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Plans for 900 homes in countryside move forward

Christopher Day
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Croudace Homes/Stantec/North Herts Council An ariel drawing of the planned site which sits alongside fields, hedges and one main road. There are white square houses laid out among green areas, with a tennis court and rec space in the middle and two small lakes at the edges.Croudace Homes/Stantec/North Herts Council
The plans include 40% affordable housing, a primary school and community centre

Plans to build 900 homes on the outskirts of a town have been given outline permission.

North Herts Council agreed on Thursday the development could go ahead, though full details would need to be ironed out in future planning applications.

The site to the south of Graveley, near to the Lister Hospital, will also include a primary school, community centre and possible medical facility.

An initial masterplan - described as an "extension to Stevenage" - was rejected by the council last July but the revised proposal was unanimously approved.

Google The junction of Graveley Road/High Street and North Road/B197. There are white road signs on the left pointing in opposite directions, one says Motorway A1(M) Stevenage and the other says Graveley B197. There is a crash barrier below the signs and traffic lights next to it, as well as traffic lights in the middle of te photo. Trees line the road alongside street lamps.Google
The land is between Stevenage and Graveley, close to the A1(M) motorway

North Herts councillor Ruth Brown said: "It's an allocated site in the Local Plan and so I think the principle of development should be approved.

"The public are very worried about the health provision, I think, and the highways issues.

"We've probed those and I feel quite satisfied that there is a preference for an on-site health facility and everything will be done to deliver that if at all possible."

A new 92 bus route will be created between Stevenage and Baldock, calling at the development as well as Graveley and Letchworth, but the applicant warned it may not be ready for "day one" of people moving into the development.

The applicant said that the 55 bus route between Stevenage and Letchworth, which goes past the proposed site, would likely be "within comfortable walking distance" for the first residents.

Google A ploughed field with a grass verge, and a tree-lined border on the right side.Google
The land designated for the development is currently open countryside

Concerns had been raised at an earlier stage about the development's impact on traffic, and councillor Martin Prescott suggested it was a "monumental elephant in the room".

But Hertfordshire Highways raised no objections to the plans, which include a new junction on North Road, south of the existing junction from North Road and Graveley Road.

The development is also set to include multiple children's play areas as well as other open spaces such as allotments, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

About 40% of the housing on site will be deemed affordable, according to the government definition of the term.

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