Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council have included a proposal to build more than 1,100 houses in outstanding Green Belt at Symondshyde in their Draft Local Plan. The Plan has now been sent to the Secretary of State for public examination. We, the Save Symondshyde campaign group, submitted detailed objections to the Symondshyde proposal on the grounds that it is unsustainable development and has not been properly justified. We expect to be invited to give further evidence on this at the hearings that will be conducted by a Planning Inspector in a few months time. The Inspector will consider whether the proposal is 'sound', based on criteria set out in national planning guidance, and whether the Local Plan should be modified before it can be adopted.

We will need to employ a planning consultant to represent us at the public examination, because the issues are very complex. For this, we need to raise £10,000 in a short space of time. This is our only chance of preventing this development on 140 acres of attractive Green Belt countryside. If this so-called garden village were to be built, it would create a large hole in outstanding Green Belt between Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and the villages of Wheathampstead and Sandridge to the west.

More information at www.save-symondshyde.co.uk