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Marshcroft Fundraising Appeal – Fighting Massive Green Belt Development
Latest fundraising update – we did it – as of 2 May 2023, we’ve met our £30,000 fundraising target!! We’ve had more than 400 individual donors both locally and from further afield. Your generosity has helped our fight to protect the Green Belt countryside at Tring from Redrow’s massive development proposal, and specifically to pay for our legal and specialist representation at the planning appeal Inquiry which concluded in late April. Thank you!!
Grove Fields Residents Association, the Chiltern Society, and CPRE Hertfordshire – the Countryside Charity, have joined forces to fight Redrow plc’s proposal for a massive new development on land in the countryside east of Tring. A Public Inquiry will be held in March – April 2023 and this is our last chance to fight this hugely damaging proposal.
Last autumn, Dacorum Borough Council refused permission for Redrow’s planning application for 1,400 dwellings on 300 acres of protected land in the Green Belt, adjacent to the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Now Redrow has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate who will hear the case at Public Inquiry and make a recommendation for determination to the Secretary of State.
Redrow’s proposed development would nearly double the size of Tring in terms of the settlement footprint. It would increase the population by 30%, adding around 3,400 more people and 2,000 more cars, adding immense pressure on the infrastructure of Tring and the whole surrounding area.
Why we oppose the development
Harm to the Green Belt. If the development goes ahead, it will cause huge harm to the Green Belt. The Green Belt is statutory designated protected land, to be kept permanently open. Currently this is peaceful countryside alongside the edge of Tring, much enjoyed by local people.
Harm to the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The development will cause significant harm to the AONB, which surrounds the proposed development site on three sides. The landscapes of the AONB are of national importance and enjoy an even higher level of statutory protection from inappropriate development than the Green Belt.
Loss of Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land. The development will concrete over much of the 300 – acre site, which is currently productive farmland used for growing crops. Much of the site is “Best and Most Versatile” agricultural land, which like the Green Belt and the AONB, is protected in national planning policy from unwarranted development.
Destruction of wildlife habitats. The development would destroy the Chilterns countryside and wildlife habitats in much of the area around Marshcroft Lane, and near the public rights of way along the Grand Union Canal. There would also be damaging additional visitor pressure on the nearby Chilterns Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation, the Site of Special Scientific Interest at Tring Reservoirs, and College Lake Nature Reserve.
Damaging landscape impacts. The scenic landscape views from The Ridgeway National Trail at Pitstone Hill and Aldbury Nowers, and from near Wigginton to the south of the development, would all be severely harmed.
Massive pressure on infrastructure. Tring and the nearby villages and hamlets are historic rural communities, and the addition of around 3,400 more people and 2,000 more cars will place unacceptable pressure on all manner of infrastructure. Station Road and Bulbourne Road adjacent to the development site will see particularly large volumes of additional traffic, as will Tring town centre.
This affects all of us – we’re fighting on behalf of all of us
Because of the massive scale of Redrow’s development proposal, it will affect all of us. Everyone in Tring and the surrounding area including Aldbury, Wigginton, Wilstone, Marsworth, Tring Station, and Berkhamsted will be directly affected by this huge development.
The Public Inquiry starting in March 2023 is a formal examination process including submission of evidence, and testimony and cross-examination of expert witnesses. Our three groups – the Grove Fields Residents Association, the Chiltern Society, and CPRE Hertfordshire – will together do much of the work in-house. But of course we also need specialist legal and technical expertise.
Our joint fundraising appeal
Our combined fundraising target is £30,000 for legal and expert witness representation at the upcoming Public Inquiry. Redrow plc has deep pockets and will field a large team of barristers and witnesses. But there is plenty of legal precedent for protecting the Green Belt and the AONB, and our small team has considerable expertise – with your help we can win this fight.
Please donate as much as you can. And in order for us to claim Gift Aid which will boost eligible donations by 25%, please donate via CPRE Hertfordshire, a registered charity.
All donations will be held in a restricted fund for this campaign.
Donation instructions
The easiest way to donate is through CPRE Hertfordshire’s secure website.
Alternatively, download the Gift Aid form and then either:
Email the completed Gift Aid form to office@cpreherts.org.uk and make a payment by BACS to CPRE Hertfordshire / sort code 20-92-54 / Account 60469335 / Quote reference Marshcroft
Or post the completed Gift Aid form with cheque payable to CPRE Hertfordshire, 31a Church Street, Welwyn, Hertfordshire AL6 9LW
CPRE Hertfordshire is a Registered Charity and a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Reg. No. 1162419
The Chiltern Society is a Registered Charity No. 1085163 and a Company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales 4138448
Grove Fields Residents Association is an unincorporated association of concerned local citizens coming together to fight this destructive development proposal
