Demand to Hertfordshire County Council to update the information and recommendations the Planning Committee will hear in regard to the old Hatfield Quarry Application
John Jackson present this petition on behalf of the Ellenbrook Area Residents Association to the (DCC) Development Control Committee on Thursday, 27 June 2019
‘Demand to Hertfordshire County Council to update the information and recommendations the Planning Committee will hear in regard to the old Hatfield Quarry Application’
“We believe that important council decisions such as the application to quarry the old Hatfield Aerodrome should be supported with accurate, up to date and independently validated information”
I present this petition on behalf of the
Ellenbrook Area Residents Association
a non-political organisation
that has been in existence for over 25 years.
All our submissions are circulated to the residents
for their comments to ensure
we represent their views.
We are supported in this petition by both
Marshalswick North and
Smallford Residents Associations.
We believe that important council decisions
such as the application to quarry the old Hatfield Aerodrome
should be supported
with accurate
up to date and
independently validated information.
When informed that this application to quarry may be heard today we checked the planning portal and could not find
an updated traffic survey
flood risk document and still no Health Impact Assessment in existence.
The traffic flow
has greatly increased since the existing 2014 survey
and the flood risk assessment
does not take into account new and proposed housing developments close by which will remove
a significant amount of the porous land in the surrounding area.
Air quality,
especially for the children walking to school,
from increased particulates due to idling engines
has not been re-evaluated currently,
yet alone modelled with the extra traffic that will be present
as and when the following developments impact,
Therefore, the information we understand
being used to make recommendations to you
and on which you will be asked to decide this application
is out of date.
Since 2014-16 when the initial work by planning
was carried out, huge changes
have occurred in this small and localised area
of St Albans and Hatfield which were not part
of the information considered
during the DCC hearing back in Jan 2017.
these numerous Developments either
recently completed,
currently under construction,
proposed in local plans or
have submitted planning applications.
All use the A1057
a single carriage road
and the surrounding roads that border
St Albans and Hatfield, in and around
the Smallford and Ellenbrook Area’s,
and Include
Housing
The Sandpit Lane development,
Development on the playing fields of Beaumont School,
A completed development at Ellenbrook Meadows,
The redevelopment and expansion of the Comet Hotel including more student accommodation
Commercial Developments these include the Further expansion of
the Hatfield Business Park,
with several newly constructed buildings and new businesses including
a private hospital,
Range Rover/Jaguar/McLaren car site,
Glinwells in Smallford, including more greenhouses
increasing production and capacity resulting in
more staff and HGV movements on the A1057,
and now a Farm Shop which has bought new traffic from customers all day long.
Pearce recycling,
we now get huge dumper trucks
going back and forwards all day long,
this has significantly increased HGV traffic on this single carriage road.
Cemex -
several additional quarries in this small location,
all which are served by the current site and
its entrance in Oaklands Lane and onto the A1057
Proposed developments in Local plans or
with planning applications submitted
Stanboroughbury
Symondshyde
Ellenbrook Fields
All of these developments surround the site of the
proposed quarry by Bretts Aggregates and
further impact upon the infrastructure of the area.
It should be noted that the recent
A414 Corridor Consultation Document
acknowledged that this part of the A1057
is heavily congested and is at or near capacity,
without taking into account the huge increase of both HGV, LGV and domestic traffic from the developments I’ve mentioned,
This does not sit with the sustainable transport policy
Another major concern for residents is the bromate plume on the Aerodrome site.
This,
The largest chemical spillage in Europe,
poses a real and serious threat to our drinking water supplies,
has closed the Hatfield water pumping station
As you no doubt already know for the past 10 years a remedial plan by the EA has tried to remove the Bromate from the water course,
so far, these efforts have failed
to realise any significant reduction
in the amount of this carcinogen being detected,
now the bromate plume threatens other water pumping stations in this area.
Following a recent EA consultation there is ongoing work to create a new remedial plan, which we were asked and have, contributed to.
This should be allowed to report back before any decisions are made on this land affected by the plume.
The EA’s own work shows that the bromate plume has now contaminated part of the proposed dig site,
yet the Water management plan from the applicant does not include current water bore hole data,
This has been requested of them since
December 2018
yet not provided to us or the EA.
The onus must be on the applicants
to prove it is not now contaminated land,
yet you are expected to make decisions
without this information being made
available and public.
We are asking you the Councillors to insist that the
planning office, and
the relevant agencies including the Environment Agency and Highways
all prepare their recommendations to DCC on the true current position.
This will empower you,
the members of the DCC,
who are elected to
represent and to act
in the interests
of Hertfordshire and all its residents,
to make a well-informed decision in relation to the Brett Aggregates application
Residents feel very strongly about this application
and are passionate about the preservation of
this area and
the impact this development will have on the health and well-being of residents.
161 signatures were obtained in a matter of days in order to present this petition demonstrating the strength of feeling in the area.
We ask you to seriously consider our petition and act accordingly.
Thank you