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Search the Public Notice Portal"This is a level of growth that is clearly unacceptable" - Redbourn residents are taking action as a spate of planning applications totalling more than 5,000 homes have targeted the village and its surrounding land for developments across the next decade.
Redbourn has become the epicentre of a planning feud between community and developers in an ongoing saga. With a current population of approximately 5,450 people, the small village could play host to a myriad of housing and infrastructure, "doubling" it in size within 10 years.
Applicants are earmarking land surrounding the village - much of it classed as green or the newly-formed grey belt - for the series of proposals, as shown below:
- Harpenden Lane - 1,000 homes
- Gaddesden Lane - 300 homes
- Tassell Hall/Richborough - 260 homes
- Land off of Harpenden Lane - 68 homes
- The "East Hemel" development - 4,000 homes
Since the beginning of January, the Redbourn Residents Group has begun fighting back, launching a petition mapping out the possible applications.
"We the undersigned residents of Redbourn and surrounding areas, are exceptionally concerned about the disproportionate surge in planning applications targeting our village," the petition reads.
"Despite Redbourn’s current size of roughly 2,300 homes, approximately one third of all new housing planned for the entire St Albans district is set here. Around 5,000 additional houses are planned on greenbelt around the village.
"This is a level of growth that is clearly unacceptable compared with other communities and would irrevocably alter the village, merging us with Hemel Hempstead and Harpenden."
Independent councillor for the village at St Albans City & District Council, David Mitchell, been advocating for the future of Redbourn for several years. The councillor told the Herts Advertiser he was helping to protect Redbourn from "being destroyed".
He feared it could be "the beginning of the end of Redbourn as we know it".
"The village is going to change beyond all recognition unless the Government changes its grey belt legislation," he began.
"It's difficult to see how you can stop it. All these plans have a huge impact on infrastructure too, they rely on a huge drop in car usage."
Councillor Mitchell believes developers will begin construction and swiftly realise Redbourn does not have sufficient infrastructure to accommodate their targets.
Why Redbourn?
Redbourn Residents Group echoed the councillor's concerns and firmly believe the Government legislation regarding grey belt, first introduced in December 2024, has become the catalyst for developments.
The grey belt concept was implemented as part of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
Under changes introduced by Labour shortly after the election, "lower quality green belt" land was designated as grey belt and released for construction as the former Government sought to build 1.5 million homes by 2029.
According to campaigners, sites explicitly rejected in the Local Plan are now being targeted, giving landowners carte blanche to develop without adhering to accepted planning standards.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Hertfordshire estimates more than 200 hectares of land across St Albans have been justified as grey belt.
Other concerns include the associated infrastructure, with campaigners suggesting current proposals fail to provide adequate travel infrastructure, GP services, road capacity and parking.
When speaking to the Herts Advertiser, group member Pauline Willis highlighted the 1,000 home development on Harpenden Lane as particularly problematic due to current congestion.
"Looking at the state of the road outside the small development at the recreation centre and the number of construction vehicles, it is unimaginable what the building of 1,000 houses would create on Harpenden Lane and the hazards of turning vehicles onto the site holding up through traffic," Pauline commented.
Public protests
On Monday, January 26, hundreds gathered outside Redbourn Village Hall to "voice their objections" at an event hosted by Lawes Agricultural Trust - the developer behind the Harpenden Lane housing.
The MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted Victoria Collins has also been vocal, taking the issue into parliament and warning of a "potential 70 per cent housing increase" in Redbourn.
MP Collins questioned the Government's "reclassification" of open land saying that it left villages, like Redbourn, "powerless" against unplanned development.
Call for action
The residents group remain clear, they understand the need for new housing, but believe the current strategy is not feasible.
"We insist that no more than a five per cent increase in total housing be permitted within two miles of Redbourn village centre over any rolling 10 year period," the residents group ask.
"Further, we urge all representatives to unreservedly oppose any development on Redbourn’s green and grey belt land, in order to protect the village’s character and environment.
"Villages have unique heritage and infrastructure constraints. They must grow proportionately and reasonably. Redbourn must not bear an outsized share of district-wide development due to planning loophole."
Campaigners request St Albans City and District Council to "consider and enforce" the aforementioned limit to "protect the character, infrastructure and green belt of Redbourn".
The state of developments
Despite qualms from residents group, the developers of these applications argue they have engaged with the communities affected by their plans.
Overall, applications are moving forward and one has even been granted during a recent district council meeting.
"East Hemel" - 4,000 home plans
Applicant of the 4,000-home development, currently known as East Hemel, said it had undertook more than a year of engagement, prior to the submission of a full application.
Head of strategic land, at The Crown Estate, Rob Chesworth, said: “East Hemel marks a rare opportunity to create a place that will serve the people of Hertfordshire for generations to come, providing quality homes and jobs, and supporting the wider ambitions of the area.
“The vision for the development is to create a place that will be vibrant and resilient, responding to the changing needs of the community well into the future.
"Over the past 18 months, we’ve been encouraged and sustained by the enthusiasm of residents, stakeholders and our partners, who have helped to shape this vision through their passion and ideas.
“We are committed to reflecting that sense of passion and innovation in our plans, as we look to the next stage of the development.”
Applicant, The Crown Estate, has delivered a fulling planning application to both St Albans City & District Council and Dacorum Borough Council - this is yet to be decided.
Harpenden Lane - up to 1,000 homes
The 1,000-home Harpenden Lane development by Lawes Agricultural Trust was submitted under a scoping opinion application in October 2025 and the district council decided a further environmental statement must follow.
In a report, the applicant said the development would remain "sensitive to the local character", has "strategic transport connections" and would help fund upgrades for facilities at the Rothamsted Research scientific centre.
A further outline or full planning application is yet to be submitted.
Gaddesden Lane - up to 300 homes
A critical update came on January 20, when a meeting of the district council's Development Management Committee, saw the outline application for up to 300 homes on Gaddesden Lane granted.
Six members of the committee voted in favour of the proposal with just one against. Further infrastructure is to be decided in an S106 Agreement. A decision was reached four years on from the initial submission on January 31, 2022.
A planning statement by the applicant said the vision for the site is a “high quality, sustainable new neighbourhood, which successfully integrates with the existing settlement and which balances the need to ensure an efficient use of land, whilst respecting its edge of settlement location and nearby heritage assets”.
Tassell Hall - 265 new homes
Land to the west of Tassell Hall has been earmarked as part of a screening opinion application, submitted on January 20.
Plans are current subject to a public consultation until February 20 as a decision is yet to be made by the district council.
The residents group has confirmed it will press on with protests and may recruit other villages in Hertfordshire that are faced with similar planning applications.
Residents group advocate Pauline concluded: "We are in the process of further actions and one of those actions is to try to unite all the villages who are suffering the same plight, having their green belt being covered with houses.
"As we said at the beginning, we understand there is a need for new houses but not this way."
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