Content

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:
 

(1)  
Approved that the land should no longer be declared surplus, and
development of the site should not be pursued.
 

(2)  
Approved progressing with plans to improve management of the land
with the intention to provide a habitat bank, or similar, with
improved public access as appropriate. Officers from Green Space,
Estates and other services to work jointly to manage and deliver
the project, reporting back to the Executive Members for
Enterprise, Resources and Environment.
 

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)  
Difficulty providing a suitable access to the site, with a
significant associated capital cost to achieve.
 

(2)  
Hertfordshire County Council has advised local planning authorities
that the Herts Ecological Networks Map should be used to assess the
strategic importance of habitats, and this site has been noted as
being strategically significant - the highest rating.
 

(3)  
The need, as part of the planning allocation, for the reprovision
of the priority orchard habitat elsewhere in North Herts, in
addition to the new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements. BNG
makes sure that habitats for wildlife are left in a measurably
better state than they were before the development and is now
mandatory.
 

(4)  
A biodiversity baseline assessment of the site in July 2024
identified a high baseline biodiversity value due to the presence
of the strategically significant Priority Habitat Traditional
Orchard, with mixed scrub and mature and irreplaceable trees.
 

(5)  
Since the allocation of the site in the Local Plan the Council has
declared both an ecological and climate emergency.
 

(6)  
Settle Group concluded that a small development on the eastern
section of the site with access from the garage site on Radburn Way
would not be viable.
 

(7)  
A financial assessment attached at Appendix B of the Part 2 Report,
indicates residential development of the site is not viable either
with access from a third-party ownership on Radburn Way or via
Freeman Drive, given the additional costs of developing the site in
accordance with planning and climate change requirements.