61-home development on farm near Berkhamsted approved at third time of asking

A development of 61 homes on Haresfoot Farm near Berkhamsted can go ahead after Dacorum Borough Council’s planning committee voted it through at the third time of asking.

They initially rejected it in May, raising concerns about its distance from shops and services and harm to the green belt, and then delayed a decision when it came before them again in October.

On that occasion, the committee expressed fears that a proposed community hub may not be commercially viable – even though the hub had been included in the initial plans and was not cited as a reason for the initial refusal.

After that second meeting, developer Haresfoot Ltd – a partnership between Griggs Homes and Galliard Homes – removed the hub from the plans, replacing it with two affordable homes.

A pantry with vending machines for everyday essentials such as milk and bread is still included, with the aim of reducing car trips to shops, but it has been moved from the hub to a different location on the site.

The change led the committee to vote it through last week (Thursday, December 11) by eight votes to two.

Multiple councillors expressed concerns that there would not be a legally sound reason to refuse the application.

Cllr Alan Anderson said he thought it would be “very unwise” to refuse permission without solid “legal grounds”, noting the costs that can be involved if a planning decision is appealed and overturned.

Cllr Jan Maddern added that she thought the council would “most definitely” lose at appeal if they refused permission for the development, and there was a “very strong chance” of costs being awarded against them.

The two councillors who voted against granting permission, Cllr Caroline Smith-Wright and Cllr Brian Patterson, suggested it was an unsuitable location for the development.

Cllr Patterson said it was “not in the right place at all” and suggested it would create a “housing ghetto” without any other nearby facilities, while Cllr Smith-Wright worried that approval would only lead to more Green Belt development and an area “blighted” by “lots of rural hamlets with poor transport and infrastructure”.

She recognised “we are desperate for houses” but said the development would be a “big mistake”.

Objections were also heard at the start of the meeting from a number of public objectors and from Cllr Nigel Taylor, who does not sit on the committee.

Cllr Taylor said the site was a “prime example of where we should not build a housing estate” and would contribute to an “unsustainable amount of traffic” on “already congested” roads.

According to the council’s planning officers, the houses will be built on previously developed land, though this was disputed by some public objectors.

After the developer was initially refused permission earlier this year, they removed 27 homes from the plans that would not have been on previously developed land.

Of the 61 homes at the site, 26 will be classed as affordable according to the government definition of the term.

Half of the affordable homes will be available for shared ownership, and half for affordable rent.

While affordable rent only requires a property to be available at up to 80 per cent of market rate, these would be available at 60 per cent of market rate, and priority could be given to existing Berkhamsted residents.

Oliver Myrants-Wilson, land director at Griggs, said at the meeting that they had “listened and worked collaboratively” with the council “rather than appeal” its previous decision.

After the meeting, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was “pleased” by the committee’s decision.

Mr Myrants-Wilson said: “Having addressed the committee’s previous feedback, their decision to support their officers’ comprehensive assessment of the site and grant a resolution to planning permission is a significant milestone for this high-quality, landscape-led scheme that will deliver much needed private and affordable homes.

“It’s particularly fitting that this decision came on the same day the new NPPF [national planning policy framework] was published, with this being exactly the type of proposal this envisages delivering, highlighting the importance of well-considered development on previously developed brownfield sites.”