Hertsmere Borough Council’s new Draft Local Plan has revealed proposals for a new village consisting of 5,000 homes near Radlett and Shenley.
Plans for the village, to be named Bowmans Cross, were hotly opposed when they were first put forward in the 2021 Local Plan. This plan was rejected after more than 18,000 residents voiced their objections, particularly in regards to development on the green belt.
In the new plan, green belt land marked for development has been reduced by 40 per cent.
If it is approved, the Local Plan will outline development policy across the borough from 2025 until 2041. A consultation on the plan will launch on April 3 and run until May 29.
Alongside a number of smaller projects earmarked on a mixture of greenfield and brownfield sites in Radlett and Shenley, the Bowmans Cross development will bear the brunt of Hertsmere’s ambitions to provide thousands of new homes.
The previously rejected Local Plan included similar plans to build a new village called Bowmans Cross on the border between Hertsmere and St Albans. In November 2021, St Albans City & District Council raised concerns about the impact on local roads.
Although the Bowmans Cross development has not been listed as part of the Shenley Ward, Shenley parish councillor Natalie Susman has urged residents: “Do not be hoodwinked.”
She said: “Each site will be determined on its own merits; however, please do not think that Shenley ‘has got off lightly’. We have not. We have to take into account the implications of each proposed site on our village with traffic and other pressures on our infrastructure.”
The new plan has reduced the number of new homes in Radlett from 760, as stipulated in the rejected plan, to the more modest figure of 250. Six main sites would be developed, including a patch of land south of Theobald Street on the outskirts of Radlett and another already developed site at Starveacres to the northwest of the town centre.
In Shenley, 180 new homes are to be built instead of 290, as laid out by the last administration. All 180 homes will be built on land in south Shenley. The northeast part of the site lies within the Shenley Conservation Area.
Residents are invited to respond to the new plan at www.hertsmere.gov.uk/newlocalplan from April 3.
Photo Caption: Land to become Bowmans Cross
Photo Credit: CPRE Hertfordshire
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