WELCOME

Welcome to the consultation website for the proposed development of land to the north-east of Great Ashby, Stevenage.

The developer, Picture Estates, will be submitting a planning application to North Hertfordshire District Council soon. The proposal forms part of the adopted Local Plan allocation for GA2, following extensive engagement with the District and County Councils and the approval by North Hertfordshire District Council of the Master Plan in November 2024.

The application will seek permission for up to 640 new homes, a primary school, community hub, open spaces, and associated infrastructure. If you would like to learn more about the project, please visit our proposals page.

The submission follows an intensive and wide-ranging public consultation process undertaken over the past 24 months. This has included meetings and correspondence with local stakeholders and community groups, a public exhibition held at the local community centre, and a dedicated project website providing information and online feedback forms. The proposals have also been discussed at Project Board meetings with local members and officers, reviewed by a Design Review Panel of independent experts, and debated at Full Council, which subsequently approved the overall Master Plan for the site.

We have aimed to address concerns and comments that were raised by community stakeholders in our proposals, including the following:

Further traffic modelling and surveys to further analyse potential congestion issues, rat running and parking dislocation with identified mitigants – all shown in the traffic assessment that will accompany the planning application
Offsite highway improvements with detailed list of off-site improvements to existing footpaths, cycleways and bridleways in the wider areas for the benefit of the wider community
Means of access corridor – the gateway park concept has now made it a safe and enjoyable place with travel blended with attractive amenities and open space, preserving ecological connectivity
Community Hub – relocation of allotments next to the Community Hub and preserving flexibility for the community building to host multiple functions from healthcare to retail and sports/recreation, to suit the future needs of the local community – positioned next to the primary school to create a focal point of the development
Ecology and habitat mitigations – reiterate coordination between our ecologist and the local associations, with all possible impacts carefully addressed in the Environmental Statement.
Retainment or strengthening of ecological corridors limiting intrusions to the strict minimum unavoidable
Central open space running under existing overhead powerlines providing new habitat corridor in existing arable land, including orchard, trees, SuDS and scrub habitat
Landscape treatment of open spaces to make them usable and attractive, reformatting and redistribution of play areas, demonstrated in the updated masterplan.
Sustainability targets increased to make the development more environmentally sound and ambitious in adopting new technologies – as shown in the sustainability statement that will accompany the planning application.
A Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) which will include detailed strategies for managing risks such as dust, noise, traffic and waste and provide a specific framework to follow during construction to protect the environment and the local community has been prepared, following concerns about disruption during the construction phase being raised by local residents.