Agenda item

I Charie and N Bateman gave a presentation to the committee.

Councillor Timmis referred to page 40 of the report which states that if the spatial vision isn’t approved, it will present a risk to the town’s government supported garden town status. She asked officers to clarify what that meant.

I Charie explained that the council were awarded this status by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in 2019 which came with a grant split between Dacorum and St Albans. This is a government sponsored initiative and there are 49 across the country.

Councillor Timmis asked about the target number of houses for this project.

I Charie responded that there will be 11,000 homes split equally between Dacorum and St Albans and there will be 10,000 jobs created. Part of project is about how people will move around these new areas from their houses to their jobs without relying on traditional modes of transport.

Councillor Timmis commented that she felt this was a utopian vision and was concerned that there could be a lack of garden space in favour of communal outside space and the pandemic has shown how important individual outside space is. She was also concerned about the impact this would have on wildlife.

N Bateman said this was an ambitious vision and it needs to be in order to work out what we wanted from the plan. From previous member briefings, the key message has been that active and sustainable travel is key. The pictures in the presentation doesn’t represent the amount of parking or garden space and the aim was to try and put as many visual aids in as possible to illustrate things that are critical to local centres and neighbourhoods of the future. We know that gardens are key and there are great links to the countryside in Dacorum, the green network is to strengthen what is already present in the town.

Councillor Birnie referred the routes around the town on page 54 of the report. He asked what they consist of as some of it doesn’t exist at the moment.

N Bateman said the Chiltern Way link is via public rights of way, they do currently exist and there is signage but appreciate people will need to know it’s there. The Nicky Line loop is not currently connected all the way from the station to Harpenden. We need to plan to ensure the right public realm improvements are provided and navigational aids such as clear signage. The Nicky Line loop is to link up other potential routes along the River Ver, along the edges of St Albans and into Leverstock Green.

Councillor Birnie asked if they were all public rights of way.

N Bateman said there are some routes that will need to be strengthened to be delivered. The Hemel Garden Community loop involves some country lanes and will need to be improved.

Councillor Anderson said he would find it easier to support his Cabinet colleagues if one was to explain how the transport routes would bed in with the surrounding populations. He didn’t want to make the town centre inaccessible to the surrounding villages who don’t have access to public transport.

J Doe said this will not be an insular development and he hopes that as the strategy develops, there will be a detailed sustainable transport plan for the town. He advised the committee to treat this report as an overarching strategy and aspiration and not a finalised blueprint.

I Charie added that this is aspirational. A high level vision only has to capture what we want to see. There will be detailed studies, transport and infrastructure work. The next stage will be a piece of work led by the Crown Estate to take the spatial vision pillars and turn them into something more fixed and provide commentary and narrative.

Councillor G Sutton said he had been involved from the start as Portfolio Holder and was proud of the work the team has done so far. There is no harm in setting sights high and it is easier to bring something forward rather than start at the lower levels and wish something had been included. The integrated transport links is important and we see it as providing links to the Hemel Garden Community and strengthening across the whole town. He noted the comments about green issues and commented that there are ways of encouraging wildlife when building houses. He said this plan was in its early stages and would like to thank the officers for the work put in and colleagues in St Albans. He hoped this would produce something good for the future.

Councillor Birnie asked the committee to note the report as a good basis for the project.