Hertford Heath’s Neighbourhood Plan, meant to empower residents in shaping the growth of the village, is now stalled, leaving the future vulnerable to external decisions by East Herts Council.
For over nine years, residents of Hertford Heath have waited patiently for progress on the Neighbourhood Plan. Its purpose is clear: to give the community a genuine say in how the village’s required 10% growth is managed, while delivering much-needed affordable housing and securing the infrastructure and community benefits that reflect residents’ aspirations
Yet, instead of moving forward, the Parish Council has chosen to stall.
Funding Lapsed, Crucial Opportunities Lost
In January 2024, the Parish Council was awarded funding specifically to commission a new Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). This was a legal requirement—without it, no Neighbourhood Plan can proceed lawfully. Crucially, the SEA ensures that all environmental impacts are properly assessed, something the Council had previously failed to do.
But rather than act, the Council allowed the grant to lapse. Public money that could have been used to progress the Plan has simply gone to waste. This is not just a missed deadline—it is a direct frustration of residents’ wishes and a betrayal of the vote that supported a Neighbourhood Plan for Hertford Heath.
A Shameful Record of Waste and Inaction
To date, nearly £90,000 of public funds have already been spent on the Neighbourhood Plan. Despite this, there is still £7,500 of Government grant support available for planning consultants’ fees to take the Plan through to examination.
Meanwhile, the Government has now ceased future funding for SEA work nationally. Yet even here, Hertford Heath has a unique chance: the Parish Council has been offered a donation to cover the SEA costs if they wish to proceed. In other words, there is no financial barrier—only a lack of will.
The question is simple: will the Parish Council honour residents’ wishes and produce a Neighbourhood Plan that reflects the community’s aspirations, or continue to pursue political agendas that frustrate the process?
The Next Lawful Step – Update the SEA
The path forward is not in doubt. The Parish Council must commission a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to update the existing evidence. This update must assess all environmental impacts, new national policies and all reasonable site alternatives.
That is what the law requires – and it is the only way the Neighbourhood Plan can proceed to examination.
Any attempt to “start again” would:
* Break the legal chain of evidence under the SEA Regulations, and waste further public funds at residents’ expense,
* Force the Parish Council to raid its own budget, diverting money from other priorities, and
*Delay the process further, risking East Herts taking back control of decisions residents voted to keep local.
A Lack of Accountability and Public Representation
It is also increasingly unclear who is even responsible for these decisions. Only the former Neighbourhood Plan Chairman, Bob Frost, remains in the Neighbourhood Plan Group—leaving residents unclear who is actually responsible for the decisions being made.
In August 2024, more than 30 residents put their names forward to join the group to bring diverse local opinion into the process. Yet, despite that clear show of interest, nothing has been done to involve them.
The result? A so-called “community-led” plan being stalled behind closed doors, with little evidence that residents’ voices are being properly represented.
Ignoring Residents, Handing Power Away
By failing to act, the Parish Council risks doing the very opposite of what residents voted for. Instead of empowering the village with its own Neighbourhood Plan, their inaction hands power back to East Herts Council to decide where housing and development will go.
That means losing the chance to secure:
* Affordable housing tailored to local needs
* Safe crossings and infrastructure improvements
* A community hub and new local facilities
* Biodiversity and new open green space
All of these benefits can only be locked in through a Neighbourhood Plan. Without it developers and district-level decisions will shape the future instead of the residents.
Time for Accountability
It is not acceptable that public funds have been squandered, residents sidelined, and community voices ignored. The Parish Council was told clearly to update the SEA—by East Herts Council and by AECOM’s independent review of the Neighbourhood Plan process in July 2023—yet they failed to act or even make these reports publicly available. This is not good governance—it is obstruction.
The community now faces a stark choice:
Allow the Parish Council to continue wasting time and public money and pass decisions back to East Herts Council, or Demand that the Parish Council restore proper oversight, involve residents, and move the Neighbourhood Plan forward without further delay.
Residents Deserve Better
The Neighbourhood Plan was meant to be the community’s chance to shape Hertford Heath’s future. Instead, Parish Council inaction has left residents with nothing but wasted funding, lost opportunities, and broken promises.
