02 Jun 2023
A major breakthrough has been achieved in the fight against two controversial Green Belt developments by St Albans MP Daisy Cooper.
An appeal was looming for two planning applications in Chiswell Green after the schemes were rejected by SADC planning committee councillors.
Developers want to stick housing on Green Belt land at St Stephen’s Farm and south of Chiswell Green Lane, with up to 1,800 new residents predicted.
But Daisy asked for the matter to be referred to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, as the applications could be affected by proposed changes to national planning policy currently under consideration by the government.
He has now confirmed he has recovered the appeals and will decide on the applications imminently, based on a report by the planning inspector who oversaw the recent inquiry.
Daisy responded to the news: “This is a very welcome move but we’re still not there yet. It’s possible that the Secretary of State still gives both sites the go-ahead but it is my hope that after much lobbying by me, and the Keep Chiswell Green campaign, that he will see sense, and not make a decision until he’s made changes to the national planning framework, which could change the outcome of the applications.”
She added: “I have been working tirelessly since my election to reform the government’s broken planning system, which neither delivers the housing we need but does destroy the Green Belt forever.
“For far too long, many developers have used out-of-date top-down house building targets, set by Ministers in Whitehall, as a means to force planning inspectors to overturn refusals for inappropriate development by our district council, such as the Roundhouse Farm (Bullens Green) development in Colney Heath.
“We’ve had to drag the government kicking and screaming to this point, and I won’t rest until our planning system has been completely overhauled. We must build the homes we need, prioritise social homes fit for the future, better regulate existing housing stock, end the absurdity of tax-payers subsidising developers planning applications, and ensure that homes are built on brownfield sites first. These decisions need to be led by the community, not profit-driven developers.”
A spokesperson for local campaign group Keep Chiswell Green said: “As a main party in the Chiswell Green inquiry, Keep Chiswell Green (KCG) was delighted to have received notice yesterday from the Planning Inspectorate, that the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, had agreed to recover the appeals for his own determination.
“KCG’s extensive letter to Mr Gove, sent in early May and supported by over 400 local residents who also emailed him, detailed the many reasons why these appeals required his personal intervention, not least the loss of 70 acres of beautiful Green Belt.
“KCG is grateful to Daisy Cooper for her parliamentary questions in support of our request, and she is right to say that building on Green Belt does not resolve the problems of inadequate housing supply in the UK.
“We hope Mr Gove will conclude, as we have done, that these developments must be refused.”
