02 Sep 2025
Controversial plans for up to 150 new homes on Green Belt land to the north of St Albans have been reluctantly approved by councillors.
The scheme, by Cala Homes, is for land to the rear of 112-156B Harpenden Road, and will provide a residential development plus associated garages, parking, landscaping, open space and vehicular and pedestrian routes through the site
A reserved matters application went before SADC’s development management committee last night, and councillors voted by eight to four to support the scheme.
But certain strict conditions were imposed on granting approval, including a revised Badger Method Statement to determine whether any activity had occurred that may affect development and swept path assessments relating to the crossroads on the site. This is a computer-aided design process that simulates the movement of a vehicle – including its length, width, and turning radius – to determine the space it requires when turning or manoeuvring.
Samples of the materials to be used externally will also need SADC’s approval, the footway/cycleway on the northern side of the site must be retained and unrestricted for public use for the full lifetime of the development, and the development may not be occupied until photographic evidence of active travel links to the adjoining northern and eastern boundaries of the site have been constructed, and then approved by the local planning authority.
Speaking at the meeting, Gee Smedley, spokesperson for campaign group CLASH, told councillors: “As Green Belt release takes hold and important precedents are set, it is essential that developers like Cala are held accountable and are required to deliver high quality, sustainable developments without cutting corners…
“Members are urged to use their powers to ensure Green Belt release delivers at least a minimum density and high standards of sustainable design or risk setting a poor precedent across the district.”
Neil Farnsworth, Cala head of planning, said: “The council spent over £270,000 housing people in temporary accommodation last year, three times the amount spent the previous year. In October 24, 224 children in St. Albans were being housed temporarily by the council for an average of 43 weeks each.
“These are your residents, they’re your community, but they have no permanence and no place to call a home. The application in front of you is for 124 new homes. The site is allocated within the emerging Local Plan and benefits from outline planning permission, which has approved the principle of residential development.
“This proposal ticks every box. It provides affordable family homes, new open spaces and play areas and it goes over and above the council’s policies on sustainability through the use of timber frame construction, air source heat pumps and the implementation of Cala’s urban wildlife strategy.”
St Michael Parish Council chair David Meachin told the meeting: “The parish council has serious concerns over the loss of Green Belt, a lack of a credible traffic mitigation plan and a lack of enforcement of planning conditions.
“This site sits just outside our parish boundary on the Harpenden Road, a road regularly choked by traffic, blighting residents in our parish with noise, pollution and dangerous driving. The Ancient Briton crossroads is already shown to be overcapacity by this developer.
“This application site is hardly a poster child for sustainability and active travel. Per peak hour, it’s projected to add 80 car journeys, but just 20 journeys on foot and less than five by bike.
“There are twice as many car parking spaces as there are dwellings. This is a car-focused development, but this is no surprise because there’s very little in the way of employment and amenities on the doorstep of this development.
“Residents are going to face long queues just to leave the new estate and join the main road in rush hour. Adding buses isn’t going to help. It’s not the answer. There are no bus lanes, no direct bus to the city station. Whilst the delivery of highway improvements, pedestrian and cycle paths to ease congestion was a welcomed condition attached to this site in gaining outline permission, it’s our understanding that these improvements have not been discharged, and are not deliverable, yet here we are tonight discussing moving this application forward. Where is the enforcement of this and other prior conditions?
“Cala Homes has already breached key ecological conditions by removing over 500 metres of hedgerows when only 18 were permitted, felling mature trees and clearing the site before completing ecological assessments. This behaviour raises serious issues of trust and accountability. Without standing enforcement unresolved, it is difficult to see how future commitments can be taken at face value.”
Bernards Heath district councillor Helen Campbell said: “I echo local residents’ concerns around trees, wildlife and biodiversity, particularly the removal of a number of trees and stretches of hedgerow that were removed when they should not have been.
“All of this does not sit well with me or with local residents, nor does it make the developer appear minded to treat the area with respect.”
Cllr Jez Levy, also representing Bernards Heath, said: “This development troubles me personally and many of our residents in both Bernards Heath and across the Harpenden Road in Batchwood. Clearly, the direction of travel from our Government has absolutely no concern for our Green Belt.
“This particular location is a flood plain. Mitigating this with fancy pump houses, drainage mechanisms, pushing the water to sewage systems, will not solve the issue, it is just transferring the problem elsewhere. Have we not learned anything? This so-called solution will cause back-up elsewhere, adding to an already ageing sewage network…
“No amount of traffic lights or roundabouts will mitigate the increase of tailbacks, most especially exiting the site onto Harpenden Road. Short of a complete roads overhaul, this development and many others throughout the district are going to render this district at a complete standstill…
“We need houses, yes, but is this the right location, I’m not sure. But if this development is rejected this evening, you can bet your bottom dollar that the developers will further appeal, throwing money at it until it sticks, leaving this council and its taxpayers to foot the bill.”
Redbourn independent councillor David Mitchell added: “I’m particularly concerned about this pumping station because obviously the foul water sewage system is very dependent on it. Say there’s a power cut, which often happens in a storm. What happens to the foul water then?”
Cllr Giles Fry suggested the houses on the development would need insurance to mitigate the potential impact of flooding, but added that there were no material reasons for refusing the application.
Those were comments echoed by other members, who said they were frustrated about their inability to reject the scheme.
As the vote was announced, chair Cllr Edgar Hill said: “It pains me to say that the application has been approved.”
CLASH has previously highlighted potential problems with flooding, including what they say is a flawed SUDS [Sustainable Drainage Systems] scheme, and ecological assessments relating to local wildlife concerns.
Gee Smedley said after the meeting: “As expected, the councillors voted the Cala reserved matters application through. We say as expected, because when we saw which councillors were on the committee, we knew the script. The same story played out as we see happening time and again: set piece objections which are easy for the planning officer to defend, and little to no debate from the majority of councillors.
“Only Cllr Canning and Cllr Mitchell asked some serious questions that cannot be resolved by the officer, because they actually understand planning. Cllr Day and Cllr Fry came in like statesmen at the end to quash it all down, and any early objections made are withdrawn.
“Cllr Fry even suggested that the failures of the SUDS scheme could be managed via insurance policies, is he qualified to comment on this? We know that if a property floods from any external source, it becomes uninsurable. An uninsurable property cannot be mortgaged. They really would be ultra-affordable then. We also find it strange that Cllr Fry offered congratulations to the planning officer for getting the Green Belt application approved. This is extraordinary – what does this mean?
“We see that the same scenario plays out every time for Green Belt applications.
“In our view. Cllr Campbell sat on the fence to protect her political position rather than protect her future ward constituents. Cllr Levy ended his comments with hugely inflated estimates for the costs of appeal, and we we are not sure why this was mentioned especially when appeal costs are not certain and nowhere near the inflated figure he claimed. Cala have been paying SADC a developer contribution since early 2024, this money should be used to defend appeals.
“We provided councillors with adequate defensible grounds, which they ignored despite Cllrs Canning and Mitchell raising material concerns. But with major conditions still not resolved and seven more conditions to deliver, the battle is not won by Cala and we will not be letting anyone get away with delivering unsafe housing for future residents.”
Cala’s Neil Farnsworth added: “We’re pleased to have been granted planning consent for this new development. Alongside the much needed new homes, it will bring wider benefits including a cycle path linking to the proposed St Albans Cycle Way and new green spaces for local residents to enjoy.
“Cala is committed to high quality placemaking which will contribute to the creation of a new sustainable and inclusive community and, over and above our planning obligations, our Community Pledge for Harpenden Road further reflects our commitment to the local area. We look forward to rolling out this bespoke programme of activity that is being created in collaboration with local residents and hope this has a positive impact on the wider neighbourhood.”
Cala’s Community Pledge will be created in collaboration with the local community, bringing together a bespoke programme of activity designed to address specific community needs. Activities could include donations, volunteering, a local schools’ programmes and much more.
