North Herts Council has voted to agree the master plan for the GA2 development between Great Ashby and Weston despite the problems with the access to the site.

I voted against the proposal. Unfortunately Great Ashby’s Labour councillors did not.

We were told that the only reason that the plan, which includes a single access road from Mendip Way to 600 houses, would work is because it assumes that many residents will walk or cycle rather than driving. Since it will be a 500 metre walk through a wood and across an open space even to get to the Great Ashby Community Centre that does not seem very likely.

Although it is probably not possible to stop the GA2 development completely, it would have been possible to do better in terms of both the road connections and the green belt boundary. That would have reduced the impact on both Great Ashby and the surrounding countryside.

It’s a pity that the council has chosen not to make the developers do that.