A storm of controversy has erupted over plans for 350 new homes in Bushey.
The application was submitted to Hertsmere Borough Council (HBC) in August last year and proposes to build 350 new homes on land at Bushey Hall Golf Club.
The plans include new community, healthcare and wellbeing facilities, alongside the creation of accesses and landscaping works.
The application has received more than 200 objections so far, with some sharing concerns that the new housing development would harm Bushey’s ecology and semi-rural character.
In a crunch meeting on Thursday, June 26, councillors discussed the future of the plans and raised several concerns with the proposal, including that the site is not ‘grey belt’ as officers have cited.
HBC voted to defer the decision for a month or more to allow officers to conduct further considerations and address the concerns raised.
A councillor shared that the decision to defer “enables officers to respond to the points members have made in a robust way and protects the council in terms of any appeal”.
Lib Dem Bushey North councillor Louise Nicolas had campaigned against the scheme and spoke on behalf of residents at the meeting.
She said: “This development is on prime green belt and would wipe out the crucial final buffer between Bushey and Watford.
“It is simply not grey belt, as officers claimed. They got it wrong, and when the committee told them so, it was thrown back in their faces – it made a total mockery of democracy.”
Lib Dem Bushey Park councillor and committee member Maxie Allen voted against the application.
He said: “The officers essentially said we could vote any way we liked, as long as it was ‘yes’. It’s not meant to work like that. I will always vote in line with my judgement of material factors, and in my considered view, this site is not grey belt.”
A spokesman from Griggs Homes commented: “In our view, the officer’s assessment that the site constitutes Greybelt was sound, robust, and reviewed for the council by a leading King’s Counsel. However, we welcome the committee’s unanimous decision to defer the application to allow further consideration of the concerns raised and to provide a detailed assessment of the ‘very special circumstances’, particularly as there is, as demonstrated by the planning statements submitted as part of the application, an overwhelming case that clearly and demonstrably outweighs any potential harm.
“In our long history, we have never been involved in a scheme that delivers such a large and compelling suite of benefits for the local community.
“The proposal includes 350 new homes, with 70% designated as affordable housing, representing the largest single delivery of affordable homes in Hertsmere’s history, in a borough that currently has one of the poorest five-year housing land supplies in the country. It also provides a fully funded medical centre, a community centre, and the dedication of 72% of the site as a community country park. Altogether, the scheme offers more than £20 million in contributions towards local infrastructure projects.
“It is also worth noting that Hertsmere Borough Council has approved several other Green Belt developments in recent years that offered significantly fewer community benefits, and a number of appeals have been allowed on a similar basis.
We look forward to the application being brought back to committee in due course and remain fully committed to delivering this transformative scheme.”
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