28/12/2025
๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐ซ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ โ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐๐ฒ
๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐ญ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ
You may have heard that, at the recent Parish Council meeting, councillors discussed whether to vote on abandoning the Hertford Heath Neighbourhood Plan. No vote could be taken because the item was not included on the meeting agenda.
We understand that this issue is now expected to be brought back for a decision at the next Parish Council meeting on 12 January 2026.
Residents have not been formally notified or consulted on any proposal to discontinue the Plan, despite having voted in August 2024 to continue with it.
The clearest issue now is this: East Herts District Council has now confirmed that Amwell Place Farm (including the farm buildings) is to be considered as a potential housing option for Hertford Heath both through the Neighbourhood Plan process and through the District Plan Review. But if the Neighbourhood Plan is not taken forward, there is a real risk the site could progress mainly through the District Plan Review without being openly and fairly compared against other reasonable alternatives at village level, and without the same local scrutiny and resident influence.
That matters because abandoning the Neighbourhood Plan does not remove the requirement for around 84 new homes. It simply transfers far more control to district-wide processes through the East Herts District Plan Review, reducing the villageโs influence over where development happens and what mitigation or community benefits are secured.
At the Parish Council meeting, reasons given for stepping away from the Neighbourhood Plan included claims that there is โnot enough public supportโ and that the costs of carrying on are too high. Many residents are understandably concerned that this represents a fundamental change of direction, without residents being properly informed or consulted, and despite the clear vote in August 2024 to continue with the Plan.
๐. ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ?
When the Neighbourhood Plan began in 2016, the Parish Council told residents that:
Amwell Place Farm was not an appropriate location for development; and
any future growth โ including any potential Green Belt changes โ should be shaped through a Neighbourhood Plan, with residents having a proper say.
That was the promise: local people shaping where growth happens and what it looks like.
The East Herts District Plan says Hertford Heath, as a Group 1 Village, needs to plan for around 84 new homes over the plan period, with up to 40% affordable housing on larger schemes. The Neighbourhood Plan is supposed to:
* decide which sites deliver those homes;
*set design, character and landscape expectations; and
*secure local infrastructure and community benefits.
Nine years on, there is still no adopted Plan and the 84 homes are still not allocated.
๐ฎ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐
In August 2024, the Parish Council asked residents whether they wanted to continue with the Neighbourhood Plan and whether they supported commissioning updated assessment work to compare site options properly.
Residents said yes:
a clear majority supported carrying on with the Plan; and
around 30 residents volunteered to join or support a re-formed steering group.
That is not a picture of โno public supportโ.
Since that vote, however, key steps needed to move the Plan forward have not yet taken place:
* no re-formed, functioning steering group;
* no clear timetable to complete the Plan; and
* no open invitation for volunteers to play an active role in shaping site choices and policies.
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ณ๐๐น ๐ป๐ฒ๐
๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ โ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ
Following an independent review of the Neighbourhood Plan process in 2023, the Parish Council was advised by AECOM the Parish Councils independent consultants, that the lawful next step was to update the existing assessment work (the Strategic Environmental Assessment) so that all reasonable housing options could be compared properly โ including Amwell Place Farm โ across the full range of relevant themes.
In plain English, that means comparing sites side-by-side on matters residents care about, such as:
* access, traffic and road safety;
* ecology and biodiversity;
* landscape and views;
* drainage and flood risk;
* heritage impacts; and
* overall sustainability and deliverability.
The purpose is straightforward: to help ensure the final site choice (or combination of sites) is the most sustainable and least harmful option, and to ensure the potential benefits and trade-offs of each site can be openly discussed.
Just as importantly, it is meant to allow residents to see the evidence and comment on it through proper public consultation (including Regulation 14), so the Plan reflects what the community actually supports.
However, this updated assessment has not been taken forward, and the funding that had been approved to support it was allowed to lapse in April 2025. The practical result is that residents are being left without the transparent comparison and meaningful choice that the Neighbourhood Plan process was designed to provide when it commenced in 2016.
๐ฐ. ๐๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐?
Abandoning the Neighbourhood Plan does not remove the housing requirement. It simply shifts decisions to district-wide processes and reduces village influence over site selection, mitigation and community benefits.
This is precisely why residents voted in August 2024 to continue with the Neighbourhood Plan rather than abandon it. Residents understood that walking away would not make the housing requirement disappear โ it would simply hand decisions to others.
The Parish Council should not reverse that direction without:
clear reasons; published evidence; and meaningful consultation with residents.
A key reason the Plan exists is to ensure there is a transparent, professionally independent assessment and village-level comparison of the main site options before decisions are made.
Without that, decisions are far more likely to be taken through district-wide processes, without the same degree of local scrutiny or resident influence.
๐ฑ. ๐๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ โ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ
East Herts District Council has now confirmed that Amwell Place Farm is not being reserved for the District Plan Review only and should also be considered as part of the Neighbourhood Plan process. In addition, the site has been submitted through the District Plan Review Call for Sites.
Residents are not, however, being clearly informed that Amwell Place Farm is being promoted in this way, including in a form that could be argued to meet the full villageโs housing allocation.
This matters because the Parish Councilโs own post to all residents dated 19 December 2016 stated that Amwell Place Farm had been considered and deemed inappropriate at that time, and that โthere is no plan in place for development on this landโ. Residents were also told that, through the Neighbourhood Plan, they would have a say over โhow and where the village may growโ, but only if residents agreed.
Now that Amwell Place Farm is again being actively promoted by Hertfordshire County Council, and has been confirmed as being considered through both the Neighbourhood Plan process and the District Plan Review, residents should be proactively informed of this change in position and what it could mean for Hertford Heath.
Most importantly: if the Neighbourhood Plan is discontinued, there is a real risk that Amwell Place Farm could progress primarily through the District Plan Review without being openly assessed side-by-side against other reasonable alternatives at village level, and without residents having a direct say through the Neighbourhood Plan process and referendum.
6. โ๐ต๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ ?
Residents voted to continue in August 2024, and over 30 people put their names forward to help.
If any councillor is asserting that there is now โno public supportโ, that claim should be evidenced transparently โ for example, by explaining what steps were taken to contact volunteers and what response was actually received. It cannot reasonably be used as justification to abandon the Plan without proper resident engagement.
๐ณ. ๐๐ผ๐๐ (๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐) ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป?
The Parish Council has previously indicated that funds were budgeted or earmarked to complete the remaining assessment work, and a charitable donation was offered to support completion if needed.
In addition:
the Parish Council still holds around ยฃ10,000 of Neighbourhood Planning grant;
around ยฃ15,000 has been indicated as being set aside in the Parish budget for technical work;
two new councillors have joined the Parish Council in the last year with specific skills to help deliver the Plan โ one with project management experience and one a retired Hertfordshire County Council town planner who has been advising the Parish Council on its options; and
East Herts District Council has repeatedly encouraged the Parish Council to progress and complete the Neighbourhood Plan using the existing evidence, and has previously advised that the Plan could and should be brought to completion.
In those circumstances, cost is not a sound reason to discontinue the Plan when the remaining steps are clear and achievable.
๐ด. ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐
If you care about where Hertford Heathโs new homes go, and about keeping decisions at village level, you may wish to contact the Parish Clerk and councillors before the meeting on 12 January 2026 to ask that:
the Neighbourhood Plan is completed rather than abandoned;
Amwell Place Farm and all other reasonable alternatives are assessed transparently and compared side-by-side at village level; and residents are properly consulted before any major direction change is made.
