21 Feb 2025
Harpenden MP Victoria Collins has responded to the approval of the north-west Harpenden housing scheme by accusing the Government of failing to protect the district from speculative development.
This week members of SADC’s development management committee voted 5-4 in favour of giving on the green light to the proposals by Legal & General to build on land at Cooters End Lane, Ambrose Lane and Thrales End Lane, on arable fields close to King’s School, Spire Hospital and The Oval.
She said: “In planning terms St Albans district council is stuck in purgatory. Failures from the Conservatives nationally and locally have left our community open to speculative development, such as the latest proposals in north Harpenden. While waiting for the Planning Inspectorate to approve the Local Plan, the Government has left our area almost powerless to push back on developers. This is only exacerbated as the local Conservatives left us with the second oldest Local Plan in the country.
“Labour’s failure to fix the broken planning system has only been made worse with their cynical definition of the ‘grey belt’, leaving us again open for developers until the Local Plan is approved. It is our communities who continue to pay the price.
“We were let down by the previous Conservative government, who pushed top-down targets on our local area. We were let down by the local Conservatives who failed to pass a Local Plan, leaving St Albans district open to developer-led proposals. It was also local Conservatives who had the whole north Harpenden site in their draft Local Plan unlike the local Liberal Democrats who reduced the size of this development, responding to concerns of the impact on the local area.
“The local Liberal Democrats have worked hard to secure a draft local housing plan to protect our local area and are now waiting for the planning inspectorate to scrutinise it. They reacted swiftly to the new Government’s planning demands and new timeline for the National Planning Policy Framework which has provided a temporary shield against even bigger housing targets.
“As the MP for Harpenden and our villages, I have written to the Government Housing Minister demanding more weight be given to the submitted Local Plan now – not in 18 months time or so when the Plan is hopefully approved – so we can protect our communities by giving the council the ability to push back on speculative development.
“The Conservatives and Labour have left our local area stuck in limbo and that’s not good enough. Liberal Democrats will continue to put communities first and I will continue to call on the Government to drive for community-led development.”
