regeneration.
Paragraph 3.9 on page 55 of your agenda pack notes the representations made. Can WHBC please clarify why Old Hatfield was not considered in the consultation, when and how “other areas” continue to be monitored and the expected timeframe for this to be brought back to Members?
Response from the Chairman
Article 4 Direction is not consultation in the traditional sense of gathering views and making a decision based on those views. Rather its purpose is for the Council to give forewarning to landowners that it is minded to remove permitted development rights and believes it has the justification to do so, in order that compensation claims can fall away after twelve months.
The boundaries of the four strategic areas that were recommended for inclusion in the Article 4 Direction largely match the boundaries of employment areas identified in Policy SADM10 of the Submitted Local Plan.
In drafting their original report to this Panel, officers did not consider that Old Hatfield had enough office stock to warrant being identified as a strategic location where permitted development rights should be removed. It is not identified as an employment area in Policy SADM10 of the Submitted Local Plan.
Old Hatfield was considered by officers when preparing the recommendations and as part of the Panel’s discussion and on balance Councillors agreed that only strategic sites with important levels of office stock should be included in the consultation.
If members of the Panel wish to reconsider this matter, it would be necessary to carry out a separate consultation and wait a further twelve months in order to apply an Article 4 Direction to Old Hatfield.
Point of clarification
On a point of clarification it was explained that this Panel will have the opportunity to consider the Old Hatfield area (shops being converted to residential) once a report is circulated, as per the motion passed at the last Council meeting.