VISION FOR BERKHAMSTED

KEY PRINCIPLES as agreed by Berkhamsted Town Council
Berkhamsted Town Council has considered the sites offered to Dacorum for
development in Berkhamsted as part of the new Local Development
Framework. The Council’s detailed responses on site proposals are available.
We feel it essential, however, that any consideration of these options is placed
in the broader context of what we see as some essential principles which
should guide the development of Berkhamsted in the coming two decades.
These principles embrace the issues which confront Berkhamsted at present
which must inevitably inform our priorities for the future.

1. PLAN LED DEVELOPMENT
We feel strongly that any future development of Berkhamsted should be Plan
Led i.e. occur against the backcloth of an overall development strategy for the
town rather than follow a piecemeal approach. In short, what do we want
Berkhamsted to look like in twenty years time? What sort of place do we want
our children to inherit and what would we be proud to have developed?
This means that any housing development should be set within the context of
an overall development plan which meets the broader aspirations of the
community and addresses some of the issues which we face on this broader
front. Our concern is that, in the absence of an overall plan, development will
merely exacerbate the problems which exist already and impact negatively on
our quality of life and prove unsustainable.

2. COMMUNITY NEEDS DRIVEN
It follows also that any future development of Berkhamsted should be driven by
the needs of the local community and address those issues identified by the
community as important.
“Local Planning Authorities should develop a shared vision with their
local communities of the type(s) of residential environments they wish
to see and develop design policies that set out the quality of
development that will be expected for the local area, aimed at
creating places, streets and spaces which meet the needs of people,
are visually attractive, safe, accessible, functional, inclusive, have their
own distinctive identity and maintain and improve local character.”
(PPS 3 paragraph 14)
Many of these needs are identified below and form an important backcloth
against which any future development should be assessed.

3. THE CHARACTER OF THE TOWN
“Any new development should create, or enhance a distinctive character that
relates well to the surroundings and supports a sense of local pride and civic
identity”. (PPS 3)
Berkhamsted’s distinctive character and identity is that of being a market town
set in beautiful countryside. It follows that any new development should be
assessed according to its impact on the character of Berkhamsted and its
setting.

A. The Rural Surrounds and Gateway
While there is a shortage of open space and greenery in the town, the North
and West of Berkhamsted border the statutory Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty (AONB). The areas to the South and East of the town, although not part
of the statutory AONB, nevertheless contribute to Berkhamsted’s intrinsic
character and provide a naturally green gateway to the Town. These areas are
vitally important to the envelope perspective when they are viewed from either
side of the hillscape. Indeed this green perspective was thought to be so
important that when the A41 by pass was constructed it was sunk and cut
though the hillside so as to be invisible from across the valley. This envelope
view and the gradual progression from an urban to rural landscape should be
retained as an important feature of our landscape. This progression from urban
to rural is recognised in the current local plan by a move away from high to low
density housing as we progress from town to our semi rural borders.
The impact of proposed sites on the rural gateway to Berkhamsted, AONB and
our semi rural environment thus forms an important part of our assessment. We
note that in the Dacorum Landscape Character Assessment the areas to the
South and West of the town are identified as constituting the “Ashlyns and
Wigginton Plateau” whose key characteristics consist of a gently undulating
plateau, parkland, grassland, crops and extensive mixed woodland. The
recommendation of the Landscape Assessment (which is currently
Supplementary Planning Guidance) is to “improve and preserve” this zone.
Dacorum is one of the few local authorities to have detailed character and
landscape area assessments. We feel these are integral to preserving the
character of our town. We believe therefore, that, in the new planning climate
the status of Supplementary Planning Guidelines should be enhanced and that
they should be afforded the same status as Local Policies by ensuring the
appropriate level of consultation in their formulation. To this effect we
recommend that they be incorporated within those policies so far as is possible,
recognising that a balance will need to be struck between the detail specified
in a policy and its inclusion in a Core Policy, the latter requiring a higher level of
generality and SPG for specific areas.

B. The Conservation Area
Turning to the Town itself much of Berkhamsted is within a designated
Conservation Area characterised by state of the art Victorian and Edwardian
architecture. Again, any new development should be assessed within this
context and should either preserve or enhance the character of the
Townscape as well as existing community facilities.

The Grand Union Canal is of the utmost importance to the heritage of
Berkhamsted from both an historical (home of Bridgewater the innovator of the
canal system) leisure and scenic perspective. It is an artery of trade,
employment and wealth offering huge economic, social and environmental
benefits. We would like to see the waterside environment more sensitively
integrated with the community needs and aspirations for the town than has
been the case in the past. We place emphasis on protecting and enhancing
the waterside environment as a unique asset to the people of our market town
and tourists who enjoy the facility.
We would support an early review, and a possible extension, of the
Conservation Area within the Local Development Framework. We would
welcome a review of Article 4(2) directions that were introduced in 1994 by
Government directive to stop developments which might adversely affect the
external appearance of properties –doors, roofs, frontages etc.

4. INFRASTRUCTURE
Any further housing provision should take into account an assessment of the
impact of development upon existing or planned infrastructure and of any new
infrastructure required. (PPS 33)
The infrastructure of the Town is not fit for purpose in relation to current needs let
alone any future housing development. Utilities such as electricity and sewage
capacity are under constant pressure as evidenced by power cuts and the raw
sewage which is not an uncommon phenomenon in Bank Mill Lane or even in
Darrs Lane. Our roads are permanently congested with the parked cars of both
residents and commuters. Many are unsuitable for heavy traffic and public
transport. Our high street is the only focal point for shopping and is now under
severe strain from increased through traffic and inadequate parking space.
Any solution to these problems will require significant investment.
In our view these problems need urgent attention now.
What then will be the impact of any new development?
We recommend that, if it is necessary to allow any future housing provision in
the town, this should be phased in such a way as to require that any necessary
infrastructure should be provided before such developments are permitted to
take place.

5. TRANSPORT, CARS, CYCLES AND PEDESTRIANS
The geography of Berkhamsted, situated as it in the Bulbourne valley with steep
hills to the North and South sides of the town, encourages the use of cars to
access the Town Centre. Given the current problems of traffic congestion,
pollution and the inadequacy of parking facilities, any development should be
assessed against its implications for car usage to access the high street on a
regular basis New development should encourage walking and cycling and
discourage car usage in line with government guidelines. Any new
development would have to be self supporting in terms of infrastructure and its
implications for Berkhamsted as a whole critically assessed given the issues
which exist already.

6. COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL FACILITIES
In addition to the existence and provision of adequate infrastructure an
important principle of the new housing strategy is to
“ensure that housing is developed in suitable locations which offer a range of
community facilities and …….. Key services “ (PPS3 )
Participants of the Berkhamsted Place Workshop identified the lack of
community facilities for the young and old alike as one of the most important
issues facing Berkhamsted. There was also deep concern about the shortage of
primary school places and educational facilities more generally. These issues
were seen as being of high priority for a new Local Development Framework.
Again the volume and location of any new housing provision must be assessed
against the present inadequacy of facilities, their location and future
requirements.

7. OPEN SPACE
Berkhamsted is notable for its lack of open space and greenery and what we
have is increasingly dependent on private gardens. We feel strongly that our
open spaces are in need of protection from infill developments and that the
provision of open and green space should be an integral part of any proposals
to develop Berkhamsted further.
In the light of sites which have been approved for development already we
note here that any new development should provide or enable
“good access to, community, and green and open amenity and recreational
space (including play space) as well as private outdoor space such as
residential gardens…………”(PPS 3)
The Dacorum Open Space Study [Sept 2007] found the amount of leisure
space deficiency in Berkhamsted at prevailing population levels was 16.75 ha,
the largest shortfall in the Borough.

8. IN FILLING
We feel strongly that our gardens in particular are in need of protection from in
fill developments. We would welcome a specific statement in the Local Plan
which recognises that gardens are as important as other forms of green space
insofar as development is concerned.
There should be separate polices for residential (often windfall) developments
and non residential brownfield site developments as identified by Dacorum for
which we are informed there is scope within the new planning framework?
We would encourage Dacorum to adopt separate policies for residential
brownfield land which would effectively restrict, and in some cases prohibit,
new housing development on such sites.
These Policies would contain some of the following important elements:
♣ remove the need to maximise the use of land in residential gardens
e.g. by not amalgamating gardens into larger units
♣ emphasis on the need to consult with neighbours before developers
bring forward proposals
♣ prevent pre-application tree felling by more extensive use of TPOs and
ecological surveys
♣ set low density figures and stick to them in determining planning
decisions
♣ emphasis design compatibility with adjoining properties
♣ infrastructure suitability
The adoption of such policies would recognise the important role which
gardens increasingly play in providing green space and their contribution to
ecological development and biodiversity. Many biodiversity corridors run
though private gardens.

9. BIODIVERSITY
Policy 96 of the Dacorum Borough Local Plan seeks to protect nature
conservation interests in order to maintain and improve local distinctiveness of
the ecology of the area. Policy 102 deals specifically with sites of importance to
nature conservation. PPS 9 also deals with biodiversity
A technical study on nature conservation has been carried out in preparation
for the Local Development Framework. In addition to identifying major
Biodiversity Sites the work has identified important Biodiversity Corridors.
While we appreciate that such sites and corridors are not protected by statute
we feel their protection should form an important part of any assessment of
housing site suitability as should the protection of Wildspace more generally
given its rapidly disappearing availability in Berkhamsted. The constant removal
of local habitat and resources is degrading and removing the ability for
biodiversity to function ecologically within the urban environment and this is of
grave concern.