John Williams Esq
Electoral Services Officer
East Herts Council
Wallfields
Pegs Lane
Hertford
SG18 8EQ 31 July 2018
THORLEY PARISH COUNCIL BOUNDARY ALTERATIONS
I am writing on behalf of the Bishop’s Stortford Civic Federation to comment on the second stage consultation on changes to Thorley Parish boundary. Our comments relate to land south of Whittington Way.
The justification advanced for taking this into Bishop’s Stortford is that electorate forecasts based on planning consents and projections in the District Plan suggest that by February 2023 there will be approximately 500 electors living on the site. This assertion relates entirely to proposals for new development on the site since it is suggested that existing dwellings to the east of the site should remain in Thorley Parish. However, the forecast is patently wrong.
The Inspector’s report on the district plan has now been published. Revised Appendix B, summarising the housing numbers, contemplates that only 200 dwellings will have been completed by 2022. We understand from other sources that the developer will be seeking planning permission for a rather smaller number within that timescale, all of them being on the part of the site that already falls within the boundary of Bishop’s Stortford Town Council.
I might also add that the claim that the area of proposed development falls partly within the current Parish of Thorley but not in Thorley Village itself is unsubstantiated. It appears to rely on a village being defined only by its buildings and not by the open spaces between them.
We therefore conclude that there is no case for amending the boundaries between Thorley and Bishop’s Stortford at this time and that the appropriate time to consider the issue, if it is still felt to be necessary, should be after 2022.
Yours sincerely
JOHN RHODES
PRESIDENT