The steering group for the Bengeo Neighbourhood Area Plan has provided us with information on the groups taking the plan forward, progress to date, next steps and areas to focus on.
The Localism Act 2011 has allowed communities to develop Neighbourhood Plans so that they can shape the development and growth of their local area. They can have their say on where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built, on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided.
The organisation structure of Bengeo Neighbourhood Area Plan (BNAP)
The organisation structure for delivering the BNAP comprises:
- Community Steering Group – responsible for oversight and direction of the BNAP
Members of the Steering Group include:- Mark Lynch, Co-Chairman
- Cllr Andrew Stevenson, Co-Chairman
- Hilary Durbin, Chairperson of Lower Bengeo Residents’ Association
- Ben Penrose, Chairman of Molewood Residents’ Association
- Stephen Wells, Representative of Watermill Estate Residents’ Association
- Terry Betts, Chairman of the Hertford Civic Society
- Aska Pickering, Chairperson of Stop Bengeo Quarry group
- Two Ward Councillors representing Hertford Town Council Working Party
- Chairmen / Leaders of 5 Working Groups
- EHDC Cllrs Steve Cousins and Marie Stevenson
- Hertford Town Council Working Party – responsible for quality assurance of the BNAP, approval of budget expenditure, oversight and approval of the policy proposals
- four Ward Councillors: Peter Ruffles, Sally Newton, Sue Dunkley, Linda Radford
- Working Groups – focused on the main work streams which will inform and generate policy proposals, currently including:
- Homes and development working group
- Transport and traffic working group
- Culture, leisure and community working group (a separate leisure and recreation sub-group?)
- Environment and green spaces working group
- Business and enterprise working group
- Communications and Management Group – supporting the Community Steering Group and Working Groups, co-ordinating the activities throughout the process, and communicating plans and progress both internally and externally.
- Aska Pickering – Chairperson
- Chairs of Working Groups
- Communications specialist
- Questionnaire expert, statistician, planning specialist
Progress with BNAP to date
- Interim Steering Group has requested the endorsement by Hertford Town Council, which has been granted. HTC Working Party has been established to support and ensure quality of work on BNAP.
- Hertford Town Council has requested that East Herts District Council approves the Hertford Bengeo Ward as designated area for BNAP. The designated area has now been approved.
- The budget to support BNAP has been agreed and is managed by HTC.
- Interim Steering Group has agreed that the formal structure, governance and the main themes of the Working Groups are proposed for approval at the next Steering Group meeting scheduled for 9th August.
- The preliminary Working Groups will be formally established after the 9th August Steering Group meeting. A training for Working Groups volunteers is planned in mid-September. Each Working Group will elect a Chairman/Leader, who will represent the Working Group to the Steering Group.
- The role of the Steering Group Chairman will put forward to election once the constitution of the Steering Group is agreed and the final decision will be reached at the next Steering Group meeting scheduled for 6th September.
- It is agreed that there is flexibility within the currently proposed structure and approach to Working Groups, which will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.
- Volunteers representing residents, businesses, groups, organisations within Bengeo Ward are warmly welcome to join the Working Groups. Candidates interested to join the Steering Group and Communications and Management Group are encouraged to express their interest by contacting us at info@lovebengeo.org.uk.
- Information and updates on BNAP are available on website www.lovebengeo.org.uk (news section includes updates) and on facebook Love Bengeo group.
Next key steps with BNAP process
- Draft roadmap of key milestones will be presented at the Steering Group’s meeting on 9th August and shared more widely once approved.
- The key stages will include: developing a vision and key objectives, generating options, building and analysing evidence, drafting BNAP, consultation on the plan. Once the BNAP is finalised and endorsed by Hertford Town Council, it will be submitted to East Herts District Council for an independent examination, followed by a public referendum and adoption.
- CPRE, Locality, EHDC
The outline context for the Working Groups
- Culture, leisure and community
The preliminary idea of this working group is to encompass a very wide view of “culture” and include all community groups such as the churches, youth organisations, arts organisations, community centres, leisure and recreation initiatives and others. This may evolve. It is culture in the widest sense.
In the words of the 2016 Culture White Paper the value of culture is threefold: intrinsic, social and economic. The social benefit is clearly linked to physical and mental well-being. The lower part of Bengeo down to the Town Centre has been identified in Hertford Urban Development Strategy as Hertford Arts Quarter. This includes Courtyard Arts, The Company of Players’ Little Theatre in Lower Bengeo and the Hartham Leisure Centre. Hertford Arts Society also usually holds its shows in Cowbridge Hall. There are plans to regenerate the Old McMullens Brewery and Old British School as Hertford Arts Hub with support from the University of Hertfordshire, Hertford Town Council and Arts Council England.
A community with a strong set of cultural activities is a healthy community and this is especially important for young people – for whom there is too little provision in Bengeo. There may be a possibility of developing the Scout Hut off Watermill lane for wider community use.
- Environment and green spaces
The main threat to our local green environment has been the Bengeo quarry application. The rejection of this by Herts County Council offers hope that this area can be remain permanently a green space. The new local mineral plan for Hertfordshire up to 2031 is being formulated by Herts County Council. The new recommended sites for the period to 2031 will go into the public domain towards the end of August and will be open to public consultation after Herts County Council public Cabinet Panel meeting on 7th September.
However, this is not the only green space in Bengeo. There is a large agricultural area, there is the future of Rickneys’ quarry, and also the future of River Beane floodplains, Hartham, and Waterford Marsh to consider.
A further aspect of importance is air quality. A recent report by Prof. David Begg has identified poorer air quality in the UK than in Sweden and the USA, and a rising number of deaths and health conditions attributed to vehicle congestion.
Bengeo has a Health Walks Scheme as part of Herts County Council successful health walks programme. Should this be extended or is it adequate? What about Bengeo playgrounds – are these adequate?
- Transport and traffic
Bengeo suffers from increasing congestion on the B158 that leads to drivers cutting through residential areas in increasing numbers and at increasing speeds. A 20mph zone and a new pedestrian crossing on the B158 was introduced as a start of efforts to tackle the problem. What further measures are needed?
Inconsiderate parking has also become a much worse problem due to inadequate parking provided by railway stations. The frequency of rail services from Hertford into London is due to increase next May and the rail link to Stevenage may be lost as a consequence. Would the traffic issues in Bengeo decrease if the cycling lanes were improved?
In the longer term new types of bus service, and autonomous vehicles might change the patterns of transport substantially. A new 15 year local transport plan is being formulated by Herts County Council and should be available for public consultation later in 2017. Hertford may be designated as a Sustainable Travel Town and a Hertford bypass is under serious consideration as a part of the new local transport plan.
- Homes and development
The only new development in Bengeo which features on East Herts 15 year local development plan is the plan for 150 new homes on land next to the Bengeo allotments. This plan has not yet been adopted but is going through examination by planning inspectors and may be adopted early in 2018. Now is the time for the Neighbourhood Plan to formulate the style and mix of the new developments it wants to see for this area – next year will be too late.
A fundamental problem with any new development in Hertfordshire is that not enough upgrading of infrastructure has come with new development. It has been calculated that on average £50,000 is needed per new dwelling for each of the 90,000 new homes planned for Hertfordshire if our infrastructure is to be adequately upgraded. The district planners so far usually only agree offset funding of about £7,000 per dwelling, which is inadequate.
Neighbourhood Plans can affect the style and mix of new developments. For example, in Bengeo if the mix included a GP health centre and retirement homes and the style included sustainable housing which was not only energy efficient but also subsumed its own water, then infrastructure impacts could be reduced. If the style and mix were to be blocks of 2-bedroom flats then that would increase infrastructure impacts.
There are other smaller developments to consider in Bengeo as well as the need for conservation of historic buildings.