Policy information sourced from the East Herts District Plan

VILL1 Group 1 Villages

The following villages are identified as Group 1 Villages:

Group 1 Villages
Braughing
Hunsdon
Standon & Puckeridge
Walkern
Hertford Heath
Much Hadham
Stanstead Abbotts & St Margarets
Watton-at-Stone

Within the Group 1 Villages of Braughing, Hunsdon, Much Hadham, Standon & Puckeridge, and Walkern, as defined on the Policies Map, development for housing, employment, leisure, recreation and community facilities will be permitted subject to (VII) below and all other relevant policies in this Plan. These villages will need to accommodate at least a 10% increase in housing stock (based on the 2011 Census) over the 16-year period between 1st April 2017 and 31st March 2033.

Within the Group 1 Villages of Hertford Heath, Stanstead Abbotts & St. Margarets, and Watton-at-Stone, as defined on the Policies Map, development for housing, employment, leisure, recreation and community facilities will be permitted subject to (VII) below and all other relevant policies in this Plan. These villages will be encouraged to consider whether it is appropriate, through the formulation of a Neighbourhood Plan, to accommodate additional development especially where it contributes to wider sustainability objectives and the delivery of community benefits. Where such proposals would involve changes to Green Belt boundaries, the District Council will consider making these amendments either through the next Review of the District Plan or through a separate Site Allocations Development Plan Document if necessary.

Parish Councils are encouraged to prepare Neighbourhood Plans to allocate land for development or to introduce additional policy requirements aimed at ensuring that development contributes toward local distinctiveness or other community objectives.

The District Council will monitor the progress of Neighbourhood Plans in its Authority Monitoring Report. Where Parish Councils have not submitted a Draft Neighbourhood Plan (Regulation 16) by 31st March 2021, the District Council will consider whether it is necessary to identify sites for development through a Site Allocations Development Plan Document if necessary

Prior to a Parish Council preparing a Neighbourhood Plan, development in the villages listed above will be limited to the built up area as defined on the Policies Map.

All development should:

  • Relate well to the village in terms of location, layout and connectivity;
  • Be of a scale appropriate to the size of the village having regard to the potential cumulative impact of development in the locality;
  • Be well designed and in keeping with the character of the village;
  • Not represent the loss of a significant open space or gap important to the form and/or setting of the village;
  • Not represent an extension of ribbon development or an addition to an isolated group of buildings;
  • Not unacceptably block important views or vistas and/or detract from the openness of the countryside;
  • Not be significantly detrimental to the amenity of neighbouring occupiers.

For more information please see the District Plan