Issue - meetings
25/02998/FP Land Between Shangri-La And Todds Corner, Stevenage Road, Todds Green, Hertfordshire, SG1 2JE
Meeting: 24/02/2026 - Planning Control Committee (Item 136)
PDF 306 KBREPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER
Erection of four detached dwellings including landscaping, parking and widening of existing vehicular access off Stevenage Road.
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED: That application 25/02998/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to:
A) The receipt of the Impact Assessment and Conservation Payment Certificate (IACPC) following an application to Natural England under the GCN District Level Licensing (DLL) and a response of no objection from the North Herts Ecologist; and
B) The agreement to an extension of time to the statutory determination date to allow time for (A) to occur; and
C) The conditions and informatives as set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.
Minutes:
Audio recording – 57 minutes 48 seconds
The Senior Planning Officer gave a verbal update on matters relating to application 25/02998/FP and advised that the comment from Todds Corner at paragraph 3.1 of the report was an objection rather than a neutral comment.
The Senior Planning Officer then presented the report in respect of application 25/02998/FP accompanied by a visual presentation consisting of plans and photographs.
The following Members asked questions:
· Councillor Dave Winstanley
· Councillor Ruth Brown
· Councillor Louise Peace
· Councillor Nigel Mason
· Councillor Val Bryant
· Councillor Martin Prescott
In response to questions, the Senior Planning Officer advised that:
· The application had been assessed against the Grey Belt rather than Green Belt as Todds Green was not a village under Policy SP2 of the Local Plan, therefore, it did not constitute infilling in the Green Belt.
· The in-depth development would impact the character of the landscape and the area, but the delivery of housing was deemed to outweigh the perceived harms of this.
· Changes made to plots 1 and 2 from the last application had been summarised in the report, but the plots were similar in scale and form.
· The last application at this site had also been assessed against the Grey Belt.
· Despite the loss of an on-site 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) from the last application, the application was still subject to the mandatory 10% BNG condition, and this would likely be delivered off-site.
· Harm resulting from the view lost between plots 1 and 2 had been considered and more on this was detailed at paragraph 4.3.57.
· They were unaware why the Applicant had decided to submit this application with two extra dwellings compared to the previous application.
· The proposed road within the site would lead to the neighbouring paddock.
In response to questions, the Development and Conservation Manager advised that:
· It would not be reasonable to impose a condition relating to development that would require planning permission.
· If a separate application was submitted, it would be considered on its own merits.
· Conditions only came into effect once development on the site began.
The Chair informed Members that the Member Advocate Objector, Councillor Caroline McDonnell had given their apologies and was unable to attend the Committee meeting to provide a verbal presentation. The Chair then read out a written statement on their behalf, and highlighted the following:
· The application should be refused permission because of the effect it would have on the nature of Todds Green.
· Although each application should be determined on its own merits, several Members had raised concerns over the gap between the two dwellings in the last application.
· Wymondley Parish Council had objected to both this application and the previous one.
· This land represented the last remaining open space in Todds green that provided views of the countryside.
· On-site BNG in the form of a hedge between plots 1 and 2 had been removed.
· Provision had been made for refuse and emergency vehicle access, resulting in further loss of the Green Belt.
· Double stacking ... view the full minutes text for item 136