I've found the flaw in the Concept

re: Victoria School - playground is full of teachers' cars, some come from as far away as Reading I believe (teachers allegedly can't afford local house prices).... Parents are frequently requested not to enter Prince Edward St. to drop off their offspring, but some would drive into the classroom if it was allowed.... Bottom of Swing Gate Lane was a mass of cars going noweher this morning - how this road is supposed to be the main access to a development of 'only' 800 homes is beyond comprehension.....

The two workshops have thrown up some interesting changes and information.
In case you haven't read it elsewhere, the idea is to challenge the Borough Councils idea for land use over the next 20 years as Borough believe any developments should be concentrated on Hemel Hempstead.
There are a number of reasons for this. it is a 'new town' which was designed to be expanded over the years. Most other 'towns/settlements' in the borough have grown up over centuries without any real planning. This has resulted in infrastructure problems as most services were installed in the early part of the last century.

The developers have bought the land from an insurance company. They have sold off chunks and now left with several 'odd' bits, the largest chunks are located adjacent to the A41 between Garden Field Lane and Chesham Road. The idea is to challenge the elected Borough Council development plan and convince the inspector that an additional 800 homes is better use of this area than leaving it as green belt and used for agricultural purposes. They have drawn up plans that tick all the boxes such as sustainable, social housing, leisure facilities, education, improved transport links and even a community centre complete with retail facilities. Rumour even included medical services and a pub. Allotments, a 'village green' and playing fields are all in this concept. Indeed, it really is an utopian concept!

When asked what they would do when humans got involved and didn't obey the 'concept' utopian theory it was admitted it wasn't their problem. They even admitted that discussions with utilities ended up very non-committal as regards providing the water, electricity and waste disposal facilities and any 'promised' funding for all the town benefits mentioned in the 'concept' documents would come from profits and have already been reduced as the housing numbers have changed from 1000 to 800 or less.

In case you haven't worked it out, the land involved is at the top of Swing Gate Lane on the left between Upper Hall Park and Long Green and on the right between the farm track (to be upgraded to an east/west road) and the A41. As you go away from Upper Hall Park, the housing density will increase, one road will circumnavigate the housing, and parking seems to be in a parking area to discourage car ownership I suspect.
A new school will be next to the retail area, car parking area and just 30m of children drop-off space provided. Two circular buses will be supported for a short time with two going clockwise and two going anti-clockwise designed to link the site with the station, the town centre, Bridgewater, Ashlyns, Westfield and Egerton-Rothesay schools. They will be talking to County regarding parking controls (don't hold your breath, will you!) to enable the eco-friendly buses to actually pass each other.

For the low down, visit the PR companies web site at: http://tinyurl.com/6gw2p8e

As I say, welcome to utopia.