Revised plans for the tree nursery in North Road were recently submitted to East Herts District Council.
It is noted that this application has revised the volume of dwellings down from 6 to 5, and that they are now all single storey. It’s also noted that the cumulative volume, and the gross external floor area, is marginally less than that of the existing commercial buildings, though two of the proposed buildings would be closer to North Road than the existing buildings.
Despite the reduced ridge height of the proposed dwellings to the rear of the site, the negative impact on the openness of the Green Belt, particularly when viewed from Waterford Marsh, remains a significant concern.
The Neighbourhood Plan supports the appropriate development of Brownfield land over encroachment on the Green Belt. Residential development on this site, particularly given its proximity to Waterford Marsh, described in Hertfordshire County Council’s ‘Local Character Assessment’ as ‘one of the best examples of wetlands in Central Hertfordshire’, would set an unwelcome precedent of such encroachment.