Following the refusal of planning permission for 4x new homes at Ware Park by East Herts Council, the applicant has lodged an appeal with The Planning Inspectorate.
We have submitted the following comments on the appeal:
On the 03/08/25, the Love Bengeo Community Group (formerly the Community Steering Group for the Bengeo Neighbourhood Area Plan) submitted an objection to planning application 3/25/1052/PIP, considering it inconsistent with the Neighbourhood Plan, specifically Neighbourhood Plan Policy HBN2: Important Views – View 4.
The East Herts District Council’s Delegated Officer’s Report (Landscape impacts section) states that the Council’s Landscape Officer has ‘raised concerns regarding the visibility of the site from across the valley to the west, particularly during winter months when leaf cover is absent. This has direct implications for Important Views 3 and 4 identified in the Neighbourhood Plan’. The report goes on to say that the Landscape Officer ‘concluded that the site is in fact subject to long distance glimpses from both Viewpoints 3 and 4. This confirms that some degree of visual impact is likely’.
The Delegated Officer’s Report acknowledges that supporting information is limited at Permission in Principle Stage 1 and says, ‘without details of the precise number, scale, design and landscaping of the proposed development, it is not possible to fully assess the level of the visual impact on the identified views or on the wider landscape character’.
Paragraph 5.3 of the Appeal Statement says that that none of the Neighbourhood Plan policies are referred to in the reasons for refusal. We contend that Neighbourhood Plan Policy HBN2: Important Views could not be included in the reasons for refusal because of insufficient information on number, scale, design, and landscaping of the proposed development, not because our objection lacks relevance or validity.
More than 3,000 residents participated in the May 2021 Neighbourhood Plan referendum, with the Plan receiving a 94.8% ‘YES’ vote on its 18 planning policies. The value to the Hertford Bengeo community of the Important Views Policy has since been reinforced by the inclusion of all 8 views in a number of walking trails across the Neighbourhood Plan Area. View 3 is included in Bengeo Trails 3 and 6 and View 4 is included in Bengeo Trails 2 and 6. These trails are publicly available on the Love Bengeo Community Group website – Bengeo Trails – Love Bengeo Community Group, and are regularly promoted through Parish Magazines, Residents’ Association newsletters, and social media. A negative impact on any of the Important Views in the Neighbourhood Plan would represent a loss to the Hertford Bengeo community.