Rectory Farm - confusing new information added to planning application

Residents who have commented on the Cala Homes’ planning application to build 135 homes on Kings Langley’s green field Green Belt at Rectory Farm will have received a letter from Dacorum Borough Council’s Planning Officer informing them of additional information received for the application.

KL&DRA’s assessment of this information is that it appears to be lots of pretty pictures with no indication whatsoever as to what exactly has changed! It’s very easy to conclude that this is designed to make it difficult for anyone to comment meaningfully on the new information and could be construed as a deliberate attempt by the applicant to obfuscate the latest detail of what they are proposing.

The KL&DRA have asked the planning officer for clarification on the changes and we have also stated that the new deadline for comments, Thursday 20th April 2023, is unreasonable. We will update you with any reply we get.

What is clear is what has not changed:

• There are still 135 new homes on green field Green Belt with no exceptional circumstances justifying why they should be built on Green Belt land.

• There are still two 4-storey blocks of apartments, totally contravening Kings Langley’s Neighbourhood Plan and totally out of keeping with the character of our village.

• There is still the bribe of community land which when compared with the size of the development on the site is minimal and mostly placed along the canal side, on low level land which is prone to flooding!

The KL&DRA will be submitting further comments in support of the above and our objection to the granting of planning permission.

Please feel free to make your views known to the Planning Officer by sending in your comments on the application via the DBC Planning portal at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/2p89yx6c