28 Nov 2025
The ruination of Redbourn remains a very real threat to the rural community, with unwelcome plans for more than 1,000 new homes on Green Belt land next to the village the latest in a long line of development schemes.
Proposals by the Lawes Agricultural Trust (LAT) – a charitable trust which owns the estates at Rothamsted in Harpenden – have been accused of taking advantage of the Government’s new “grey belt” standard by suggesting a development which will increase the village’s size by 50 per cent.
It would apparently include a new two-form entry primary school, a potential new care home, around 23 football pitches’ worth of open space, play areas and other enhancements around the River Ver chalk farm, and up to 50 per cent affordable housing.
The 104-acre open arable site is situated on the northeast edge of the village of Redbourn, between Dunstable Road, Harpenden Lane and the Redbourn bypass.
The development will see 42 hectares of Green Belt land reclassified as grey belt – which means it does not strongly contribute to the main purposes of the Green Belt – and would see the size of the village population increase from 2,200 to 3,200 houses.
A campaign group opposing the scheme has already been set up – Redbourn Against Greenbelt Erosion (RAGE), and a spokesperson said: “The Green Belt surrounding the village of Government that 94 per cent of residents did not vote for. Their new ‘grey belt’ land-grab has opened the door to more than 5,000 planned houses across five sites, literally surrounding the village. If even one of these goes ahead, Redbourn becomes unrecognisable.
“The argument that this is somehow necessary is completely incorrect. The Government’s own data identifies 27,000 hectares of brownfield land across the UK: enough to build 1.4 million houses according to the CPRE. That’s 93 per cent of their national five-year target, without the need to touch any Green Belt at all.
“This isn’t NIMBYism. It’s a fight against opportunistic developers rushing to abuse an ill-reasoned, disastrous policy. The village is demonstrably already at capacity. Parking, traffic, GP appointments and other core services are at breaking point.
“The response has been immediate and overwhelming – within 24 hours, over 10 per cent of Redbourn’s population have joined our action group. More are joining every day.
“Our message is clear: we don’t need more housing in Redbourn. We can’t absorb more housing in Redbourn. We certainly didn’t vote for mass development of our Green Belt – and as a community, we will not accept it.”
Meanwhile, the Crown Estate is proposing to build up to 4,000 new homes on 975 acres of Green Belt between Redbourn Road and Hemel Hempstead Road, to the west of the M1.
The East Hemel site is allocated for development in SADC’s draft Local Plan, which will set the planning policy for how areas like this should be designed and developed.
The East Hemel development will be the first phase of the wider Hemel Garden Communities (HGC) programme, which aims to transform Hemel Hempstead by providing new community facilities, schools, new transport links and green spaces that support health, wellbeing and a thriving natural environment, as well as 10,000 new jobs for the surrounding area.
Redbourn Parish Council chair and independent councillor for the village, Cllr David Mitchell, responded to the LAT proposals: “The north-east Redbourn site was offered up by the Lawes Agricultural Trust when the district council was doing its ‘call for sites’ at the beginning of the new Local Plan process.
“However, the site was rejected as the Green Belt Review (ARUP) said that development at north-east Redbourn would lead to coalescence with Harpenden.
“The irony of that is there would be a larger gap between Redbourn village and Harpenden than the gap between Redbourn village and the proposed Hemel Garden Community sites, yet the Hemel sites made it into the draft Local Plan.
“Now the district council is saying that the north-east Redbourn site qualifies as a grey belt site so there can be development there after all. That means Redbourn Parish could see an extra 5,000 houses over the next 15 years or so, all on the existing Green Belt. At the moment Redbourn has around 2,500 houses, so the number of houses will treble, and the village of Redbourn will be swamped.
“Redbourn Parish Council, which I chair, has been objecting to the extensive development on the Green Belt but it seems that Redbourn is being made the ‘sacrificial lamb’.
“The question that needs to be answered is, will the infrastructure be put in place to meet the needs of the new residents? One big concern is the amount of traffic that would be generated on already congested roads.
“When the Government decided that Green Belt could be re-categorised as grey belt and therefore suitable for development, they didn’t take into account that villages like Redbourn could effectively disappear as developers took advantage of the opportunity to build on surrounding farmland. This is going to happen in places all around London until there is nothing left of the Metropolitan Green Belt. The Government must re-think their grey belt policy before it’s too late.”
Former Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, and Redbourn resident Nigel Gardner said: “I have known this piece of countryside for over 50 years. If the council think it is grey, they must be colour-blind.
“Before the bypass was built it was completely open. But it still provides gorgeous views across rolling countryside. There is nothing grey about it at all.
“It is a treasure to behold on both a cold winter morning and a balmy summer evening.
“Fiddling the rules to build here would be an affront to future generations. The promoters of this scheme should be ashamed of themselves. We need as a community to nip this in the bud now.”
Jeff Phillips, chairman of the Harpenden Society said: “The Society appreciates that new homes are needed and have empathy with our neighbours who will be significantly affected by these proposals.
“Whilst the residents of Harpenden are geographically remote our concern is the additional pressure that such homes will put on local infrastructure, particularly roads and trains, compounding the problems that will be caused by the developments in Harpenden and the expansion of Luton Airport. The Society is urging the planning authorities to take a holistic approach to ensure that problems are averted before they occur.”
The Lawes Agricultural Trust is working with leading strategic land development company Lands Improvement Holdings to release the site from the Green Belt and promote the land for development as part of the Local Plan.
Peter Oxley, executive director of Lawes Agricultural Trust, has said the project is vital for their ongoing long-term support for scientific research activities at Rothamsted, home to the world’s oldest agricultural research institution, which plays an important role in meeting the global challenges of feeding a growing population in a more sustainable manner.
What action can readers take?
RAGE says: “We need everyone concerned to email our most supportive councillors — David Mitchell and Brian Gunson — at cllr.d.mitchell@councillor.stalbans.gov.uk and cllr.b.gunson@councillor.stalbans.gov.uk to help strengthen their opposition. The more of us that get in contact, the sooner we will be heard.”
