Land once earmarked for a Lidl and offices in Hemel could now be used for 234 homes

Land once earmarked for a Lidl and offices in Hemel Hempstead could soon feature five to nine-storey blocks of flats.

Initial plans to build the supermarket were replaced with a 268-home proposal in Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, which was turned down in 2019.

But at a Dacorum development management committee meeting on Thursday, April 13, councillors agreed the new scheme for 234 flats complied with national planning rules.

Council staff will now be able to make a final decision on the application, with a “view to approval”.

In a debate about the plans, Councillor Terry Douris (Con, Ashridge) said the building will “lack charisma”.

He said: “Lots of developers in Hemel Hempstead are using light coloured bricks.

“This building doesn’t offer charisma in its out-facing imagery.”

Cllr Douris said although the development planning committee may be unable to influence the materials at such a late stage, he made a plea for future plans to be “more charismatic in future”.

A council officer confirmed Dacorum Borough Council discussed using pale buff brickwork with the developer in the pre-application phase.

The land was initially set aside for employment use in the 1991 to 2011 Dacorum Local Plan, which has not yet been updated.

Plans for a supermarket and offices were refused in 2015 and another employment space proposal has not come forward since.

A scheme for 268 homes emerged, but a panel ruled the development would amount to “overdevelopment” with a lack of parking and amenity space.

Cllr Ron Tindall (LD, Adeyfield West) questioned whether it is appropriate to use employment land for housing at a time when there are proposals to build at least 11,000 new homes by 2050 in the town.

A council report sets out a marketing assessment “identified an oversupply and lack of demand for office space in the Maylands area”.

This is a result of its distance from the railway station and the fact the site is divided into two plots.

National planning rules allow councils to adopt a “flexible approach to outdated policies”.

Cllrs Douris and Tindall added the entrance to “undercroft parking garages” should feature traffic lights amid congestion fears at the A4147 Maylands Avenue and A414 Breakspear Way roundabout.

The committee agreed to give council planning staff the power to rule on the planning application, taking into account councillors’ traffic concerns, as well as a need to secure funding for environmental improvements.

In addition to the 234 one and two-bed flats, the scheme will also feature 1,486.5 square metres of commercial space.

A developer statement promises “the comprehensive regeneration of a vacant brownfield site, a development built to the highest environmental standards”.

It adds the scheme will be a “bespoke design providing a high quality gateway building for the entrance to Maylands Avenue” with “new public realm areas helping to create attractive public spaces and external areas”.

Since the 2015 application was refused, Lidl has found an alternative site in Hemel Hempstead, near the Jarman Centre.

Councillors gave council staff the power to rule on the new supermarket plans in November 2022, and a final decision is yet to be made.