Political Opinion: Victoria Collins MP invites Housing Minister to visit Tring amid top-down housing development worries

Victoria Collins,  Lib Dem MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, has invited the Government Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook to visit the proposed Marshcroft development site in Tring, as serious concerns continue to grow among residents over the future of the town and the impact it will have on the surrounding Chilterns countryside.

Local residents in Tring have long raised concerns about the scale of the proposed 1,400-home Marshcroft development, the pressure it would place on roads, schools and GP surgeries, and the impact on Green Belt land and the Chilterns landscape.

Although Dacorum Borough Council rejected the application, Marshcroft remains in the emerging Local Plan due to Government housing targets, leaving Tring vulnerable to appeal. During Parliamentary questions to the government. Victoria Collins MP invited him to visit the site, meet residents, and see firsthand the increasing pressures communities face under the current planning system.

Victoria Collins MP said: “People in Tring are rightly angry and frustrated. Residents have fought tirelessly to protect our countryside and stand up for sensible, infrastructure-first development, yet communities are still being left vulnerable to speculative applications because of a broken planning system.

“That is why I have invited the Housing Minister to come to Marshcroft, meet local people, hear our side of the debate and see the reality on the ground for himself.

“Tring should not be forced to shoulder developments that overwhelm infrastructure, damage our protected landscape, and fail to deliver homes local people can genuinely afford.”