RDRA meets with Minister for Housing

I was glad to meet with Lee Rowley MP, the Minister for Housing, alongside representatives from the Three Rivers Joint Residents Association and Dean Russell MP, to discuss the revised NPPF and the importance of protecting the Green Belt in our area.

The Minister listened to the concerns of representatives and spoke about his passion for protecting the Green Belt and the importance of prioritising building on Brownfield Sites. I will continue communicating with him about the importance of delivering a comprehensive Local Plan, which protects our Green Belt, being delivered by the Three Rivers District Council.

TRDC Local Plan

You may be aware that Three Rivers District Council has developed a Local Plan which is now out for public consultation.

The time has been extended to the 20th of August for residents to respond to the Local Plan due to a delay in the information being distributed to everyone.

You can find details of the new Local Plan at
www.threerivers.gov.uk/egcl-page/new-local-plan

We are pleased to see that many sites we objected to in 2018 have been removed from the list and there is now only one site we are totally against and will be opposing, and three others where we have advised Matthew Bedford, lead on planning at TRDC, of our concerns.

Other sites we are not objecting to but, in all cases, subject to privacy of surrounding residents and other points such as disposal of sewage, access both during construction and when in use, parking etc.

We will look at each planning application as it comes up and do our best to ensure that these points are considered.

We understand that the 600+ dwellings and new school planned for Batchworth Golf Course will not be able to go ahead as the Golf Club have a long lease on the premises and land. It could, of course, be that a compulsory purchase order is used to turn this round but Moor Park Residents’ Association are set against the plan. RDRA have put in a request for the site to be reduced if dwellings are proposed on this site.

TRDC Local Plan – further info and maps

We have been asked by members how to see details of the plan.

It is on the bottom of the menu list on the planning page but here is a link:
https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/news/residents-invited-to-have-their-say-on-new-draft-local-plan

The start date of the six-week consultation is the 11th of June.

Click here to download the list of sites

Download the two maps: Rickmansworth & Batchworth and Mill End

Local Plan site maps

TRDC Local Plan consultation

Three Rivers District Council have issued the Local Plan for the District where they are being required by Government to provide thousands of new dwellings in the District over the next ten years.

Every Council in England is facing the same problem so it is not Three Rivers who are being “picked on” but Residents’ Associations across the country are, of course, up in arms regarding some of the plans.

Your Committee have looked at the proposals and are happy to see that, since the initial list issued in 2018, many of the sites we objected to at the time have been removed from the list.

There are some sites we still object to and some where we are suggesting alternative plans.

We have to accept that the District Council are being forced into the position to provide additional housing but there is one point where, whilst accepting the numbers, we want to insist on: most, if not all, of these new dwellings should be low-cost one and two-bedroom properties as we need somewhere for our children to live and, in most cases, they have to move away when they fly the nest as the homes in Batchworth, Rickmansworth and Mill End are too expensive to stay close to Mum and Dad.

We also need to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to support the large number of new dwellings.

We have to accept, I am afraid, that we will lose some of our Green Belt but, happily, the loss will not be as great as feared under the 2018 list. The Association will try to keep this to a minimum.

We will await the planning proposals for each individual site and respond in each case. We will put our initial comments on our website and we will review each proposal as it is published.

In the meantime, you will find full details on the TRDC website and have two chances to comment: TRDC will be sending out details of the overall plan to each household in the near future and there will be a public consultation following that.

Please make sure you read the information sent to you and respond to the consultation.

Planning

We await the details of the revised Local Plan where the District Council are reacting to the call for large numbers of new dwellings to be built. All Residents’ Associations in the District were holding an emergency meeting to discuss the strategy to be used in combatting any loss of Green Built land. In Rickmansworth we have the added problem of proposed buildings being put on flood plain sites.

The other problem we have is the type of housing. What we need in Rickmansworth and the surrounding area is one and two-bedroom houses so that our children can set up home in the area. The District Council seem to think that we need three and four-bedroom homes. This will produce more income to the Council in the form of SIL money and Council Tax and will provide the developers with more income but such properties will be sold as buy-to-rent housing and do nothing for our upcoming generation who either have to stay living with their parents or move away from the area.

It has been rumoured that the shop just left empty by Halfords may become a Starbucks.

One resident backing onto the M&S car park has complained about the noise from lorries delivering at 4am. The resident has been advised to keep a log. There may be controls in the original planning permission which need to be looked at.