Policy information sourced from the Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan
SP 12 Green Infrastructure
The Council will work with partners to actively support the creation and enhancement of strategic green infrastructure across the borough. Opportunities to link existing green spaces and to improve public access and amenity will be supported in order to provide a comprehensive network of functional and linked spaces for the benefit of wildlife, biodiversity and the community. The Council will aim to ensure there is no overall net loss in green infrastructure across the borough within the plan period. Development that would compromise the integrity, functionality or cause significant fragmentation of the green infrastructure network will not be permitted.
Priorities for the creation and enhancement of green infrastructure include river corridors, sites designated for their nature conservation, heritage and/or landscape value and areas of Urban Open Land that are important for community recreation. Development proposals within the borough should plan positively for, and contribute to, the creation and management of high quality, multifunctional green spaces that are linked to the surrounding green infrastructure network. To ensure beneficial results for biodiversity and habitat creation, Hertfordshire’s Ecological Networks Mapping should be used (where appropriate) and, once available, the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, to inform the location and nature of green infrastructure provision.
New development should meet the standards for the provision of open space set out in the Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document including play spaces, allotments, sports pitches and other recreational facilities, as well as any other initiatives taking place in the borough including those listed below.
Developer contributions will be sought to deliver strategic green infrastructure including that identified in the Welwyn Hatfield Green Infrastructure Plan and green infrastructure proposals brought forward in the Local Plan. Support will be required to deliver the following projects:
- Implementation of the Hertfordshire Rights of Way Improvement Plan;
- Improvements to the River Mimram and Lea corridors;
- Greening of the urban environment in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield;
- Implementation of the Welwyn Hatfield Green Corridor project:
Welwyn Hatfield Green Corridor
The council will work with partners and developers to enable the delivery of a Green Corridor located east to west across the borough between Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield. The diagram in Figure 8 below indicates the broad extent of the Green Corridor, its onward linkages including to existing green infrastructure, and its relationship to the new development sites allocated elsewhere in this plan.
The Green Corridor Project will provide new strategic connections to Ellenbrook Country Park, Symondshyde Great Wood and Heartwood Forest in the West, and Stanborough Park, the Commons Wood Nature Reserve, and Moneyhole Lane Park to connect to Panshanger Park, the River Mimram and Lea Valley in the east. In particular, the Council will work with Hertfordshire County Council as mineral planning authority and St Albans District Council as adjoining authority to maintain appropriate and safe public access to Ellenbrook Country Park during mineral extraction within the Park, and to restore and enhance the Park for public access and biodiversity following extraction.
The Green Corridor will connect existing green infrastructure, ecological assets, footpaths, cycleways and bridleways, and provide a community resource that will help maintain a sense of space/separation between Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield consistent with its Green Belt function. It will provide opportunities for the creation of new green spaces; wildlife and biodiversity projects; circular leisure routes; play, sport and leisure facilities; and new off road routes linked to the surrounding area.
Proposals for the development / creation of the Green Corridor will be detailed in the emerging Green Corridor Supplementary Planning Document and will be incorporated into the masterplanning of strategic sites. Proposals for development within or adjacent to the Green Corridor must have regard to the aims, objectives and projects identified in this document and avoid any negative impact upon existing ecological assets, valuable areas of green or blue infrastructure and public rights of way. Development that would jeopardise implementation of the Green Corridor project will not be permitted.
For more information please see the Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan