Further to its public meeting with Borough Council representatives earlier this week, some Garden Village Preservation Society (GVPS) members were less than reassured by the discussions centred around proposals to build 2,000 new homes and gypsy camp on Green Belt land next to the Garden Village.
Writing on the GVPS Facebook site, David Roberts wrote: “We were part of a group debate this evening with a planning officer I believe to be called Ben, and one thing that was part of his script - that we all found amusing - was that Hatfield Garden Village, and Hatfield as a whole, was chosen over other villages such as Welham Green and Brookmans Park because of the facilities we have. And when asked, “like what?” He said” A town centre...”


Karen Ware wrote; “I found out tonight that there is an Infrastructure Plan - It's on the CD. I learnt the land is joint owned and, yes, the owners were asked if they wanted it on the plan. It needs to be rezoned first and this could happen before all the money for infrastructure is allocated/agreed so no guarantee it will be delivered once developers are in charge. I learnt that 4500 homes will be built on Urban land but there's not enough of it for growth up to 2029 hence the need to include Greenbelt land. 7000 is a made up target to keep the government happy that the council are doing there job. I also learnt that no one realised we were a Village with a capital V with same concerns that other villages expressed. I learnt we can say we're concerned about the G&T site but don't say it's about the people. I learnt the planners didn't know much about Hatfield and even less about the Garden Village. I learnt tha,t while they gave the forms out, they weren't encouraging/asking people to fill them in there”