Hundreds of homes could be built on a village's doorstep as part of plans for a new sustainable community.

Strategic development company Lands Improvement Holdings has entered into an agreement with the Lawes Agricultural Trust to promote and deliver a new community of up to 1,000 new homes outside Redbourn.

The 104-acre open arable site is situated on the northeast edge of the village, between Dunstable Road, Harpenden Lane and the Redbourn bypass.

Herts Advertiser: An aerial view of the site of the Redbourn development.An aerial view of the site of the Redbourn development. (Image: Lands Improvement)

Lands Improvement will now work with LAT, St Albans district council (SADC), stakeholders, residents and businesses to release the site from the Green Belt and promote the land for development as part of the Local Plan.

The proposals will look to provide a landscape-led scheme with a new countryside park along the River Ver, coupled with infrastructure improvements for wider social and community needs to support a sustainable future for Redbourn.

Peter Oxley, executive director of Lawes Agricultural Trust, said: “We look forward to working together on this project, which is vital for the trust’s ongoing long-term support for important scientific research activities at Rothamsted, home to the world’s oldest agricultural research institution, which in turn plays an important role in meeting the global challenges of feeding a growing population in a more sustainable manner.”

James Stone, managing director at Lands Improvement, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to work with LAT which, as a long-established local charity, is clearly invested and committed to Redbourn’s future, to create a sustainable community that is made up of much more than just new homes.

"Our team is looking forward to meeting residents and businesses to build on the significant local engagement that has already taken place and ensure everyone in Redbourn has the opportunity to contribute ideas for this part of the village.”

But Cllr David Mitchell, chairman of Redbourn Parish Council, said: "The position of Redbourn Parish Council is to resist extensive development on the Green Belt in Redbourn whilst recognising the need for some genuinely affordable housing locally. One thousand new houses is too many and would change the rural nature of Redbourn village for ever.

"This is one of several sites in Redbourn that have been put forward as part of the SADC call-for-sites process. Redbourn Parish as a whole could end up with over 7,000 new houses on its Green Belt. We need new housing but not by destroying huge swathes of our surrounding countryside.