Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan Baseline Report on behalf of Harpenden Town Council May 2017 Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan Baseline Report on behalf of Harpenden Town Council May 2017 Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan Baseline Report for Harpenden Town Council Contents 1.0 Purpose of the document .......................................................................................................... 5 2.0 Introduction to the HNP Area .................................................................................................... 7 3.0 Planning Policy Context ............................................................................................................ 9 4.0 Population and People ............................................................................................................ 14 5.0 Housing ................................................................................................................................... 19 6.0 Employment ............................................................................................................................. 24 7.0 Retail ....................................................................................................................................... 28 8.0 Transport ................................................................................................................................. 33 9.0 Social Infrastructure and Community Facilities ....................................................................... 42 10.0 Natural Environment ................................................................................................................ 49 11.0 Heritage and Design ................................................................................................................ 52 12.0 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 57 Page 4 Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan Baseline Report for Harpenden Town Council 1.0 Purpose of the document 1.1 This Baseline Report identifies the key social, environmental and economic characteristics of the Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan (HNP) Area, providing a shared resource and reference point for all parties contributing to the preparation of the HNP. The Baseline Report is an evolving document, which may be reviewed in response to new evidence. 1.2 The Baseline Report brings together and summarises information from a range of background reports and evidence based studies. These primarily comprise documents produced by or for the local planning authority (LPA)1, St Albans City and District Council (SADC), to inform the preparation of its development plan documents. It also has regard to other reports and research undertaken by or for Hertfordshire County Council (HCC), the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (HLEP) or directly by or for Harpenden Town Council (HTC). It also considers national statistics such as Census data. 1.3 A Neighbourhood Plan is a planning policy document that sets out a framework for development at a local scale, sitting below planning policy prepared by a LPA. Neighbourhood planning was introduced by the Localism Act, which came into force in 2011. Since its inception over 200 Neighbourhood Plans have been adopted. 1.4 Neighbourhood Plans give local people a greater say in the future of their communities by creating their own statutory planning policy, which dictates how development will take place in their neighbourhood for the foreseeable future. They must conform with strategic planning policy that ‘sits above’ them, at a national and LPA level. 1.5 Neighbourhood Plans are related to land use and development quality and do not have to power to allocate funds or make decisions outside of the remit of land use planning. 1.6 As the HNP develops, a key challenge will be the need to reflect the aspirations of local residents and stakeholders, while taking into account the requirements set nationally and by SADC. 1.7 Neighbourhood Plans do not have the power to prevent housing or employment growth when a need has been identified by the LPA. The HNP can either allocate sites to meet this need, or resolve to not allocate sites and leave the decision of where to accommodate growth to the LPA. The HNP can also contain policies that influence the type of development that 1 SADC is regarded as the LPA for the purposes of this document, although HCC does have some planning powers with regards to minerals and waste and its own applications for service development such as schools, fire stations and new road infrastructure such as bypasses Page 5 Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan Baseline Report for Harpenden Town Council takes place in Harpenden, what it looks like and the mix of potential uses that are to be included. 1.8 On 22 December 2015, SADC formally agreed the HNP Area boundary, which reflects the combined boundaries of Harpenden Town Parish and Harpenden Rural Parish. 1.9 In December 2016, HTC appointed Nexus Planning to assist with the preparation of the HNP. 1.10 Once a draft HNP is prepared, it will be submitted to SADC for review for compliance with its strategic policies before an independent Planning Inspector examines it and, if approved, it undergoes a Referendum. If the plan is supported by a majority of residents, it will be adopted and form part of the SADC development plan for applications in the HNP boundary. 1.11 The remainder of the Baseline Report is set out as follows: Section 2: Introduction to the HNP Area Section 3: Planning Policy Context Section 4: Population and People Section 5: Housing Section 6: Employment Section 7: Retail Section 8: Transport Section 9: Social Infrastructure and Community Facilities Section 10: Natural Environment Section 11: Heritage and Design Section 12: Summary Page 6 Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan Baseline Report for Harpenden Town Council 2.0 Introduction to the HNP Area Location and role of the area 2.1 The HNP Area is located in Hertfordshire, south of the border with Bedfordshire. It is comprised of two parishes, which are Harpenden Town Parish, where most of the population reside, and Harpenden Rural Parish, which borders Harpenden Town to the west and north- west. The two parishes lie within the boundaries of SADC, however, closely relate to the boundaries of Central Bedfordshire, North Hertfordshire, Luton Borough and Dacorum LPAs. 2.2 Harpenden is a town with a historic core, reflecting its heritage as a small village for a number of centuries before its expansion in the late 19th Century. This core predominantly extends to each side of the High Street, which bisects the town, with a number of Listed Buildings on each side. Many of these were built in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries, however, there are some older buildings, dating back to the 15th and 16th Centuries. Much of the population of Harpenden live in the residential areas outside of the Town Centre, which were mostly developed during the 20th Century. 2.3 Harpenden Rural Parish is sparsely populated and is predominantly undeveloped, but includes Kinsbourne Green Common, a small hamlet. 2.4 Harpenden is near to a number of larger towns. It lies almost equidistant between Luton (north) and St Albans (south), around five miles from each. It is also close to Hemel Hempstead, Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City. 2.5 Harpenden is predominantly a commuter town, with a small number of employment sites for a town of its population size. A notable employment site is Rothamsted Research, founded in 1843, which is a world leading agricultural research establishment. The major destination for commuters is London, with regular City Thameslink trains from Harpenden Station taking around 30 minutes to London St Pancras Station and 40 minutes to Blackfriars Station. Harpenden is also located around five miles from London Luton Airport, which is around 20 minutes by train, and is close to the M1, M25 and A1(M). People also commute out of Harpenden by car to destinations such as St Albans, Milton Keynes, Hatfield and Hemel Hempstead. 2.6 Public green spaces and trees are prominent throughout the town, particularly in its historic core, with Harpenden Common extending in to the High Street, plus Church Green and Page 7 Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan Baseline Report for Harpenden Town Council Leyton Green. This results in a town with a low-density and green character that responds to its rural surroundings. 2.7 The rural land within the HNP Area, mostly within Harpenden Rural Parish, is predominantly in agricultural use. This is with the exception of Harpenden Golf Course, south-west of the town, and the east part of Redbourn Golf Club. The Green Belt surrounds Harpenden, which has protected this land from development. Page 8 Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan Baseline Report for Harpenden Town Council 3.0 Planning Policy Context Status of planning policy and guidance Neighbourhood Plans must conform to national planning policy and guidance as well as the development plan of the LPA. Therefore, the status of planning policy at SADC is of importance to the HNP. The table below sets out national planning policy and guidance and adopted and emerging planning policy documents at SADC. Title Purpose of the document Date of adoption/ emerging timeline National Planning Policy and Guidance National Planning The NPPF is the overarching Adopted in 2012. Policy Framework planning policy framework in (NPPF)2 England. It sets out a broad agenda for decision taking and plan making. National Planning