Residents have begun asking me about the Liberal Democrat stance on the East of England Plan.

Some of you may remember that we campaigned under the slogan ‘Hands off Herts’: in short, we have vigorously opposed the excessive housing numbers proposed for Hertfordshire, especially in the St Albans area. These are based on massive projections of growth in demand for housing. They are clearly unsustainable: we simply do not have the roads, the public transport systems, the medical services or the schools.

Meanwhile the Government has ploughed ahead with these excessive plans so that thousands of new homes are currently scheduled both to the west and to the east of the District.

What has been exasperating about the process has been the Government’s fixation with restraints on housing suppy (the planning system, local people, and local councils). The Barker reports were predicated entirely on the fact that the problem lay with the supply side. no analysis was done of the reasonableness of the demand.

But the credit crunch has shown beyond doubt that some of this demand – maybe the greater part – was due to a defective mortgage and banking system, where people were inflating house prices after being offered unaffordable loans. There is reason to suppose that there has been a step change: there will be no mortgages in excess of 100% of the value of a property and deposit will again be required.

So more than ever we must challenge the numbers – while being reassured that it is unlikely that there will be any major new house building starts in the foreseeable future while the banks are paralysed.

The Planning inspector was here today to hear views of local residents about the proposal to buld a Pizza Hut on London Road, near the junction with Alma Road. This application was turned down by the district council planning committee.

I was there along with local residents to argue that:
– the area was now saturated with outlets
– that parking would be wholly inadequate
– that there was likely to be congestion and a danger to local residents as customers seeking a takeaway parked on the pavement (as happens elsewhere in London Road)

A further concern was that the application would if successful allow any food outlet – the nature of a successor business could be radically different from a Pizza Hut.

The Inspector will report later in the year.

Update from Chris Brazier, portfolioholder for planning

‘I had a meeting with Tesco in November, they cleaned up London Road and asked that we did not pursue repossession. The reason they gave me was that they would do the houses up to Town Houses standard and then either sell them or rent them out. Under the Housing Act I have to let them carry out their promise and I have given them until the end of this month to submit a planning application for the houses in London Road. Robert [Donald] is arranging for a further meeting with Tesco in March:
a) To discuss the planning application of the houses
b) To discuss why no application has been submitted and our response.

‘A new application for the retail store is due soon but I have no idea what the new proposals are.’