development

London Green Belt Council – Green is now Grey

Please read this paper detailing grey belt sites: Green belt is now grey belt.

Foreword

The London Metropolitan Green Belt (LMGB) as a planning policy has been hugely successful in containing the capital and preventing urban sprawl. In 1940 London and Los Angeles were of a similar area and if London had been allowed to sprawl to the extent that Los Angeles has grown, it would stretch from Brighton to Cambridge.

The LMGB has many economic, social and environmental benefits, apart from its role to restrict urban sprawl and encourage urban regeneration. It protects the capital from flooding and provides opportunities for carbon sequestration, nature regeneration and biodiversity. It provides important physical and mental health and welfare benefits for the city’s inhabitants, and opportunities for recreation and sport as well as food security and rural activities.

The introduction of grey belt has already resulted in the loss of open countryside, often of high quality, as can be seen in the photographs in this paper. It is leading to speculative and piecemeal development with ten out of the twelve planning appeals in 2025 being allowed for proposed development in the London Green Belt where the sites were identified as grey belt.

These sites are not previously developed land, such as redundant petrol stations or car parks, as originally intended. The present definition of grey belt enables the revoking of protection of Green Belt, as is recognised by developers and their legal representatives.

The Government’s grey belt policy is leading to the destruction of the Green Belt whose benefits will not be enjoyed in future. If this policy is not reversed, future generations will live to regret it.

Richard Knox-Johnston
Chair
The London Green Belt Council 		Peter Waine OBE
Chair
CPRE Hertfordshire

Useful links

Contact your MP

Contact the Councillor for where you live

By R.D.R.A., ago

Catlips Farm development is open for comment. Deadline 20th May.

The application for the Catlips Farm development between Chorleywood and Mill End, the far side of M25, is now open for public comment on the Three Rivers District Council planning portal.

If you or neighbours want your views considered, it’s important to respond before the consultation deadline 20th May.

https://www3.threerivers.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=TA789AQFJW300&activeTab=summary

By R.D.R.A., ago

Message from the Aquadrome Steering Group

The Pedestrian Bridge:

I am so pleased to let you know that the new pedestrian bridge is complete and is now open. The diversion routes have been removed, and visitors can enjoy walking over the attractive bridge into the Nature Reserve.

This has been a challenging project, and we are happy to have opened the bridge for the public to enjoy, however the opening of Ebury Way Play Area will now take place later than hoped and is now scheduled for this coming autumn owing to the discovery of Japanese Knotweed on site.

Following a public vote through the Councils ‘Have Your Say’ digital platform, the bridge has been named ‘The Aquadrome Bridge’.

The bridges completion and naming will be formally celebrated in late June with the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire attending to cut the ribbon!

Summary of recent work:

This has been a busy period and is marked with the completion of the pedestrian bridge, the upgrade of 21 Fishing Swims, creation of 6 Back to Nature sites, use of the new branding and the construction of a bird viewing platform.

Below are ‘before and after’ photos of some of these projects as the change and the improvements are great to see.

Key milestones of the construction of Aquadrome Bridge

What’s Next:

We await the decision from the National Lottery Heritage fund for a Development bid. If successful, this will provide a grant of £787,315 which will enable us to develop:

  • A Landscape and Environmental Design Master Plan for the entire site
  • Increase our Public and Stake holder engagement
  • Complete all surveys of the site including the Hydrological Study (still awaiting the updated flood modelling from the Environment Agency, who have now given an updated timescale of July)

The work in the Development phase will inform us about the requirements needed when we submit a Delivery phase bid to the National Lottery. This bid is currently estimated at £5.5m and will focus on Nature Recovery and Visitor Experience.

During these phases of work, we will look to utilise the HS2 Colne Valley Additional Mitigation Plan (AMP) funding of £510,463 which we received last year. This money has been used as match funding to help leverage the National Lottery funding bid. The work allocated under this budget includes improved paths, habitat enhancements and a new boardwalk.

I am looking to arrange a meeting for the Steering Group in late September as we will be able to discuss the outcomes of the National Lottery bid at that point and the plan moving forward. Though I will keep you updated by email with any news we receive about our Development bid.

By R.D.R.A., ago

Island Development halted

This controversial application has been “withdrawn with no further action taken”, according to a letter received by residents last month. Our only concern is why? Will it be re-submitted or were the objections from the various water agencies sufficient for them to call it a day.

It is noted that the company selected to replace the current drawbridge, to the island site, with a heavy lorry access bridge is the the same one selected by TRDC to build the new Red access bridge to the aquadrome (said to blend into the scenery throughout the four seasons).

Click here to go to the Three Rivers planning website

By RDRA Planning Officer, ago

Batchworth Island Development

The Island site is an outline notification of a subsequent planning application and mentions compulsory land purchase may be necessary. The applicant has put together an indication of his intent together with documents to support their application to build. However, the concrete foundations will impact the flood plain; the build will be on stilts but the foundations are still there.

The applicant would like to apply for 2 x four-storey blocks with 95 residential flats (39 x 1-bed, 53 x 2-bed & 3 x 3-bed) and 16 parking spaces (2 of which are disabled).

Note the objections/comments from Hampton Hall Farmhouse; Affinity Water; Batchworth CC and British Waterways Trust to fully appreciate what is at stake.

Click here to go to the Three Rivers planning website and leave your own objection/comment.

By R.D.R.A., ago

Planning and Local Plan

Following conversations with residents at the last Sunday Market, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for planning developments in your local area. To do this simply go to the Three Rivers website and search planning or click link below: 

https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/services/planning/search-comment-planning-application

Local Plan

The Government target of 11k houses to be built in Three Rivers was reduced down to 4k houses and now called New Local Plan.

Sites earmarked for development in Rickmansworth are on pages 44-48 of this document:
https://cdn.threerivers.gov.uk/files/2023/10/98854f00-74b5-11ee-b56c-7b53d1ba03b1-_Regulation%2018%20Part%20Four%20Consultation%20Document.pdf#page=44

Earmarked developments are marked as green on this map below (red=rejected):
https://cdn.threerivers.gov.uk/files/2023/10/eec2fc90-74b6-11ee-b56c-7b53d1ba03b1-Appendix%203%20-%20South%20West%20Area%20Map.pdf

Futher information on New Local Plan can be found here.

This New Local Plan will be formerly published in Sept/Oct 2024, then submitted to Secretary of State in Feb/March 2025, then adopted in March 2026.

By RDRA Web Admin, ago

Local Plan

Regulation 18 finished last Autumn but the District Council received over 2,000 responses which are taking time to be processed by Council Staff and thus Regulation 19, the final Local Plan Draft before a Public Enquiry which should have been this Spring but the whole procedure will now take much longer.

In the meantime the Council for the Protection of Rural England have waded in to help protect the green belt areas suggested for development in Regulation 18.

The sites are not suggested by the Council but by developers who want to build on and develop the sites for housing.

We will keep you informed of developments.

By Michael Stimpson, ago