26 May 2024
The Harpenden Society has spoken out after plans for the development of the town’s railway station were officially submitted for approval.
The plans are proposing the construction of two blocks of flats in the already over-subscribed eastern car park, reducing the limited number of spaces even further.
The scheme by property development company Solum – a joint partnership between Network Rail and Kier Property – will see 100 apartments offering a mix of one, two and three bedrooms, including affordable housing.
The planning application has met with a cautious response from the Harpenden Society.
A spokesperson said: “Whilst the applicants, Solum, may be correct in stating that the site and development proposals do not fall within the Statutory Guidelines that would require an Environmental Impact Assessment to be undertaken, there is no doubt that the scheme will be the largest to be undertaken within the town centre for a considerable period, and will have significant widespread implications.
“For this reason, The Harpenden Society considers the proposals must be subject to the widest scrutiny to ensure all aspects are fully understood and that appropriate steps are taken to minimise adverse environmental consequences.
“As Solum state this scheme would take approximately FOUR years to complete and during that period current users of the car park will have to find alternative parking which will invariably add pressure on the adjacent residential streets. ”Yet no comment or proposals have been made by Solum as to how this aspect will be addressed.
“The Public Health Services Department at HCC have stated that even if SADC decide an EIA is not required, the council should still ensure the application is supported by sufficient biodiversity, landscaping and other environmental information in order to assess the impact of the proposals.
“The development proposals represent significant changes to the built environment which may have unintended negative impacts.
“As the only access to the station is via the town centre, we challenge the claim by Solum that effects of the construction traffic over the four-year period will not be significant.
“We could not find any reference in the reports submitted by Solum to the trees that will need to be remove near the entrance.
“Even Solum acknowledge that there is potential for adverse effects, relating to noise, transport and air quality, but these would apparently be mitigated through strategic strategies and the overall effect would not be significant.
“There are currently a number of planning applications for large residential development schemes under consideration in and around the town, some of which may be approved during the car park development period, all of which will add considerable pressures on the town centre and the need for commuter car parking.
“Solum may have deduced from their earlier limited study that the demand on station car parking has reduced since the Covid lockdown but this needs to be re-evaluated following recent reports that office occupation has started to increased and that the car park is already at or near capacity during the week.
“It cannot be overlooked that the proposals by Solum for the redevelopment of the car park will have widespread and potentially adverse significant effect on the local environment and we consider they must be required to submit with any future planning application, a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment.”
You can comment on the plans for the development of Harpenden railway station on SADC’s planning portal using the reference 5/2024/0796.
