Abbots Langley & Bedmond's Conservative councillors Ian Campbell and Vicky Edwards have formally objected to the planning application to build 66 homes to the south of Bedmond. You can read their 8-page objection here.
The housing along Bedmond Road towards Abbots Langley would partly merge the villages. The development would harm local fields and degrade the historic and rural character of Bedmond and Great Notley ancient woodland.
If the 66 home plan is approved, it would be the biggest development in Bedmond for decades. However, it is far from the only proposal that dwarfs the village.
In its Local Plan, Lib Dem-run Three Rivers have also proposed 102 houses on Church Hill, 500 homes at the western end of Toms Lane, 16 houses on East Lane, 20 at the High Street garages, and 4 traveller pitches opposite Bedmond Pavilion.
The council decided to propose these developments after they failed to collect the evidence needed to show why our Green Belt should be protected.
In addition, a developer is in discussions with Three Rivers to build approximately 34 houses on Bell Lane – although we think access off Bell Lane would likely be legally impossible.
The Lib Dems had proposed removing Bedmond from the Green Belt altogether in 2024, but were stopped when the Leader of the Conservatives noted that the council had got the law wrong: stopping the Lib Dems removing Bedmond from the Green Belt.
In the objection to the 66-home plan on Bedmond Road, Vicky and Ian have had to undo the Lib Dem’s mess of the Local Plan by explaining why they were wrong to designate the fields around Bedmond as ‘Grey Belt’ in the Local Plan.
There is still time for residents to object to the plans, including by emailing [email protected] and quoting planning reference 26/0601/OUT.
