Maple Cross and Mill End residents are protesting the proposed development of green belt land near their homes.
On Tuesday, February 20, a group of locals congregated at Three Rivers District Council’s (TRDC) offices in Rickmansworth to protest the construction of 1,400 new homes. The Local Plan currently being finalised by TRDC has designated for 4,852 homes to be built in the district over the next 17 years; 1,400 of these will be located in Maple Cross and Mill End.
Referring to the class demographics of Maple Cross and Mill End, leading activist Mike Sims said: “You’d never see 1,400 homes built in, say, Moor Park.
“The administration plans to build these new homes where they know they’ll get away with it. Nobody’s standing up for the workers who have got no time to get involved with local politics.”
TRDC recently announced plans to speed up the development of the Local Plan with a £73,000 injection of funds. A full council meeting will now be held in early September before the plan goes to public consultation. It will then be submitted to an external inspectorate.
Mike added: “There is no good and bad green belt land when it comes to development – the council could be using brownfield sites like the former fire station in Rickmansworth. However, it’s also not fair that places like Mill End, which doesn’t even have a residents’ association, have to bear the brunt of environmental damage.”
Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst, deputy leader of TRDC and lead member for planning policy, said: “The plan will deliver the right type and amount of housing we need on previously developed land [and] green belt sites categorised as ‘lower to moderate harm’, while others will be built using granted planning permissions. This will protect 98 per cent of the district’s green belt.”
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