Newgate Street, Hertfordshire

The site faced a lot of challenges. It was an overgrown patch of grass enclosed by hedges with ecological value. It was enclosed by mature trees. It backed on to the Grade II listed Coach and Horses pub and was accessed from a lane that led to a locally listed country house and park. The access was on a bend in the road close to an existing junction. The biggest challenge was that the site was within a village washed over by the Green Belt.

The Council accepted our argument that development was infill development and as such was not inappropriate development in the Green Belt and that the benefits of the scheme, in particular delivering much needed housing and improving the entrance to the village, outweighed the less than substantial harm to the heritage assets. We also worked with the team to redesign the scheme to ensure that it responded to its context; made a case to remove the overbearing Leylandii trees on the boundary; commissioned relevant ecology surveys; and ensured that the necessary visibility splays at the access were achievable.